Benjamin Thinking

SOLEDAD - A regional program formed to help bridge the language barrier for many Monterey County migrant women and young people was unveiled Monday in Soledad.

About 40 people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Soledad Life Academy, a joint-effort, multi-agency project at the Center for Employment Training, 930 Los Coches Drive.

The academy offers English as a second language, preparation courses for a high-school diploma equivalency exam, and vocational and life skills classes.

"There's a need here, because we have a lot of women who don't speak English and need jobs," said Director Jacobo Ruelas.

The center was formed by a partnership of the Noel Foundation in Carmel Valley, the city of Soledad, the Salinas Adult School and the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Three international-policy graduate students from MIIS - Danielle Solick, Linsey Bosnich and Candice Lown - came up with the idea in August, said Anna Vassilieva, head of MIIS and executive director for the Noel Foundation.

Solick, who'll graduate in December with an emphasis in human rights, said she and her friends decided to pursue this project instead of writing a final paper in order to improve life in their own backyard.

"This is really the first of its kind for our school," Solick said. "We don't have any local partnerships, and since the center's right here, we thought: 'Why not do something that will benefit this community?'"

Since October, Bosnich said, organizers have toured area labor camps and met with the center's students, faculty and staff to discuss their needs.

The center will primarily serve non-English speaking women and young adults from south Monterey County labor camps, Vassilieva said. Startup costs of $25,000 were provided through her foundation.

The program will provide transportation, with a van picking students up and driving them to and from the center.

The center was a natural choice for serving the labor camp population, she said.

"The Center (for Employment Training) has a superb commitment to the community and knowledge of the community," Vassilieva said. "They know the local needs well, because they have that extraordinary experience."

The van also will take students to the Monterey Institute of International Studies for a first-hand view of higher education.

Organizers are still working to create the best possible model for the program, she said, in hopes of making it a fixture in the community and an inspiration for the entire Salinas Valley.