Meet Horacio. Horacio is the newest member of our Samaritan Services team. He came to us after we put a call out for a bi-lingual, Spanish/English Case Manager to help us better connect with our local Latino & Hispanic population. He has been with us for about three months now, (yes, his first day was just after the Covid-19 shut down!) and he has stepped smoothly into our operation.
Horacio is originally from Guatemala where, after finishing law school, he followed in his father’s footsteps serving in ministerial leadership within the local Lutheran church. In the early 2000’s Horacio traveled to St. Paul, MN to improve his English with the intention of helping to improve relations between the Guatemalan and US Lutheran churches. It was in the basement of a St. Paul Lutheran church where Horacio first met his future wife. Shortly after he returned home, she traveled to Guatemala where they were eventually married and lived for 10 years. They returned to St. Paul in 2013, both working in Ministry at several ELCA Lutheran Churches until his wife received a call late last year from Creator Lutheran near Lake Tapps.
The timing couldn’t have been better for POM! In late 2019, we received a grant from King County Veterans, Seniors & Human Services Levy which funded a Spanish speaking Case Manager. It has been many years since POM has had a bi-lingual Case Manager. For the last several years we were able to provide a very part time interpreter during Food Bank but, without the consistent ability to communicate about very difficult situations during case management, we knew we weren’t providing the very best service. Enter Horacio.
Horacio says he was drawn to the mission of POM which prioritizes helping clients be part of their own solution for moving out of crisis. He explains, “I did similar work in marginalized areas of Guatemala. After 36 years of civil war in my country, there were many families that needed help finding a way out of crisis.” Horacio also appreciates the faith element of POM. Even though POM operates with a strict commitment to non-proselytization, faith is allowed to be part of the discussion when led by the client. “Faith is important to me. I didn’t want to be limited by not ever allowing God into the conversation.”
While many of our Latino & Hispanic clients speak at least some English, and most are working hard to learn, the subject matter of most conversations for assistance can be technical, making it difficult for a non-Spanish speaking case manager to put the client at ease. Horacio has been able to seamlessly bridge that gap and provide a place that helps clients feel safe and welcomed. He has come to know many of the families and shares a common connection of being an immigrant in the US. He says many of the people he works with right now have been hit especially hard. “These are hard working people. Many work in the industries that have been decimated: construction, cleaning, domestic services, food service, etc. Some of those businesses are beginning to open back up, but it may be some time before we get back to ‘normal’.”
We are exceedingly grateful that Horacio was looking for the perfect job just when we were looking for someone with his exact skill set. That sort of thing seems to happen a lot around here, some call it coincidence; we like to think it’s a “God thing”. Either way, we are thankful for Horacio’s passion and skill and are excited to better serve a vital part of our small but mighty community!