Moving to a new country and starting over can be daunting for anyone. As we continue to follow the resettlement process for the latest wave of migrants who arrived from New York City to the Hudson Valley in mid-May, we shed light on what the community in Poughkeepsie is doing to support the migrants during this adjustment period, and how it’ll ultimately help weave the men into the social fabric of our country.

Inside this church in Poughkeepsie, three times a week, is where you’ll find ESL instructor Stephen Haff. He’s been working with immigrants and refugees since the 1990s.

First in New York City and now here in the Hudson Valley, he’s leading the effort to teach English to the newest members of the community: migrants who recently arrived in the area from the city, by way of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Haff says this job is his calling.

“I am very passionate about the work, and for whatever reason it makes me happy, I feel useful, I have something that I can offer that people need, and that feels wonderful,” he said.

Here, there’s no strict curriculum and attendance isn’t mandatory. Some migrant men are busy establishing their new lives in the community and for them, Haff says, flexibility is key. He says the men who speak different languages like Spanish, Arabic, and French, come from different backgrounds. But their goal is the same: to learn English and ultimately, get employed.

“The men are very excited to learn English; they love practicing what they’ve learned in class,” Haff said. “And they just genuinely seem to take pleasure in it, but also it’s essential to them, if they want to become a part of life in this community or in other communities in this country.”

Alpha Ousmane is a 31-year-old native French-speaker from Guinea. He says it’s his dream to speak English. He admits he’s got his work cut out for him.

“It’s not easy for me. For the moment, it’s not easy, it’s very hard,” Ousmane said.

Mohamed Hassen is from Mauritania and is a native Arabic-speaker. He says he’s grateful for this opportunity and likes learning English here.

“My teacher Stephen is good,” Hassen said.

Haff says he loves when the students are fully engaged and when he can see and hear that good things are happening.

“I provide dialogues, dramatic scenes for them to translate, and pronounce, and eventually memorize and act out,” Haff said. “Because I tell them the world is a stage, and we are all actors and we need to learn our lines.”

On this day, it’s a smaller turnout than the usual crowd. Haff says he plans to continue the ESL classes indefinitely. As long as there are people who want to learn English, he says, his doors will be open.

“It’s this attitude of being thankful for the opportunity that lifts me up as a teacher, and makes me want to keep going,” he said.

It’s a no-cost opportunity for migrants to form deeper relationships in the community through language and accomplish their dreams of building a life in the U.S.

Haff says the migrants come to his classroom at different levels with some knowing zero English, and others being fairly familiar with it. The class is broken up into small groups with volunteer tutors, and the students often help one another.