What was Maria’s history? What prompted her to seek assistance from the WRC?
Carla Hudson, a Black social worker with the Women’s Resource Center (WRC), had worked with Maria Velasquez, a Mexican immigrant and mother of two children, for several years as she struggled to escape a violent home situation. Maria was Carla’s first Spanish-speaking client. Maria’s spoken English was easily understandable, but she could not read or write English well. As Carla assisted Maria in acquiring mainstream services, including Head Start, TANF, Food Stamps, and WIC, she noticed barriers to services that she began to suspect were related to discrimination against Spanish-speaking clients. When two White Head Start caseworkers refused to help Maria attain educational support that she needed in order to gain English literacy, Carla faced the challenge of addressing discrimination issues in another agency and perhaps throughout the service delivery system in Jasper, Alabama.
Maria was a 24-year-old Mexican immigrant with two children, ages six and three. She was married to Rodney, a Black man who served in the U.S. Army during the first years of their marriage. After he completed his military service, they moved to Rodney’s hometown of Jasper, Alabama. Maria’s stepfather had sexually abused her as a child, and her husband abused her for several years before she fled the abusive relationship. She had been working with social worker Carla Hudson of WRC since leaving her husband. After leaving her abusive husband, Maria attained a job, got a divorce, enrolled her children in Head Start, and began receiving mainstream supports such as WIC and TANF. She began taking classes at the local community college in hopes that she could enhance her marketable skills. Maria spoke and understood English well, but she had much difficulty reading and writing in English. This had been a significant impediment to her educational pursuits. Carla worked with Maria over a span of several years as Maria gained independence from her abuser and self-sufficiency in her life.
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