"I have so many friends now from all over the world - it's great!" said Taylor Levy, a volunteer intern with Intercambio de Comunidades, which means 'Exchange of Communities'. Intercambio opens its doors to all nonnative English speakers and offers free English classes which are taught by trained volunteers, and plans intercultural events for over 700 immigrants throughout Boulder County. The nonprofit organization was started in 2000 by two college students with a vision of building bridges between immigrants and the local population.

Levi is responsible for interviewing potential students and assessing their level of English acquisition so that they can be placed appropriately. Classes teach life skills and how to thrive in the community, and are offered at local schools, libraries and at student's homes. She also does outreach and visits local businesses, e.g. fast food restaurants, to find people who would benefit from the program. She said she lived in Chile for several months and knows "it is very stressful to be an outsider in a different country, and it meant so much to me when someone helped me."

Levi said currently 36 countries are represented among the students. She counted off on her fingers, "Japan, China, Korea, Nepal, Russia, Sweden and Italy to name some, but there are more." She added, "I especially enjoy the potlucks! There is a huge amount of food from all over, and much talking and eating."

Vicki Holdridge, a Director at Intercambio, said, "Weekends and weekdays, day or night, Taylor can be found doing assessments, recruiting new volunteers, calling hundreds of students to make sure their classes are going well, and more. We are so grateful for all of her help, and the enthusiasm she brings to every project."

Levi has volunteered at a homeless shelter in Denver, where she lived for a week. She has also spent two weeks on a Navajo reservation studying poverty and environmental issues, and one week with Youth Corps working with at-risk teenagers. In addition, she has in special interest in the deaf population and is learning American Sign Language (ASL) when she has spare time. She mentioned that Spanish Sign Language is different from ASL, and she wants to help facilitate communication between Latino parents who have deaf children in the school system over here.

Levi, a Denver native, is a junior at the University of Colorado in Boulder majoring in Sociology and International Affairs. In addition she is working on a two year leadership program, INVST; her internship is through this program. This summer will find her in Mexico with the INVST program studying border issues and immigration. Later she will be traveling to Argentina to work on her honors thesis - a comparative study of integration of the deaf community in Argentina and Chile.

For information about volunteering with Intercambio de Comunidades or other agencies, call the Volunteer Connection at 303-444-4904, or go to our Volunteer Central.