From Classroom to Community: How CLC Students Power the Community Engagement Team

The Community Learning Center (CLC) has been working closely with the Community Engagement Team (CET) since the CET started in 2006. This year, CET is celebrating 20 years of working with Cambridge residents. CET helps people in Cambridge access resources, understand information, and navigate systems. The CET includes Outreach Workers for the Arabic, Amharic, Bangla, Haitian Creole, and Spanish-speaking and American-born Black communities.

Several CLC staff were involved in creating and supporting CET, and many CLC students have become Outreach Workers.

"I suffered a lot when I first moved to Cambridge. I didn't know where to go for anything. I did not have a job, and I could not speak English well," explains Rabeya Akther, a CET Outreach Worker for the Bangla-speaking community. "I started taking English classes at the CLC in 2004. One day I saw the Outreach Workers meeting at the CLC. I learned how Outreach Workers share information with their communities. I loved it!" The job of CET Outreach Workers is to connect with their cultural communities to share resources, programs, and services in Cambridge.

"I started helping at the CLC and sharing information with other students. I did not want them to suffer like me. Carole saw me helping people at the CLC and hired me to be an Outreach Worker!" says Rabeya. Carole DeSousa was one of the founders of CET.

A goal of Outreach Workers is to build personal connection with residents and help them feel included in the Cambridge community. "People come to Cambridge and they don't know how to search for resources. They are a little bit lost," explains Carrine Bury, a CET Outreach Worker for the Haitian Creole -speaking community. "They need someone to guide them and tell them, 'This is where you can pay this. This is where you can learn English. This is where you can find food if you don't have enough food. This is how to apply for a food pantry, health insurance, or school."

Rabeya and Carrine both started as Outreach Workers in 2007. Since then, they have each grown professionally. Carrine now works full-time as the CET Lead Outreach Coordinator. Rabeya works at the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee (CEOC) as a Community Advocate and Educator and part-time as a CET Outreach Worker.

Over the past 20 years, CET has grown. There are now 18 Outreach Workers across two CET teams (CET@CDD and CET@DHSP) based at the City's Department of Human Service Programs (DHSP) and Community Development Department (CDD). There six current or former CLC students working as Outreach Workers.

"At CET there are many professional paths now for Outreach Workers. You can run workshops, work with other programs and build long lasting relationships with families. For example, when I first started working as an Outreach Worker, most people in my community did not think about sending their kids to college. CET started holding workshops about the U.S. education system and how to navigate it. Now many children in my community are going to college and I have parents who still call me after their kids finish college asking for resources!" says Rabeya.

During CET's 20th Anniversary celebration, Toyba Ahmed, an Outreach Worker for the Amharic speaking community shared how she is growing professionally and personally. "Now that I have graduated from the CLC, I plan to continue studying at Bunker Hill Community College and keep working as an outreach worker. Being an Outreach Worker has helped me learn more about my community and helped me be more confident."

Do you want to learn more about CET? Sign up for the Community Engagement Team's newsletter to get quarterly updates about CET's work and Outreach Workers.