Page 7 - TR What Women Want August 2016

“To me, it was a gift from God to have this second language. I was praying and asking God to show me how I can use my second language that he had blessed me with.”
ARMIDA STOKES
OF BATESVILLE
not understand each other, the student kept getting the wrong drink. When she told Stokes about it, Stokes took her to McDonald’s and taught her how to order the drink correctly.
“She was so thrilled and excited that she was able to finally get the drink that she wanted,” Stokes said.
Many Hispanics face more pressing challenges when they are unable to communicate, and there have been several instances in which Stokes has gone above and beyond to assist her students with daily tasks.
One student did not know how to use an ATM, and although she had roommates, no one would teach her how to use the machine — that is, until she told Stokes about her problem. Stokes took the student to an ATM and taught her how to use it to withdraw money.
“She was so grateful,” Stokes said. “To me, it wasn’t a big deal because it only took a couple of minutes to show her, and she was just happy to be able to get her money, because she couldn’t buy groceries or anything.”
In another case, a student did not have the funds to buy groceries. The student had a baby, and she had neither money nor food to support herself and her infant. When the student told Stokes about her pre- dicament, Stokes showed her how to ask for assistance at Batesville Help & Hope, a United Way Agency that provides food and clothing to those in need, so the student did not have to go hungry.
“That’s all part of being an AmeriCorps member, al- so, is helping people out in your community, whichever opportunity arises for you to help somebody,” Stokes said. In 2013, AmeriCorps recognized her efforts by presenting her with the Dr. J.C. Babbs Sr. Award for outstanding community service.
Stokes was with AmeriCorps for two years until she learned that Stroud was seeking an office assistant to work at the Ozark Foothills Literacy Project. Stokes
EILISH PALMER/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Stokes has often taken an extra step to help her students, many of whom may struggle when they are unable to speak English. She has taught
Sunday, August 14, 2016 • An Advertising Supplement to the Three Rivers Edition • What Women Want • 7SS
students how to use ATMs and ask for food at local food banks.
threw her hat into the ring and got the job, where she stayed for 3 1/2 years.
In August 2015, Stokes and her brother visited their mother, who was living alone in California at age 83. Al- though their mother was reluctant to leave her home, the siblings convinced her to move to St. Louis to live with Stokes’ brother. Stokes lived in St. Louis with them for about nine months.
“I was pretty homesick for [Batesville] because my kids and grandkids, I have them here,” she said. “Things were working out with my mom, so I decided to move back, and I feel like I did the right thing for myself.”
Stokes is now at the Arkansas Department of Work- force Services in Batesville as part of Experience Works, a training program that helps people older than 55 find jobs. She said she plans to begin tutoring with AmeriCorps again this fall, and she already has a stu- dent lined up. She hopes to continue following her passion for as long as possible, she added.
“Before I even became an AmeriCorps member or a tutor, if I was at the grocery store or J.C. Penney and somebody was struggling to communicate with the cashier, I stepped in,” she said. “That just became a burning yearning in my heart to help these people.”
To this day, students call Stokes if they need some- one to translate for them, she said. She has taught in other ways as well. When her children were younger, Stokes volunteered to teach Spanish in their class- rooms, she said, and she has also taught Spanish to members of her church. Helping others is its own re- ward, she added.
“Knowing that I made a difference in someone’s life is rewarding to me because I just feel like we need to give back to our community in anyway you can,” she said. “If I can reach one person who’s going through something so hard that they feel all alone or need help, if I can reach them and change their view on humanity, that’s rewarding.”
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