Voices of Hope : Homeless Men Learn English at L.A. Mission Literacy Course

As June graduation ceremonies go, this one was a little different.

After a conventional recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the 24 graduates--most of them squirming with nervousness--sang their class song in unison: “You Are My Sunshine.”

What made it significant was that they sang in English.

The men, ranging in age from 17 to their early 50s, are homeless. With a few exceptions, they come from such places as Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador. And until a few weeks ago, the only language they spoke was Spanish.

Thanks to a basic literacy course conducted over the last few months by the Los Angeles Mission, under the auspices of the Belmont Community Adult School, they have developed a surprising facility with English.

The graduation exercises on Tuesday were just that--public recitations in the Skid Row mission’s chapel that were designed to put their skills to the test.

First came some verb conjugations that would have put several politicians to shame.

“I am, you are, he is, she is,” the class chanted. “We are, you are, they are. . . . I will work, you will work, he will work, she will work.”

Then came the really tough part, when each graduate had to step up to a microphone, alone, and give a little speech.

Salvador Alfaro was perspiring when his turn came, but his voice was strong and clear:

“Hello,” he said. “My name is Salvador Alfaro. I am from El Salvador. I want to learn to speak English clearly. Today is important because I can say, ‘Thank you,’ to my friends at the Los Angeles Mission.”

Alfaro grinned broadly as the small audience gave him a round of applause. Mission chaplain Jim Lewis, who taught the class, beamed back at him.

One by one, Alfaro’s classmates followed, reciting speeches that followed a common theme:

“I want to learn more and improve myself so I can find work and do a good job,” said Ricardo Ramos, a native of Mexico.

All of the men were neatly dressed. Some of them, such as Alfaro, wore jeans, T-shirts and sneakers; others, such as Juan Molina, wore three-piece suits.

But their respectable appearances notwithstanding, all of them--despite the work they do whenever they can find it--bear the stigma of being homeless.

It is to erase this stigma, they said, that they signed up for the class at the Los Angeles Mission.

But the class size was limited, “and so many wanted to enroll that we had to hold a raffle to see who would get in,” Lewis said.

“The ones who got in have excelled in learning English,” he said. “They’ve worked hard, and their grades have been very good.”

After the recitations, each member of the class received a certificate of achievement and a dress shirt, wrapped in bright yellow paper, as a graduation gift.

“This is a good day for me,” Ramos told a reporter. “In this country, if you learn English, you can have better communication with people, and that is very important.”

Lewis said he was proud of them all, adding:

“This is a success story.”