Decibel
Teaching Goodbye
Clip | 4m 35sVideo has Closed Captions
She helps families with any resources they need. Lately they need help leaving.
As the parent support specialist at Palm Elementary, Sonia Hernandez’s job is helping parents with any resources they may need. But lately what they need help with is leaving town – and the services she provides.
Decibel is a local public television program presented by Austin PBS
Funding for Decibel is provided in part by Texas Mutual and Roxanne Elder & Scott Borders
Decibel
Teaching Goodbye
Clip | 4m 35sVideo has Closed Captions
As the parent support specialist at Palm Elementary, Sonia Hernandez’s job is helping parents with any resources they may need. But lately what they need help with is leaving town – and the services she provides.
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[Sonia] My name is Sonia Hernandez, and I am the parent support specialist here at Palm Elementary.
Our job is to bring resources to the families, food resources, transportation, medical, legal advice, Write me in English, in inglése... [Sonia] I myself do ESL classes.
Any resources that they might need that's what we assist them with.
It's a very friendly community.
We're small, but we're strong.
And if we only had a way to keep them here, that'd be great.
How do you think the baby bird felt when he fell out of the nest?
[Sonia] Housing is a big issue.
[tense music plays] [Sonia] Here at Palm, we've lost a lot of kids due to the fact that rents are very high.
Yes, we have beautiful apartments being built around our community, but still, it's not affordable for our families.
And it's sad because, the best thing is for them to be in the city close to their schools.
A lot of our people that are struggling with housing is is the immigrants.
A lot of these people they're paid with cash.
And a lot of programs require either some type of statement, your income tax.
They are always afraid that they're going to be reported.
[Sonia] A lot of people get their vouchers, but yet it doesn't matter.
Either those apartments that accept it are full or there just not any available.
[typing on keyboard] It's like call call.
You have to be calling and if you get it, you get it, right?
It's so even hard for me to do something, because if I know that I don't have nothing to put this family in, I need to try to be very careful because what if they throw them out?
Where am I going to put them?
You know, then they'll be out there with children.
[copy machine printing] Sometimes I'll find an apartment, but like I said, it's really far.
Even if I was to assist them with bus and transportation like they would get up at five in the morning just to come over here.
So I'm I tell them the wise thing to do is just put them in whatever school is closest to you.
But then again, a lot of programs that they don't have that we have available.
You know?
Scared.
Yeah, he was scared.
[Sonia] It's hard.
It is very hard.
What can we do?
If I heard the baby bird crying, I would say, Is he sick?
Esta infermo?
Esta--is he hurt?
Qué es hurt, Brenda?
We do what we can.
[soft music plays] Jenna, how do you show your love?
[Sonia] I need to be here because I don't know who's going to knock on my door asking for some type of information.
I wish I won the lotto and get a big piece of land and do a lot of homes for these people because they deserve it.
They're just here for a better life.
And like I told all of the families, don't think that because your kids are no longer in our school, you cannot come in and ask.
this is not a what is your immigration status but who you are as a human being.
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Decibel is a local public television program presented by Austin PBS
Funding for Decibel is provided in part by Texas Mutual and Roxanne Elder & Scott Borders