Lakewood has historically been a very welcoming place for new Americans. Our area recently saw an influx of new residents from Southeast Asia, so we decided to host a financial literacy class for Nepali and Burmese-speaking people.
We regularly work with a group called Asian Services in Action (ASIA Inc.), so we decided to reach out to them since they had the expertise needed for the workshops. We held the program at our Madison branch, which is located in a neighborhood where a lot of immigrants settle.Â
We hosted one workshop for Nepali speakers and one for Burmese speakers, and they were both very well attended. I was surprised at the wide range of attendees — people who were 18 years old, people who were in their 70s, men, women, everybody. It was wonderful to see a very specific population well-represented. The program was entirely in the native languages so I had no idea what they were saying, but their body language and eye contact said it all.
Lakewood Public Library hosted a financial literacy workshop for Burmese and Nepali-speaking patrons.Â