Torus

TORUS BRIDGES GAPS BETWEEN PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES BY FACILITATING TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCES OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE EXCHANGE. WE OFFER FREE VIRTUAL AND SOME IN-PERSON ENGLISH CLASSES TO IMMIGRANTS, REFUGEES AND LOW-INCOME POPULATIONS. WE ALSO HAVE AN EDUCATIONAL APP CALLED THE TORUS APP DESIGNED TO PROVIDE COVID-19 VACCINE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES TO IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE POPULATION IN OREGON. THIS APP IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE AT TORUSTRANSFORMS.ORG

IN 2021, TORUS PROVIDED 4,106 HOURS OF ENGLISH CLASSES (3,578 HOURS OF ONE-ON-ONE CLASSES AND 528 HOURS OF GROUP CLASSES) TO 230 ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS. ENGLISH LEARNERS IN OUR PROGRAM COME FROM MANY DIFFERENT LANGUAGE BACKGROUNDS AND A TOTAL OF 26 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES WERE REPRESENTED. EXAMPLES OF THE LANGUAGES SPOKEN ARE SPANISH, RUSSIAN, THAI, VIETNAMESE, AND FARSI. TORUS VOLUNTEERS HAVE BEEN ESSENTIAL IN THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROGRAM AND A TOTAL OF 229 ESL INSTRUCTORS PARTICIPATED IN 2021. VOLUNTEERS FROM OREGON AND ACROSS UNITED STATES HAVE BEEN GETTING INVOLVED IN THIS VIRTUAL OPPORTUNITY AND SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY HERE IN OREGON. TORUS HAS COLLABORATED WITH THE ROSEWOOD INITIATIVE TO VACCINATE PEOPLE IN SE PORTLAND. WE PROVIDED BILINGUAL INTERPRETERS TO BRIDGE THE CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC GAPS AND HELP WITH VACCINATION EFFORTS. AFTER TAKING OUR ENGLISH CLASSES, SOME LEARNERS EXPRESSED INTEREST IN GETTING THE VACCINE, OTHERS WERE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING TOO! WE INVITED LEARNERS TO VOLUNTEER AND INTERPRET WITH US AS WELL AS GET VACCINATED AT ROSEWOOD. FROM MAY 2021 TO OCTOBER 2021 TORUS VOLUNTEERS AND INTERPRETERS HAVE HELPED THE ROSEWOOD INITIATIVE TO VACCINATE APPROXIMATELY 200 SE PORTLANDERS EACH SATURDAY FROM 12 PM TO 5 PM PST. FOR PICTURES CLICK ON THIS LINK: HTTPS://WWW.TORUSTRANSFORMS.ORG/NEW-PAGE

FROM JUNE 2021 TO AUGUST 2021 TORUS HAS PROVIDED ENGLISH GROUP CLASSES TO IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES, LANGUAGE LEARNERS, AND LOW-INCOME POPULATIONS. THE MAIN TOPIC FOR EACH SESSION WAS COVID-19 AND VACCINE ACCESS. THE GOAL FOR LEARNERS WAS TO DO A PRESENTATION ABOUT COVID-19 AT THE END OF AUGUST. THE SPECIFIC TOPICS THAT WE COVERED DURING OUR SESSIONS WERE ABOUT THE DIFFERENT VARIANTS OF COVID-19 (DELTA, GAMMA, BETA, ALPHA, LAMBDA). IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE COVERED GENERAL CDC RECOMMENDED GUIDELINES ABOUT SELF-CARE, WEARING MASKS, MAINTAINING SOCIAL DISTANCING, OREGON STATE MANDATES REGARDING COVID-19, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING VACCINATED AS WELL AS VACCINE REGISTRATION AND ACCESS. EACH LEARNER WAS REQUIRED TO SHOW UP TO FOUR CLASSES TO RECEIVE A STIPEND OF $200. MOST LEARNERS EXPRESSED GRATITUDE AND MENTIONED THAT THE STIPENDS ARE GOING TO HELP THEM WITH PAYING RENT AND GROCERIES. OUTCOME: 57 OREGON LEARNERS WERE SERVED, 42 OF WHICH REACHED THE 4 REQUIRED ATTENDANCE COUNT TO BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THE STIPENDS CLASSES WERE ATTENDED 324 TIMES ACROSS 57 OREGON LEARNERS LANGUAGES REPRESENTED IN THESE CLASSES WERE: RUSSIAN, TAGALOG, FARSI, DARI, SPANISH, THAI, VIETNAMESE, JAPANESE, UKRAINIAN, ARABIC, ROHINGYA, MANDARIN CHINESE, KOREAN, AND PORTUGUESE

IN 2021, THE TORUS AMBASSADOR PROGRAM CONDUCTED 148 HOURS OF VIRTUAL LANGUAGE MEETUPS ACROSS 5 MEETUPS (JAPANESE, SPANISH, MANDARIN RUSSIAN AND VIETNAMESE). WE PROVIDED THESE SESSIONS WITH 6 VIETNAMESE-SPEAKING VOLUNTEERS, 4 SPANISH-SPEAKING VOLUNTEERS, 4 MANDARIN-SPEAKING VOLUNTEERS, 4 RUSSIAN-SPEAKING VOLUNTEERS, AND 6 JAPANESE-SPEAKING VOLUNTEERS (TOTAL 24 MEETUP VOLUNTEERS).

WE DEVELOPED AN APP CALLED THE TORUS APP WHICH IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES ABOUT COVID-19 IN SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH TO IMMIGRANT, REFUGEE, AND LOW-INCOME POPULATIONS. THE APP HAS BEEN TRANSLATED TO THREE CRITICAL LANGUAGES THAT OUR CONSTITUENTS SPEAK. NAMELY, DARI, RUSSIAN, AND THAI. THE APP IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE AT TORUSTRANSFORMS.ORG