Community Education For Utica Refugees & Residents

Overview

Community education sessions are offered on the third Friday of every month. Topics include traffic safety, fire safety, bike/pedestrian safety, and other special health topics. All sessions are offered in collaboration with the Office for New Americans. Special sessions on immigration topics with attorneys on site are also offered for your convenience throughout the year.

We also welcome presenters from the Utica community. This is a great way to share important information with our multilingual community members and to tell them about the services your program has. Please contact us to check availability.

Program Highlights

Interpreters provided for most languages
Sessions held on the third Friday of every month from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
600 participants at community education sessions yearly
10+ community education sessions offered in 2018

Key Contact Information

Lisanne Divine, Traffic Safety Coordinator
- 315.738.1083 ext. 146
- lisanned@thecenterutica.org

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FAQs

I am not an immigrant or refugee accessing your services, can I still attend the community education sessions?

Depending on the session topic, you are more than welcome to attend and learn. Please view our events calendar for upcoming sessions
I would like to give a presentation about our organization’s services. Who can I contact?

You can use the Contact Us form or reach out to Lisanne Divine or Jennifer VanWagoner to set up your presentation time.
If I am a presenting organization, do I need to pay for interpreters?

If you are a guest presenter, our interpreter services are FREE!
What are some things I should consider if I am presenting at a community education session?

When developing your presentation, start thinking about the following:
Translation:
Do you have any of your written material translated into other languages? If you do not, you should consider contacting TONE — the translation department — to receive a quote and have multilingual information available.

Interpretation:
The session involves interpreters. Interpretation will probably be consecutive, which means that you will say something then each interpreter will say it in their language. Try to keep the words you are saying to 3 to 4 sentences maximum at a time. Keep in mind that with interpretation, your session time can double. If you are planning on a 30-minute presentation, it could end up being a whole hour with interpretation.
Language:
When you are preparing your presentation, use simple language and try to avoid figures of speech. If you use specialized industry language, provide a definition so this can be interpreted.
If you have any other questions on how to prepare, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
Are refugees required to attend these sessions?

Refugees are not required to attend community education classes unless they are attending the English classes offered through The Center.
What languages are provided for interpretation?

The languages chosen for interpretation are based on the individuals attending English classes and the language groups that we know have more individual speakers. For example, if half of the attendees speak Karen, a Karen interpreter will be provided. In the past, sessions have typically provided interpreters for Arabic, Burmese, Karen, Nepali, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Swahili.