Cedar Valley Inclusion
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
FROM THE EDITOR
I
Nancy Newhoff Editor
t was a long cold winter, one that we kept wondering if it would ever end. It was in early March when the snow continued to fall and the temperature dropped to record lows that I read some stories that warmed my heart. You will find them in this publication. There is the wonderful story of the Dunkerton School District and its staff and kids rallying around a boy with disabilities; the story of a young college student who is facing disabilities head on; and the young man who took a tragedy and turned it into a positive. And there are the refugees who have come to our community and found a home. I love to produce this twice-yearly publication because of the great stories we find and tell about the diversity and inclusion in this community. This is now our fifth publication of Inclusion. We are dedicated to celebrating the diversity in the Cedar Valley by providing stories of those who have overcome odds, opened their arms to help others or those who have decided to settle here because of the acceptance we provide. We feel this is important. Diversity provides the Cedar Valley with a big-city feel in a small-town setting. It makes us all more rounded and better people and should be held up as a source of pride. Enjoy these wonderful stories. If you have story ideas of other people or programs that help promote or showcase the diversity of our area, please send me a note or email: Nancy Newhoff, P.O. Box 540, Waterloo, IA, 50704, or nancy. newhoff@wcfcourier.com.
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Tyson Fresh Meats cares about the Cedar Valley Tyson Fresh Meats is proud to support growth and prosperity in the Cedar Valley. We are committed to contributing to the local economy and to making a difference in our community through job opportunities, employee benefit programs, our diversity, and the many rewarding partnerships we enjoy throughout our community.
Š2013 Tyson Foods, Inc. Tyson is a registered trademark of Tyson Foods, Inc. 5027824
Cedar Valley Inclusion
6 SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE
Tabatha Cruz relates to students through her own life story.
10 PASSION FOR SUCCESS Background helps Wartburg’s Marcus Newsom relate to his student athletes.
12 FUNNY GUY
Wartburg student raises awareness with humor.
16 POWER TO
24 ‘POP’RIETOR
Entrepreneur’s gourmet popcorn store is heavenly, upbeat business.
26 RIDE ON
ASPIRE provides therapy, life lessons through horse riding.
28 DETERMINATION
TO SUCCEED Neil Francois
working to help others struggling after traumatic brain injury.
32 EVERY STUDENT MATTERS Specialist
COMMUNICATE For Covenant
interpreter, care come in many languages.
18 FAMILY DEVOTION
New generation keeps My Thai restaurant open for business.
helps learners stay the course.
36
HELPING HANDS Tyler Jacobsen finds Dunkerton’s school fits well.
20 STUDENT TEACHING UNI students tutor Burmese refugees learning English.
Publisher David A. Braton Editors Nancy Raffensperger Newhoff Melody Parker Project Manager & Advertising Sales Sheila Kerns (319) 291-1448 sheila.kerns@wcfcourier.com
Contributing Writers Melody Parker MacKenzie Elmer Meta Hemenway-Forbes Holly Hudson Tim Jamison Pat Kinney John Molseed Jim Offner Andrew Wind Mike Anderson
Graphic Designers Amanda Hansen Michelle Seeks Contributing Photographers Brandon Pollock Matthew Putney Tiffany Rushing
A publication of The Courier, Waterloo-Cedar Falls.
www.cedarvalleyinclusion.com
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE
Tabatha Cruz relates to students through her own life story
T
abatha Cruz recently was able to help a University of Northern Iowa student — in a way she scarcely would have expected just a few months ago. An international student recently stopped by her office in UNI’s Center for Multicultural Education, shortly after the start of spring classes. He was grieving. He had just lost his father over the holiday break between semesters. Cruz was in the right place at the right time. Because she was in the same situation. She had lost her mother over the holiday break between semesters. They shared a cry. “His father passed away the same day my mom did,” she said. “At first he wasn’t talking with anyone, and that’s one of those things that people keep telling you, you need to talk it out with someone... . He was comfortable enough to talk to me about it.” Cruz had just returned from San Antonio, Texas, where her mother died in early December after a debilitating stroke. “I am very thankful I was able to help that student,” she said. “I can tell him ‘I’m sorry’ and he knows I mean it, because I’m going through the same thing.” Cruz was able to help the grieving international student, much in the same way as her “UNI family” helped her after
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BRANDON POLLOCK / Courier Staff Photographer Tabatha Cruz
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
her mother’s death. “I think just coming back here, having what I consider ‘normalcy,’ has been good,” she said. And her friends at UNI reached out to her in Texas during her mother’s death as well. “That’s really what’s been keeping me together.” Cruz, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UNI and Illinois State University, was hired as program coordinator for the University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Multicultural Education in 2010. Part of Cruz’s job is to promote understanding among the diverse groups that make up the university. A former UNI resident hall assistant, she’s worked on that from the dorm floors on up with diversity training. “My students have been great” in supporting her since her mother’s death, she said. “Especially the sorority women who were very sweet leaving me messages while I was gone. And it was really nice to come back and find a whole bunch of cards in my mailbox. And people had emailed over break,” she added. Previously, a professor in UNI’s gerontology program counseled her on how to interact with her mother following her stroke. She also sees a counselor here herself. “I’m in a counseling capacity, and sometimes a counselor need a counselor,” she said. And she’s also reached out for counsel from people who have experienced similar loss. Her boyfriend also has been there for her. Also, a couple she considers mentors and her “Iowa mom and dad” — Roland and Rita Carrillo — came to her mother’s funeral. Roland Carrillo is the retired director of financial aid at UNI. “People knew how much my mom meant to me because I talk about her a lot — using her stories she had passed on to me — trying to remind my students about diversity; meeting new people. My mom made friends wherever she went. I think I try to encourage the students that way. All you have to do is say hello to somebody. It just starts there.” A native of the Bronx, N.Y., in New York City, Cruz was raised from infancy by adoptive Puerto Rican parents who were older when they adopted her. After 40 years in construction, her father retired and they moved back to Puerto Rico. She was 8. “I went from an all-English environment to all Spanish, which was very difficult,” Cruz said. “I picked up on Spanish pretty quickly. I remember on my first report card I got a ‘B’ in Spanish class and
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my mom said. ‘That’s great. But next time, make it an ‘A’.” When she was 16, her parents, then in their early 70s, encountered health issues and moved to San Antonio to be near her sister. “South Texas has a very large Hispanic population, but totally different nationalities. There are a lot of Mexicans, so here I am, my parents being Puerto Rican, and trying to fit in,” she said. “People think Spanish is the same all across the board and it’s not.” She attended Palo Alto Community College in San Antonio. She was looking to extend her education beyond junior college, and a counselor made her aware of a scholarship program to go to UNI, with which Palo Alto had a relationship. It was Roland Carrillo who helped establish that scholarship program. “I was very thankful. I took the chance and ran with it,” she said. After graduating at UNI — the first college graduate in her family — she received a master’s degree at Illinois State in Normal, Ill., after which she was hired in her present position at UNI. “I feel I have a responsibility to give back to UNI, because it gave me so much,” she said. “I’m very thankful for the people I met along the way who gave me this opportunity to be here.” She emphasized that the Center for Multicultural Education at Maucker Union is for everyone, as students she meets during her sorority advising and other capacities have learned when they visit. “Students feel very comfortable coming to my office. They say ‘I’ve never been to the multicultural center. I didn’t know I could be in here because I’m not a multicultural person.’ And I say, ‘You have culture! White is not the absence of color.’” UNI faculty member and campus American Democracy Project chairperson Gerri Perrault called Cruz “a person of character, competence and professionalism who is dedicated to making the world a better place to live.” And one of her mother’s greatest gifts to her — her engaging, cheerful personality — has carried Cruz a long way in her life, and helped her through her current hard times. Text | PAT KINNEY
Cedar Valley Inclusion
DIVERSITY Black Hawk County’s population is
85.6% white
according to the 2010 U.S. Census, only four of Iowa’s 99 counties are more racially diverse: Buena Vista, Crawford, Woodbury and Polk.
Population 5 years and over with a disability
11.4%
Native: 95.6% Foreign-born: 4.4% Naturalized citizen: 37.6% Not a citizen: 62.4%
9.7%
Civilian veterans
Language spoken at home English only: 92.7% Spanish: 4.0% Asian and Pacific Islander: 1.1% Other: 1.8%
Ancestry
(single or multiple) German: 37.8% Irish: 14.5% Other: 47.7%
Educational attainment
High school graduate or higher: 90.6% Bachelor’s degree or higher: 25.8%
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
PASSION FOR SUCCESS
Background helps Marcus Newsom relate to his student athletes
TIFFANY RUSHING /Courier Staff Photographer Marcus Newsom
T
he town of Lindsborg was like another planet to Marcus Newsom. A young African-American male from a crime-plagued Kansas City neighborhood had arrived in the small Kansas community to play football and run track at Bethany College. Known as “Little Sweden,” 95 percent of Lindsborg’s few thousand residents were white. “I remember telling my coach I didn’t feel safe … because I hadn’t heard a siren or seen a police car in two weeks,” Newsom recalled. “Kids didn’t lock their doors and they left keys in their car ignition. People you walked past on campus looked you in
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the eye and said hello. “I wasn’t used to that,” he added. “I never knew what life was like outside the city until I left the city.” More than two decades later, Newsom, 44, is in his 15th year as the head men’s and women’s track and field coach at Wartburg College in Waverly, an Iowa town not so demographically different from Lindsborg. While his teams racked up Iowa Conference and Division III national championships, Newsom has drawn on his life experiences, faith and extraordinary guidance of his mother to help his
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athletes become successful and adjust to what for many can be very unfamiliar surroundings. “Being an inner-city kid and going to western Kansas to go to school is no different than being an inner-city kid and coming to Waverly, Iowa,” Newsom said. “It presents an opportunity and experience for them that they otherwise wouldn’t have.” Miradieu Joseph, a 2001 NCAA Division III national champion for Wartburg in the 400-meter hurdles, was born in Haiti and raised in Lake Worth, Fla., a diverse city near Miami, before joining Newsom’s team. “It was a culture shock,” Joseph said. “It was an adjustment coming from a bigger city with more diversity to an all-white campus. It was really nice to have somebody who looks like you and who understood what you were experiencing who you could talk to.” Newsom was not only a phenomenal coach, Joseph said, he was a “mentor, therapist, father figure and enforcer.” “I don’t think a lot of people understand his passion for what he does,” he said. “The ones who follow him not only become successful on the track and in the classroom, but they also become successful in life.” Newsom attributes his success to his mother, Dottie, a single parent who provided a foundation for Marcus and his sister despite the dangerous and impoverished conditions outside the family’s home. “My mother used to tell us life is more than what you see outside those doors; you’ve got to be able to see and dream beyond what you see,” Newsom said. “She stressed not to put limits on ourselves, and she stressed not to make excuses for why you can’t be successful.” Books, both about religion and history, were on the shelves. His mother worked long hours to keep Marcus and his sister in Catholic schools. Newsom’s grandmother was active in the civil rights movement. His father, a Vietnam veteran and member of the Black Panther Party, helped start a program that provided breakfast for innercity kids but left when Marcus was 3. “My mother would never allow me to speak negative about my dad; she said, ‘You will never judge,’” Newsom said. “The struggle for him was he was trying to do all those things and yet neglected he had two kids in his life.” When he wasn’t in school or church, Newsom spent his time at the Boys and Girls Club learning “discipline, structure, what it was to be committed” and getting a foundation in sports that eventually led him to a collegiate football and track career. At Bethany College, he met Richard Torgerson,
who was acting president there. “He and his wife really took an interest in my,” Newsom said. “He was like a father figure to me.” Torgerson would later serve in the Wartburg administration before becoming the president of Luther College, in Decorah, a position from which he retired last summer. It was Torgerson who encouraged Newsom to apply for a job in admissions at Wartburg. Newsom was the diversity recruitment director at Wartburg before becoming the head track coach and associate athletic director. It allowed him to help other kids from inner cities realize their academic dreams. “One of the things my mother told me was ‘I don’t care where God places your feet. I do care that you have an opportunity to give back to your community,’” Newsom said. “What she meant was any community where you can give a kid an opportunity to get education, that’s giving back. I really feel like after 20 years I’ve been able to do that.” Missy Buttry Rock, who participated in cross country and track at Wartburg, was one of the most decorated Division III student-athletes, winning 14 national championships. The Shenandoah native now lives in Minnesota’s Twin Cities area. Buttry Rock said Newsom’s care for his athletes was genuine. “Coach Newsom played such a big role in all of my success,” she said. “When he knew I was struggling with anything in my life he would take the time to listen to me and encourage me.” She recalled being really down at one point as an injury was threatening to keep her from participating in the national track meet. “He gave me this book, a blue book, that his mom made for him,” she said. “It was full of stuff that reminds you about what’s really important in life.” Years after her Wartburg career ended, Buttry Rock’s brother, Brandon Buttry, was killed in November 2012, while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. “Coach Newsom drove 4 1/2 hours to come to the funeral,” she said. “I think that really shows he cares about his athletes more as people.” Under Newsom, the Wartburg women have won 29 consecutive conference track championships since 1999 and seven national championships. The men have won 16 conference titles. But Newsom isn’t just measuring success with a trophies or a stopwatch. “My first job is to make sure I’m being the right mentor to these young people,” he said. “It’s not just about winning championships.” Text | TIM JAMISON
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
IT’S REALLY A WAY OF LAUGHING AT THE SITUATION SO WE HAVE POWER OVER THE SITUATION ANDREW TUBBS
TIFFANY RUSHING /Courier Staff Photographer Andrew Tubbs
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
FUNNY GUY Humor helps student raise awareness M
ost people in wheelchairs can use the stairs. Except they go down once. Really fast. That’s No. 9 on the list of 10 things Wartburg College student Andrew Tubbs says people don’t know about disabled people. And if your jaw has dropped to I-can’t-believe-hesaid-that range, see No. 6: “Those who are disabled are very hard to offend. The only way I’m really offended is if someone tries to not offend me. Then you’re treating me differently.” Tubbs’ list can be seen on his YouTube Channel, Cripples Corner, where he pokes fun of his experiences as a “differently abled” person in video blogs. The blogs are designed to raise awareness of people with disabilities. “We really don’t have much of a voice online. ... People with different abilities are people. It’s shocking, I know,” he deadpanned. In some of the videos, he’s joined by his high school classmate Hannah Sawyer, who uses a wheelchair. In all of the videos, he’s funny. Really funny. “It’s really a way of laughing at the situation so we have power over the situation,” Tubbs said. A 20-year-old Des Moines native, Tubbs was born with thrombocytopenia-absent radius (TAR) syndrome. The disorder causes insufficient and abnormal platelet formation, creating bleeding risks, and skeletal malformations. Tubbs has had 11 surgeries to correct bowing and other defects in his legs, and he’s missing the radius bone in each of his forearms. “I’ve never been good at sign language. Ironically, I can do the sign for T-Rex really well.” (No. 3) Tubbs uses humor to disarm and inform. “People feel awkward when they meet a person with different abilities,” he said. “We like to send the signal that this is an OK topic. Most people are just curious.” Tubbs is able to walk, though for long distances he uses a motorized wheelchair that he “may or may not have drag raced in” a time or two. Special tools help extend his reach and allow him to manipulate
buttons and zippers while getting dressed. A second-year music major, Tubbs aims to follow up a bachelor’s degree with a master’s and a doctorate in musicology. Eventually, he wants to teach music at the collegiate level. It’s clear, though, that a career in comedy could be an option. Tubbs’ stand-up routine won the crowd favorite award at the 2014 Wartburg Battle of the Unsigned Artist. TAR syndrome was a comedic gold mine for his brass and bawdy performance. No topic is off limits for Tubbs, who jokes about sneeze guards that force him to army-crawl through mashed potatoes and the challenges of Snapchat (“I just get a view of my nose”). While he has gotten some strange questions about the nature of his disability (“I was asked if I age. What am I, Benjamin Button?”), his goal is to always remain approachable and open. Which is clearly outlined in the No. 1 item on Tubbs’ list of things to know about people with disabilities. “You can come and talk to us. If we’re at a bar or the movies or someplace where it’s socially acceptable for social interaction, we won’t bite you. I might. Or you might get your toes run over. OK, you can come and talk to us. Just be a little bit careful.” Text | META HEMENWAY-FORBES
THE ONLY WAY I’M REALLY OFFENDED IS IF SOMEONE TRIES TO NOT OFFEND ME ANDREW TUBBS
SEE ANDREW TUBBS' VIDEOS ON THE CHANNEL "CRIPPLES CORNER" CedarValleyInclusion.com | 13
Cedar Valley Inclusion
AS DIVERSE AS THE COMMUNITY WE SERVE.
Reaching the cedaR vaLLey With PRint onLine, taBLet and smaRt Phone. You’re holding a Courier product. Inclusion was developed by The Courier to educate, inform and celebrate diversity in our community. Today our print, online, tablet, and smart phone applications reach more audience than ever in our 150-year history. Over 77,000 readers view our newspaper daily, over 500,000 unique visitors use our website monthly, and in February alone over 20,000 visitors read us on their smart phone.
Reaching the diveRsified community…the couRieR. www.WCFCourier.com
to suBscRiBe caLL 319-291-1444 14 | CedarValleyInclusion.com
Cedar Valley Inclusion
AFRICAN-AMERICANS
94,028 52,328
The 2011 African-American population in Iowa. African-Americans constitute 3.1% of the state’s total population. In 1980, African-Americans made up 1.4% of the state’s total population.
The numeric change in the African-American population from 1980 to 2011. This is a 125.5% increase for the period.
16,097
168,721 The projected AfricanAmerican population of Iowa as 2040. According to Woods & Pool Economics Inc., AfricanAmericans will constitute 5% of the state’s total population.
The number of African-American families in 2011 who reside in Iowa. Of these families, 69.5% include their own children under 18 years of age.
72.6
%
20%
of African-American families with children who live with both parents in 2011 compared to 70.1% for the state of Iowa. In 1980 this percentage was 41.7 compared to the state of Iowa’s 83.6%. increase in the number of African-American families in the state of Iowa from 1980 to 2011.
10.4% Percentage of the African- American population under age 5, in 2011. AfricanAmericans have a higher concentration of preschoolers among the population than the state as a whole (6.5 percent). In 1980 the percentage of the African-American population under age 5 was 10.9.
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
POWER TO COMMUNICATE For Covenant interpreter care, comfort comes in many languages
W
ar-torn Bosnia forced thousands to search for better opportunities in the 1990s, but one self-taught trilingual nurse made a new life for herself helping others communicate. Sanela Karajic, 34, works in interpretive services at Covenant Medical Center translating for both Spanish and Bosnian patients. She’s one of a few interpreters offering language and emotional support to patients who may be unfamiliar and lost within the U.S. hospital system. Growing up in the once-bustling town of Velika Kladuša on Bosnia’s northwestern border, Karajic was forced to leave her country after a deadly civil war desolated the job market for Bosnian’s youth. She was 18. “At that time the war was ending so there were no jobs, no nothing... How are you going to live?” she said. “ A lot of younger people especially wanted to get out of there to look for a better life, a better future.” In 1997, she and her newlywed husband crossed into Croatia, applied for transfer to the U.S. and landed in Chicago with just a few hundred dollars to their name. They would travel to Waterloo because Karajic’s uncle could find them work at a meat packing plant owned by Tyson Foods. Karajic expected the streets of Iowa to be filled with people, just like her hometown. She peered out of her window at her first sunny morning in downtown Waterloo, waiting for people to pour into the streets but it wasn’t the same. “To Bosnians, social life means a lot. You just grew up with a neighbor next door that come to your house anytime, you don’t mind. It wasn’t easy,” she said. Now Iowa feels more like home than Bosnia. Last year, she revisited her hometown for the first time since leaving. “It’s different,” she said, noting the economic
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situation in Bosnia is still dire. Karajic didn’t know a word of English or Spanish but this intrepid young woman with a quick wit and big personality learned quickly from speaking with the Tyson workers. A friend encouraged her to take a Spanish language test, which she passed with flying colors despite little formal education in the language. So Tyson took her on as a Spanish and Bosnian translator. She learned from watching television programs and listening carefully to those around her. “I’m not booksmart,” she said. “But I paid attention. I pick it up easy.” Surprisingly, Spanish and Bosnian share cognates or words that are derived from similar roots. English, not so much, she said. For instance, The word for airplane in Spanish is ‘avión’ and in Bosnian it sounds virtually the same. The word for night in Spanish is ‘noche’ and in Bosnian, it’s ‘no ’ pronounced ‘nohtch.’ Karajic started nursing school and took an opening as an interpreter at Covenant. There are a lot more elderly Bosnian patients who require help translating their medical appointments, but the younger generations are learning more English than their native language. Sometimes foreign-born patients feel lost because their family member is dying and they don’t know what’s next. Karajic said that’s where she can step in and offer community services and emotional support. “We do a lot more than interpret,” Karajic said. “We do patient advocacy. We are there with the family to see if they need anything to comfort them.”
Text | MacKENZIE ELMER
Cedar Valley Inclusion
TIFFANY RUSHING / Courier Staff Photographer Sanela Karajic
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
Panida Wacakit, the owner of My Thai restaurant in Waterloo, Iowa BRANDON POLLOCK / Courier Staff Photographer
MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Photo Editor Panida Wachakit
FAMILY DEVOTION
New generation keeps My Thai restaurant open for business
P
anida Wachakit used to bring her homework to school. She would review the financial books from My Thai, her family’s restaurant in between classes at Hudson High School. Now at age 18 and graduated from high school, Wachakit is running the restaurant while her
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mother who opened it, Banjong Wachakit, recovers from illness. “I never thought I’d be doing it,” she said about running the business. “But I knew if something ever happened, I’d take it over.” Wachakit said her loyalty to her family and her
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mother is one reason why she is devoted to keeping the restaurant open. She also feels an obligation to customers and supporters to, she added. “It means so much to my mom,” she said. “I think I feel responsible to carry it.” Born in Thailand, Wchakit has spent most of her life in the U.S. “I’m familiar with Thai custom and American custom and that helps me,” she said. Focus on serving guests and loyalty to family (and therefore the family business) come from her Thai cultural upbringing. A drive for education and familiarity with business practices help her keep the restaurant operating, she said. Visitors to the restaurant get a sample of Thai hospitality. “When you come to my home, it’s my responsibility to take care of you,” she said. The restaurant menu features recipes developed by Wachakit’s mother. The menu also has a Muslim influence because her father is a practicing Muslim. Before the family moved to the U.S., Wachakit’s mother had a food cart outside her Bangkok home in Thailand. Her cuisine was popular, Wachakit recalled. “Mercedes Benzes, governors would park outside our house,” she said. Wachakit moved to the U.S. about 13 years ago.
Cedar Valley Diversity & Inclusion Partnership
The family opened a restaurant in Cedar Falls. Wachakit began helping in the kitchen at about age 11. That restaurant closed in 2010. Wachakit’s mom opened My Thai on Sycamore in downtown Waterloo in 2011. “When we lost the first store, I couldn’t risk losing this,” Wachakit said. The city and downtown have changed since the restaurant opened. A Burmese grocery store opened across Sycamore Street from the restaurant. Wachakit will sometimes buy items there for the restaurant’s menu. The influx of Burmese refugees and University of Northern Iowa have also brought more Asian influence to the Cedar Valley. “When I first moved here there was not a lot of Asians around,” Wachakit said. Downtown Waterloo boosters seem to be pushing for more diversity, she added. “I think they’re trying to make downtown a little more international,” she said. That diversity will bring more visitors and people there. “People can shop at a Burmese restaurant and eat at a Thai restaurant — things people normally can’t do in a small town.” Text | JOHN MOLSEED
Strengthening Cedar Valley Business through the promotion of effective diversity and inclusion practices. Summit • Multicultural Receptions • Webinars • Awards
Cedar Valley diVersity & inClusion PartnershiP awards For outstanding contribution by a business or organization for leadership in creating and strengthening an environment of diversity and inclusion in the workplace culture, business practices and in the community. Awards will be presented each year at the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber Annual Celebration.
2014 nomination deadline october 31, 2014 Presented annual Celebration spring, 2015 Find out more at www.cedarvalleyalliance.com
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
STUDENT TEACHING UNI students tutor Burmese refugees learning English Photos by MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Photo Editor Jordan Peters
O
n a chilly Saturday morning, the secondfloor meeting room at First United Methodist Church fills up slowly. Teachers and students file in and seat themselves at tables throughout the room. All are part of a volunteer effort to help teach English to adult Burmese refugees. The group, brought together by University of Northern Iowa students Alicia Soppe of Jesup and Jordan Peterson of Story City, pairs tutors — mostly UNI students — with refugees trying to expand their English skills. They meet each Saturday. “The UNI students do not speak Burmese,” said Ann Grove, lead case worker for the local office of the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. “You’ll see a lot of smiling and a lot of gestures.” As the Waterloo USCRI office was being phased out — it closed at the end of February — volunteers were looking for ways to continue to help the refugees. “We knew the English barrier is a big, big problem,” Soppe said. “We knew other students would want to help.”
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“In about two and a half weeks, we had 40 volunteers,” Peterson said. “This is only one of two places where the Burmese can learn English, and the only place teaching one on one,” Soppe said. “It is so important to cater to each of the students.” A trip around the room illustrates the number of different levels the refugees are working at. One refugee is working on sentence structure while another is learning how to write the letters of the alphabet. One is studying for a citizenship test while another is struggling to name items in a children’s picture book. Brighid Doben, of Marshalltown, is working with Khin Mar on changing singular nouns to plural. “She is a very quick learner,” Doben said of her student, who writes her answers on a small white board. Mar has been coming to the classes since classes began in late October. “I want to learn English,” she said, simply. At another table, Lwee Si studies pictures in a book. His eyeglasses sit on the end of his nose. He is 68 years old and spent nine years in a refugee camp
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in Thailand before coming to the United States. “We are working on descriptors,” said Emily Saur, a UNI senior and TESOL — Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages — major. Saur points to a picture of a woman in the book, and Si attempts to describe her hair. He is having trouble understanding the difference between “yellow” and “blonde.” Saur is encouraging and patient. She holds out a section of her own hair. Si looks pensive. “You have,” he said before carefully checking his notes. “ .. brown … (checks notes again) … wavy … hair.” “Yes!” Saur said as she clapped her hands. “Good job.” Si grins. “Knowing their stories and what they have been through and then watching them learning the language and the history, can be overwhelming,” said Saur, who wipes tears away as she speaks. “They have a completely different alphabet, and we have sounds that don’t exist in their language,” she said. “They are an amazing people, and I have the deepest respect for them. “They are eager to learn,” she said. “I want them to learn. I want them to be happy. It’s one of the greatest feelings being able to help someone with something so important. It’s an honor.” Saur said she understands a little of what the refugees are going through after spending the
summer teaching in China. “I could not speak the language, and my Chinese friends often had to come to my rescue,” she said. “It was a great experience, but I was glad to come home. (The refugees) don’t get to go home.” Saur also recruited her fiancé, Luke Piburn of Hudson, to help tutor. He is a history major. “She would come home after a session and talk glowingly about the experience,” he said. “Or she’d be crying.” Piburn is working with Ku Reh, 35, quizzing him about a map of the United States. Piburn is readying Reh to take his citizenship test. While Reh answers questions, his wife sits at another table working on verb tenses. Refugees are eligible to take the citizenship test once they’ve been in the United States for five years. Reh arrived in September 2010. “I think he’ll be ready when the time comes,” Piburn said. The program lost some of its tutors at the end of last semester and is currently down to about 25. “Anyone interested in volunteering can come to a Saturday session and see how everything works, and then there is a short training period after the session,” Soppe said. “They fill out an application, and they can start the next Saturday.” For information, email volunteeruscri@gmail.com. Text | JOHN MOLSEED
WE KNEW THE ENGLISH BARRIER IS A BIG, BIG PROBLEM, WE KNEW OTHER STUDENTS WOULD WANT TO HELP Jordan Peters helps Ah Lei learn English.
ALICIA SOPPE
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
IOWA ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS
$49,427 Median household income
2011
Per capita income:
$25,667
Individual poverty status:
12.8% 6.9%
Individuals below poverty level
Individuals 65 years and over below poverty level
Median family income:
$62,821
Family poverty status (2011):
8.1% 38.4%
Families below poverty level
Families with female householder, no husband present, with related children under 18 years below poverty level
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Worth
Embracing. Wartburg College is committed to an environment that celebrates diversity and inclusion, helping students overcome obstacles and reach their full potential in all endeavors. Andrew Tubbs, member of the Kantorei and Ritterchor choirs and the Wartburg Players theatre ensemble. Marcus Newsom, coach of the Wartburg women’s track and field team — seven national championships.
Wartburg. Worth It.
www.wartburg.edu CedarValleyInclusion.com | 23
Cedar Valley Inclusion
‘POP’RIETOR
Entrepreneur’s gourmet popcorn store is heavenly, upbeat business
MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Photo Editor Co-owners of Popcorn Heaven Chad Shipman and ReShonda Young.
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
B
usiness is popping for ReShonda Young. Her gourmet popcorn store, Popcorn Heaven, opened its doors in late February at 403 Franklin St., and traffic flow has been steady to overwhelming. “It’s been fun. People are really liking the store. It’s fun, too, because I’m a bit of an introvert, and I’m loving the interaction with customers. We wanted the whole atmosphere to be happy, heavenly and upbeat, and for customers to leave the store in a better mood than when they walked in,” said Young, a Waterloo native. That’s not hard to do with more than 50 flavors of gourmet popcorn to put smiles on faces. You’ve got your sweets — fruit flavors like grape and strawberry, puppy chow, chocolate-drenched Butterfinger — and the savories like Parmesan and Garlic, Salt and Vinegar, Loaded Baked Potato, Southwest Hot Wings, Jalapeno Ranch and Mac and Cheese. Not to mention flavors like Strawberry Cheesecake (with bits of graham crackers), Banana Pudding and Birthday Cake, and of course, Movie Theater Butter. Although she loves popcorn, Young confesses it wasn’t her lifelong dream to become “Poprietor” of a store devoted to the popular snack food. It started with a kernel of an idea: To own a franchise. “Entrepreneurism is in my blood. I came across a popcorn franchise, Doc Popcorn, that sounded interesting, so I ended up in Colorado learning about it,” she explains. But before signing on the dotted line, her mother called to suggest a different popcorn business she’d come across while visiting Las Vegas. Popcorn Girl proved to be the perfect fit because it isn’t a franchise, start-up costs were low, and she could have her own company name and identity. The snack market is estimated at about $16 billion, and the ready-to-eat popcorn business is about a half-billion dollars. In the last four years, the popcorn market has grown by four percent, according to statistics. Experts like Hitesh Hajarnavis, president and CEO of Popcorn, Indiana, expect the market to double itself in size in the next eight to 10 years. Young grew up in Waterloo, graduated from East High School and earned her degree in business management in 1997 from Wartburg College. Her career includes stints at Principal Financial Group, CUNA and Progressive, before joining her dad, Levorn Robinson, as operations manager for his company, Alpha Express.
Chad Shipman, a marketing-savvy businessman, is the minority partner and Young’s sounding board. They met five years ago through church and realized they shared business interests and goals, as well as deep connections in the Cedar Valley. Initially, Young held off telling Shipman about her plans. “She thought I was going to laugh, but I said ‘go get it.’ ReShonda is all about focusing on strengths and managing weaknesses, and I knew she’d get this done,” he says. Together they are driven by the desire to achieve and succeed, as well as by their faith in God. “This isn’t your typical mom-and-pop place. We want to become a franchise and a distributor, plus we’ll soon have our website up and going for e-commerce,” Shipman said. Young laughs. “Chad wants to make it look pretty; I just want it to work.” Social media has “been huge for promoting the store,” Young explains. “We want Popcorn Heaven to become a household name, and one goal is to help people find work in downtown Waterloo.” There are eight full- and part-time employees. All of the popcorn is popped, flavored and packaged in the professional kitchen equipped with a commercial-grade popper and sorting chute. There are vats for cooking caramel and other flavors that need to be drizzled hot over fresh popcorn and allowed to dry, and paddle machines that mix and coat popcorn with flavorings like cheese. A large storage space allows Popcorn Heaven to be fully stocked with gourmet flavors and mixes. You also can purchase homemade fudge, including plain chocolate and chocolate-walnut, as well as unusual offerings like white chocolate and bacon and Butterfinger from Young’s own “secret recipes,” as well as brittles and candy. Popcorn and other items can be packaged into gifts to suit any occasion. Young recently made a statewide splash, providing gourmet popcorn for the Iowa Citizens Action Network meeting at the Capitol in Des Moines, and plans to participate at a variety of area public events, including this spring’s Cedar Valley Baconfest. The name Popcorn Heaven came to Young as she sat on the edge of her bed, praying for guidance. “It was so obvious,” she recalls, smiling. “I looked into it, and there was no other company with that name. The name was perfect.” Text | MELODY PARKER
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
RIDE ON
TIFFANY RUSHING / Courier Staff Photographer
ASPIRE provides therapy, life lessons for people with disabilities
B
lue Bayou is named for his eyes. As big as billiard balls, they glow a pale azure through the snarls of his shaggy blond mane in the dimly lit stable owned by the ASPIRE Therapeutic Riding Program. Situated on 3.5 acres of leased farm land in rural
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Waterloo, ASPIRE has been working to improve the lives of people with disabilities in the Cedar Valley through therapeutic interactions with horses like Blue for the last 15 years. Blue is just one of the program’s 11 equines. He’s a Gypsy horse, a breed that is rare in the United
Cedar Valley Inclusion
States. Marilyn Moore, the executive director of ASPIRE, said horses like Blue were bred by the Roma peoples of the British Isles, gypsies who used them to pull their wagons and watch over their children. It’s Blue’s easy-going nature, shared by the rest of ASPIRE’s horses, that makes him ideal for working with the students at ASPIRE. ASPIRE offers therapeutic riding classes to over 800 students a year starting in the spring, though this year’s harsh winter may mean delays. With a target date of April 7, ASPIRE will begin hosting three riding classes a day for eight weeks, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 4 to 7 p.m. The classes are offered to a variety of referred students, young and old, with a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. Some have cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, or have suffered a traumatic brain injury. Others have autism, schizophrenia, bipolar or borderline personality disorder. Each student has a lesson plan tailored specifically to their needs by ASPIRE’s instructors. Moore said her program has a positive impact on the lives of each student, no matter what their disability. Moore first thought of working with horses in the 1990s, when she was volunteering with a similar therapy program called Ride for Pride. When Ride for Pride shutdown, Moore and her daughter began to look into creating a program of their own. “We decided that there was a niche for it and these kids deserved to have a service like this,” Moore said. She started ASPIRE in June 1999, a mobile community-based program that used borrowed horses, some of which were shuttled back and forth in trailers from hundreds of miles away, to help kids with disabilities. Moore was working as a fulltime secretary at Allen Hospital at the time, but she soon realized she could not do both. She started working at ASPIRE fulltime. While there are human instructors present in ASPIRE’s classes, Moore views the horses as the primary teachers of her students. “It’s their energy, their spirituality, that unconditional love,” she said. Horse riding provides structure. With safety always a concern, students learn what to do and what not to do, how to clean, care for, and behave around the animals, familiarizing themselves with a
firm concept of boundaries that translates well into their daily lives and interactions with their fellows. Horse riding is also good exercise, and the way a horse walks can be especially therapeutic for children with physical disabilities that affect their own ability to walk. A horse’s gait, Moore said, is similar enough to how human’s walk that it helps the brain and muscles attenuate to walking again. “The horse is giving them balance, core muscle strength and relaxing the muscles in the legs,” Moore said of her students. “So you’ll see them after a few sessions if they’re not able to walk being able to walk without assistance.” Horse riding is therapeutic emotionally as well, Moore said, providing students the opportunity to learn new skills while socializing with each other as well as the instructors and the horses. “You become almost like a community,” Moore said. The links students form with the horses is not something Moore takes lightly. In her eyes it is a genuine emotional bond. Moore is always looking for funds from grants and private donations. She would like to build an indoor riding arena and expand the ASPIRE program into three more acres of property. For those interested in donating funds or materials to ASPIRE, visit the program’s website at www. aspiretrp.org or call Moore at (319) 296-0964. Text | MIKE ANDERSON
MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Photo Editor Marilyn Moore and Blue
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
DETERMINATION TO SUCCEED Working to help others struggling after traumatic brain injury
A
s a teenager and then young man, Neil Francois, 35, envisioned his life playing out differently. He grew up on a farm near Masonville, helping raise hogs and milking cows. He belonged to a 4-H club and liked to hunt pheasants and fish. He loved baseball. After a strong high school career, Francois played ball for North Iowa Area Community College. His batting average in 1998 — an impressive .414 — remains sixth in the team’s single season record book. He was also a Pathways to Success student leader that year. Francois walked on and made the team at the University of Northern Iowa. He played second and third base and was studying electromechanical supervision and management. The personal highlights, related family photos and some commentary are available on Neil’s iPad, a constant companion. “Neil did this show by himself without help because he’s a determined individual.” A computer reads the sentence, correctly interpreting the syllables but without the nuances and precise pronunciation a human voice would provide. Francois was involved in a car-train crash on Sept. 4, 1999, at an unguarded crossing. He was 21. “I woke up in On With Life. I had no idea where I am.” He shares the comment by typing on his iPad, rapping out letters faster with one finger than others might manage using two hands. Francois suffered a severe brain injury and lost five months while in a coma. He spent another 15 at On With Life in Ankeny, a nonprofit organization offering rehabilitation services for people recovering from brain injuries. “My main goal was to walk when I was in On With Life when therapists thought I’d never walk and
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couldn’t handle school.” They were wrong. Despite lingering paralysis in his left side, Francois earned an associate’s degree in 2007 from Hawkeye Community College and followed that with a bachelor’s degree from UNI. “My baseball career helped me to survive from my accident because I was really healthy and fit ... along with God and prayers,” Francois adds. In June 2011, Francois began training for possible employment with Veridian Credit Union. He went to work about four months later as an imaging clerk. “I had strong determination and willingness to work to get what I want. It didn’t falter after the accident,” Francois adds. Since then, he has represented the company at Irish Fest and at the annual MLK Banquet and Veridian’s Thanksgiving meal, according to Angela Weekley, community inclusion manager for Veridian. “He’s pretty active, not just with his job, but with Veridian in the community,” Weekley says. She adds the credit union tries to encourage and support people of all abilities and backgrounds. “We kind of look at things through a lens of, ‘Are we doing the right thing for all our members?’ The same thing for our employees,” Weekley says. Jean Trainor is Veridian’s CEO and chief inclusion officer. “Inclusion is not a program at Veridian. It’s a way of being where everyone is welcome and valued for what they bring to the table,” she says. “It’s a journey, and it takes all of us to create a more inclusive world.” Francois says he feels fortunate to be part of Veridian’s team. “I look forward to every work day. I got my life together from the accident ... ,” he says. “I like to be independent, to show people what I can do.” Text | DENNIS MAGEE
Cedar Valley Inclusion
DENNIS MAGEE / Courier Regional Editor Neil Francois
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
NATIVE AMERICAN
3
There are
Number of American Indian areas in Iowa, which include the Omaha, the Sac and Fox/Meskwaki, and the Winnebago. The Sac and Fox/Meskwaki Settlement is the only one in Iowa with residents, totaling 1,062 in 2010.
24.5%
297 Black Hawk County
The poverty rate for Iowa American Indian and Alaska Natives families in 2011. The corresponding rate for Iowa is 12.8%.
residents who identified themselves as Native American or Native Alaskan in the 2010 U.S. Census, which represents about 0.2% of the total county population. Statewide, only 0.8% of the population is Native American.
604
The number of American Indian— and Alaska Native-owned firms in 2007.
ASIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER Iowa’s Asian population by group as of 2011: Asian Indian, 22.6%; Chinese, 17.7%; Vietnamese, 13.8%; Korean, 12.9%; Laotian, 8.1%; Filipino, 5.1%; Nepalese, 3.3%; Hmong, 2.5%; other Asian, 14.0% There were
66,595 Asian residents in Iowa in 2011, or 2.2% of the total state population. Iowa’s Asian population grew 54.4% between 2000 and 2011.
The median income of Asian households in 2011 was $55,034 in 2011 while the median income of native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders was $69,622. Those exceed the statewide annual median income of $49,427 for that year.
Black Hawk County is home to 2,276 Asian residents, based on the 2010 U.S. Census. That is 1.7% of the total population.
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$$$ The poverty rate for Asians in Iowa was
16.9% in 2011, compared to 12.8% for the state as a whole.
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IOWANS WITH DISABILITIES
342,642
The number of people in Iowa in 2011 who have some kind of disability. They represent 11.4% of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population.
WE CAN HELP BUILD YOUR MOBILE SITE:
Disabilities by Type in Iowa: 2011 Cognitive difficulty
4.4%
Population 5 years of age and over
Self-care difficulty Population 5 years of age and over
Ambulatory difficulty
5.9%
Independent Living difficulty
4.8%
Population 18 years of age and over
Vision difficulty Total population
1.6%
Hearing difficulty
3.6%
Total Population
$16,135 Median earnings for Iowans age 16 and over with disabilities with earnings in 2011. The median earnings for Iowans age 16 and over with earnings in 2011 without disabilities is $29,533.
33.5%
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2.2%
Population 5 years of age and over
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Percentage of people 65 and older in 2011 with a disability, the highest of any age group. CedarValleyInclusion.com | 31
Cedar Valley Inclusion
Cesar Ramirez
EVERY STUDENT MATTERS
Specialist helps learners stay the course
W
hen Cesar Ramirez sees young immigrants in the community he has one message for them: Stay in school. As an academic retention specialist focusing on advanced manufacturing at Hawkeye Community College, the 31-year-old has gained insight into how dropping out of high school can complicate
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their future educational and career pursuits. But as an immigrant himself, Ramirez has first-hand knowledge of the challenges they may be facing in school. Encountering immigrant youths — whom he often knows through their friends or family — and seeing their struggles helped spark his interest in college
Cedar Valley Inclusion
MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Photo Editor
retention work. Ramirez said he always asks “Where can I make an impact on somebody else’s life? When I came in the country, I didn’t feel like I got that support.” The Guatemalan native and his mother arrived in Waterloo in August 1999, when he was a teenager. They joined his father, who had been splitting his time between working in their home country and Iowa. Ramirez was immediately enrolled in an intensive English language learners program through Waterloo Community Schools. By that spring, he transferred to West High School. He graduated in 2002 and joined the U.S. Army for three years, serving a tour in Iraq. Ramirez also started a family. He and his wife, Heather Fisher, have two sons ages 10 and 7. Ramirez got a job as an industrial electrician at Bertch Cabinets after leaving the military and enrolled in the electronics mechanical program at Hawkeye. Upon earning the degree, he got a job at Wayne Engineering and worked in a series of
positions there. Starting in 2008, Ramirez enrolled at Kaplan University to earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Kaplan, which is next door to Wayne Engineering in the Cedar Falls industrial park, offered classes that started when his work day finished. He completed the degree in four years and started working for Hawkeye last August. He is now thinking about earning a master’s degree at the University of Northern Iowa. Ramirez has had a lot more success than many immigrants, though. Those with a lack of fluency in English face a “pretty great” barrier to getting a post-secondary education, he said. Even immigrants who are fluent “are not knowledgeable about the college system and college life.” He said family and friends don’t encourage them to explore it or figure out the financing. That’s why making those community contacts outside of his job can be important. Racial minorities who are not immigrants “tend to face the same challenges,” he added. For the people who do enroll in advanced manufacturing programs like computer numerical control machining or welding, Ramirez is available to provide the support they need. His position is funded through the Iowa Advanced Manufacturing grant, which was awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor to all 15 of the state’s community colleges. He helps with the admission process for students, advising the undecided on the best technical program for various career fields. Once they’re enrolled, he counsels them on courses they need to take. He’s also the one who works with students facing any type of difficulties that may cause them to drop out — academic or otherwise. He tutors students or directs them to peers who can. He counsels those having a bad day, recommends resources and even arranges transportation for students having issues getting to classes. Ramirez recently took on a co-adviser role with Hawkeye’s chapter of the Student Veterans of America to further improve his outreach to students. He also feels like he owes a debt to Robin Knight, the other adviser, for her help to him as a young veteran attending Hawkeye and trying to get a handle on financial aid. Ramirez said it is largely a lack of support systems that cause students to drop out. For many, the only support they’re receiving is what they can
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
find on campus. “Generally, we will have students that will just drop out because of family situations, transportation,” he said. Working with the struggling students, he helps them come up with plans to move forward in a better way. Getting on track for their academic goals often includes finding a more realistic balance in their lives. That may involve part-time college or work, he said, noting that many get in trouble because they have a full-time commitment to both plus a family. Ramirez offers the necessary support so that the students can finish their education. But he sometimes needs to tell them it’s about completing their degree and “not about how long it takes.” Text | ANDREW WIND
How do you define diversity? Cedar Valley Inclusion
A Commitment to the Community Our employees are proud to live and work in such a vibrant community. Together with our friends and neighbors, we are committed to building a brighter future for all. If you have story ideas of other people or programs that help promote or showcase the diversity of our area, please send a note or email:
Common Purpose. Uncommon Commitment.
Nancy Newhoff, P.O. Box 540, Waterloo, IA, 50704, or nancy.newhoff@wcfcourier.com. 10001981-0613 DIV
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2000 Heritage Way • Waverly, IA 50677 www.cunamutual.com
Cedar Valley Inclusion
Taking teamwork to new levels
At John Deere, diversity goes beyond culture to include diversity of ideas, perspectives and styles. That’s how we have become a global leader known and respected for our innovative technologies and employee focused culture. Throughout our history, John Deere has strived to enrich the quality of life in communities where we live and work around the globe. We are committed to diversity and inclusion through the ongoing exchange of ideas. It's the way we are – and the way we've always been. John Deere is the world’s leading provider of advanced products and services for agriculture and a leading worldwide manufacturer of off-highway diesel engines.
Embracing Diversity
Building Our Workforce
www.hawkeyecollege.edu
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
HELPING HANDS Tyler Jacobsen finds Dunkerton’s school fits well
Photos by DENNIS MAGEE / Courier Regional Editor Dunkerton Players and coach make sure Tyler Jacobsen got a chance help cut down the net after the game.
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
W
hen the time came for the Raider boys to cut down the nets, everyone who contributed to the team’s conference title got a moment in the spotlight. Kory Kuenstling, 6 foot 11 and a college recruit. Trevor Jacobsen, a three-point ace and record holder. Coach Brian Brungard, himself a high school champion. Those off the bench first and those farther down the row took turns with the scissors. A few strands of nylon remained when Tyler Jacobsen, Trevor’s twin brother, climbed the stepladder. The team closed ranks. Kuenstling had Tyler’s back. Brett Rathe, a longtime friend, and others stepped closer, too. Brungard steadied the ladder. “I think he got the biggest cheer of anybody. And the whole team was there supporting him,” said Brian Jacobsen, Tyler and Trevor’s father. “That kind of summed it up — helping him up, propping him up.” Tyler, a junior, fills the Raider boys water bottles. He capped his 1,000th earlier in the season, picking up a standing ovation from fans and a group hug from the cheerleaders. “I didn’t expect it at all,” Tyler said. Tish Jacobsen, Tyler’s mother, kids her son about the experience. “We had to check him for lipstick after the game. That was rough, wasn’t it, Tyler?” That Tyler and Trevor reached their 18th birthdays is something of a miracle. The twins arrived prematurely at 25 weeks. Tyler, the first born, had bleeding in his brain, and doctors offered his parents little hope. “They said Tyler probably would not walk or talk,” Tish said. “That’s when we started praying.” Tyler developed hydrocephalus, meaning fluid accumulated around his brain creating pressure. He faced surgery for the first time when he was 3 months old. He had four more before turning 1. The Jacobsens’ children attended elementary at SonRise Christian School in Waterloo. Tish works there as a preschool teacher, which was one consideration. So was the family’s faith. But the couple was also thinking about Tyler. “It was a small, private Christian
school where I could kind of protect him,” Tish said. SonRise, however, only goes to fifth grade. Tish and Brian moved to Dunkerton, in part because it was their hometown. But they also thought the small, rural school could best serve their children, including Tyler. Tyler was 13 when he started sixth grade. His seizures started about then, too. “The doctors said it would be a possibility,” Tish said. Tyler also developed spastic diplegia cerebral palsy, which is characterized by stiff muscles, typically in the legs. “As he is getting older, his muscles tighten,” Tish said. “He gets tired. He gets sweaty. His body works so hard,” Brian added. Now in the public school system, the couple worried about how Tyler’s classmates — and frankly, the teachers and administrators — would accept their son. They credit teacher Dan Cutsforth for easing their minds early on. “He was excellent. He made him feel included in everything. He had wonderful communication with us,” Tish said. School officials educated Tyler’s classmates and
Tyler Jacobsen and Riley Tisue fill water bottles prior to the game.
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
teachers about what to expect in case of a seizure and ways to respond. They lined up helpers, peers to serve as wingmen in class and in hallways. “He always had a buddy, and they always jumped at the chance to be with him,” Brian said. He remembers Brent Fettkether, Brett Rathe and Lane Johnson were among those in Tyler’s early “posse.” Last year, Tyler started following his competitive urge. He joined the track team as a wheelchair athlete, possibly Dunkerton High School’s first. He rolled in the 100- and 200-meter sprints, qualifying for the state meet in the 100. “This year, I’m going to try the 100, 200 and 400,” Tyler said. Justin Urbanek, the high school principal, met Tyler even before he started attending classes in Dunkerton. Watching him grow, literally and figuratively, proved an inspiration. And while the district may be serving Tyler, he in turn helps the school and the student body, Urbanek said. “Just his spirit. Just the way he is a happy kid,” Urbanek said. “Having him in the school, I don’t think we would have it any other way.” Tyler Jacobsen waits to take the court with the Raider boys’ basketball team.
Text | DENNIS MAGEE
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
LATINO OR HISPANIC The percent of Iowa Latino population with no health insurance coverage in 2011
22.7
29,428
The number of Latino families in 2011 who reside in Iowa.
25.4%
Estimated Latino population of Iowa as of July 1, 2012,
The corresponding rate for all Iowa is 8.9 percent.
is the median age of the Latino population in 2012. the median age in the state of Iowa is 38.1.
91.6% since 2000.
The number of Iowa residents age 5 and older in 2011 who speak Spanish at home. Among those who speak Spanish at home, 56.0 percent say they speak English “very well.�
The number of Latinos living below the poverty rate was
32.6% in Iowa in 2010 compared to 12.6% for all Iowans.
113,951
Estimated Latino population of Iowa as of July 1, 2012,
162,894 5.3 % of total statewide population.
13.7
%
Percentage of Latino population under age 5 as of July 1, 2012. Latinos have a higher concentration of preschoolers among the population than any other race or ethnic group.
Median annual income in 2010 for Latino households was
$33,295 compared to statewide average of $47,427.
Hispanic or Latino group breakdown in Iowa as of 2011: Mexican 77.9% Puerto Rican 4.2% Cuban 1.1% Guatemalan 4.7% Salvadoran 4.4% All other Hispanic or Latino 9.7%.
32.8%
of those are responsible for grandchildren under 18 years of age. This compares to 42.8 percent for the United States. 3,584 The number of Latino grandparents in 2010 living with their own grandchildren.
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
FESTIVALS Cinco de Mayo Annual event marking the Mexican holiday commemorating the 1862 Battle of Puebla, in which Mexican defenders defeated an invading French army. The event, which includes music, food vendors, a car show, petting zoo and children’s activities, is an opportunity to showcase Hispanic and Latino culture.
Juneteenth
The event is held in and around Lincoln Park and downtown Waterloo. Admission is free.
An annual, multi-day event held in mid-June at a number of sites throughout Waterloo, Juneteenth marks the freeing of the last slaves in the United States at the end of the Civil War. The event traditionally includes music, prayer, entertainment and exhibition booths.
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
Cedar Valley Pridefest
Irish Fest
Organizers held the second successful Cedar Valley Pridefest in August in downtown Waterloo highlighting the diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community of eastern Iowa in a positive and informative manner in an effort to promote acceptance, understanding and equality. The event included entertainers, music, information, food and vendors.
Iowa Irish Fest is dedicated to celebrating Irish culture in Iowa, takes place in the Lincoln Park area of downtown Waterloo and is held annually during the first full weekend of August.
North End Arts & Music Fest This annual event, held in late August, celebrates the arts and culture of Waterloo’s north end, the historical starting point for many of the ethnic groups that came to Waterloo. It was the entry point of the Italians, the Greeks, the Russians, the Germans, the AfricanAmericans and many others.
COURIER FILE PHOTOS
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Cedar Valley Inclusion
RESOURCES JESSE COSBY NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER www.jessecosby.org The Jesse Cosby Neighborhood Center provides community-based and culturally competent services to individuals and families in need of assistance and serves as the coordinating link between the greater community and available resources. 1112 Mobile St., Waterloo 232-1793
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CENTER OF HAWKEYE COMMUNITY COLLEGE The Martin Luther King Jr. Center is a neighborhood center that provides educational opportunities for the community. The center has a state-of-theart computer lab that is open to students and the community. 515 Beech St., Waterloo 319-296-4440
THE ARC CEDAR VALLEY NAACP www.naacpblackhawk.org Meetings are held at 7 p.m. the fourth Thursday of every month at the Jesse Cosby Center. 112 Mobile St., Waterloo 232-7150
BOSNIAN CULTURAL FOUNDATION www.bosnianculturalfoundation.org The Bosnian Cultural Foundation is a nonprofit organization in Waterloo that is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Bosnian and BosnianAmerican culture, traditions and artifacts. 242-1623
WATERLOO COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS www.ci.waterloo.ia.us/humanrights The Waterloo Commission on Human Rights is an organization committed to addressing and redressing all forms of discrimination. 620 Mulberry St. 291-4441
AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MUSEUM AAHCM is a boxcar museum whose mission is to promote greater knowledge of the African-American community in the Cedar Valley through the collection, preservation and interpretation of the historical past. 1320 E. Fourth St., Waterloo
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www.arccv.org The Arc’s mission is to advance the total well-being, dignity, individual potential and rights of people with intellectual and related developmental disabilities and their families. 232-0437
SPECIAL OLYMPICS www.soiowa.org Special Olympics is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition. Special Olympics offers children and adults with intellectual disabilities year-round training and competition in 26 Olympic-type summer and winter sports. There is no charge to participate in Special Olympics. (515) 986-5520
NORTH STAR COMMUNITY SERVICES www.northstarcs.org North Star is a private, non-profit rehabilitative services agency providing adult day services, employment services and supported community living services so individuals with disabilities are better able to live enriched lives in our communities. 3420 University Ave., Waterloo 236-0901
GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF NORTHEAST IOWA INC. www.gwneia.org 2640 Falls Ave., Waterloo 234-4626
EXCEPTIONAL PERSONS INC. www.episervice.org EPI was created to facilitate and coordinate the development of local activity centers for people with disabilities. 760 Ansborough Ave., Waterloo 232-6671
BLACK HAWK CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING www.blackhawkcenter.org Centers for Independent Living are private, nonprofit corporations that provide services to maximize the independence of individuals with disabilities and the accessibility of the communities they live in. Serves Benton, Bremer, Black Hawk, Butler, Grundy counties. 312 Jefferson St., Waterloo 291-7755
IOWA DEPARTMENT FOR THE BLIND www.blind.state.ia.us Iowa Department for the Blind offers specialized, integrated services that blind and severely visually impaired Iowans need to live independently and work competitively. Department services and programs include a library for the blind and physically handicapped, vocational rehabilitation services, independent living rehabilitation services, the adult orientation and adjustment center, business enterprises program, an aids and devices store, and public education and in-service training. Waterloo Branch 3420 University Ave., Suite A, Waterloo 226-3352 Compiled by Holly Hudson
Cedar Valley Inclusion
I belong. Meet Alan – a remarkable friend, cyclist and Veridian Credit Union member. Hear Alan and others share why they belong at Veridian.
veridiancu.org/inclusion 319.236.5600 CedarValleyInclusion.com | 43
Right Where Yo u Live.
WheatonIowa.org
Our associates reflect the diverse population we serve. When patients and their family members come to Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, they put their lives in our hands. That’s why it’s critical they receive the best care possible from caregivers who understand their particular needs. Our workforce has evolved to reflect the diversity of our patients. Diversity encompasses all the ways in which human beings are both similar and different. By employing associates who understand the health beliefs and practices prevalent in the community, we can help patients feel welcome and better understood while receiving the highest quality health care delivered with compassion and care. At Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, we utilize our “likenesses” and “differences” to continuously improve services, strengthen programs and increase community participation. We have talented and skilled associates from diverse backgrounds who embrace the needs of our patients.
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