Siouxland Magazine - Volume 3 Issue 6 - version 2

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Siouxland Magazine | LEGACY / 10 Mary J. Treglia Community House Celebrating 100 Years of Cultural Diversity By, Michelle Lessmann Immigrants arriving in the Siouxland community is nothing new. Neither is the place that they turn to for help when they arrive. Since 1921 when the Sioux City Community House was established, immigrants have had a place where they are welcomed and celebrated when they arrive in the Siouxland community. What began as the Sioux City Community House in April 1921, was renamed the Mary J. Treglia Community House in November 1956 to honor the woman who had spent so much of her life dedicated to helping immigrants feel welcome in the community. Mary J. Treglia made it her life’s work to help foreignborn people become familiar with our language and customs. Her passion for helping immigrants lives on through Executive Director, Becky Carlson, and her staff. They continue her mission by welcoming, educating, empowering, and advocating for all new Siouxlanders. According to Becky Carlson, the Siouxland Community has a large population of minorities, which creates a wonderful and broad diversity. Carlson said, “we believe cultural diversity strengthens our community,” and that “we strive to identify and respond to the needs of the immigrant population in Siouxland through education, services, advocacy, and celebration of diversity.” Many Mary J. Treglia
immigrants and refugees come from environments that are unsafe, which causes them to have a difficult time asking for help when they arrive. Everyone at the Mary J. Treglia Community House strives to make the immigrants and refugees feel comfortable coming there, asking for help, and to feel welcome in the community. The Mary J. Treglia Community House offers a wide range of services to those who seek help there. Services range from preschool, ESL classes for adults, Citizenship and Legal Immigration services for those seeking citizenship, and permanent residency or work permits in the U.S. Their Family Services Program includes a broad range of services to assist with completing applications for employment, housing, DHS, and medical services. Through these efforts, the Mary J. Treglia Community House makes possible selfsufficiency and empowerment of the individual. The preschool currently has students from 10 different countries, speaking a variety of primary languages, and all learning English while at school. ESL classes are offered to adults Monday through Thursday each week, and Friday’s classes are devoted to citizenship. The citizenship classes help prepare the candidates for their interview, which consist of more than 100 questions they must be able to answer in order to become citizens, also while demonstrating they can speak English. Legal Services also include naturalization clinics at various times each year, where attorneys work with immigrants to complete necessary forms and help them through the naturalization process. A recent Oath Ceremony was held where 26 people became U.S. Citizens through the individual’s efforts in conjunction with the Mary J. Treglia Community House. Another feature that the organization has added is offered in partnership with Western Iowa Tech Community College on their radio station, KWIT, where the local news is translated into five languages. This is shared through social media and can also be found on the Mary J. Treglia Community House website and the KWIT website (www. kwit.org). A community garden has recently been added, along with cooking and healthy eating classes to help immigrants become accustomed to available local foods that may be new to them. A partnership with the United Way of Siouxland, which is also celebrating its 100 Year Anniversary, helps provide part of the funding for the Mary J. Treglia Community House along with donations from individuals, other businesses, and organizations, as well as local churches. They collaborate with many of the Siouxland area organizations to provide services, programs and assistance, including Siouxland District Health, the American Red Cross Northwest Iowa and Northeast Nebraska Chapters, the South Sioux City Public Library, and Sunnybrook Community Church. Donations can be mailed to the Mary J. Treglia Community House, 900 Jennings Street, Sioux City, IA 51105, or made securely through a link on their website, www.marytreglia. org. They are a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, so your donation may be tax-deductible. Siouxland Magazine | LEGACY / 11 Michelle Lessmann, a fully licensed Office Professional in Keith Bales office of Thrivent. She can be contacted at mrlessmann@ hotmail.com. Photos Contributed by Mary J. Treglia Community House. In addition to the services that have been offered since they were first established 100 years ago, the Mary J. Treglia Community House has added programs to help those new to the area as the organization has evolved. They became a remote settlement agency in 2017, through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, creating a partnership to assist in helping locally sponsored refugees settle in Siouxland. They provide services for the refugees for their first 90 days in order to help them with proper housing, food, and weather-appropriate clothing, as well as finding employment and signing up for ESL courses. They continue to provide services after the initial 90 days as they are needed.
Page 1 and 2: STARTING CONVERSATIONS Celebrating
Page 3 and 4: Welcome to Siouxland Magazine It’
Page 5 and 6: “In the end, our legacy will not
Page 7 and 8: Editors Note How do we leave a lega
Page 9: purpose investment responsibility f
Page 13 and 14: These boys are marching to help rai
Page 15 and 16: She recalls another recent connecti
Page 17 and 18: Photo Credit Jetske Wauran. Siouxla
Page 19 and 20: DEI Self-Reflection for the Individ
Page 21 and 22: Reflecting on the Past and Looking
Page 23 and 24: non-profit community family small b
Page 25 and 26: I found and did not interpret them
Page 27 and 28: Kalins Historical Timeline 1921, Ja
Page 29 and 30: personal growth leadership determin
Page 31 and 32: Shop Local By, Heidi Reinking The S
Page 33 and 34: Sioux City Regional Convention & Vi
Page 35 and 36: Sioux City Growth Organization is n
Page 37 and 38: The Test of Time By, Todd Rausch He
Page 39 and 40: Leading For Longevity: What’s the
Page 41 and 42: eathe clarity nutrition flexibility
Page 43 and 44: Treatment for SAD can include a com
Page 45 and 46: medicine as a self-care tool, no di
Page 47 and 48: observe, for instance, a red blood
Page 49 and 50: Community Entertainment Nature Appr
Page 51 and 52: Siouxland Magazine | EXPLORE / 51 N
Page 53 and 54: six youth members and six adult mem
Page 55: Create your profile. Easily access

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