Shelly Hines

DANVILLE, KY—Shelly Hines, a junior from Science Hill, Ky., is Centre College's Volunteer of the Month for her innovative work in public education in the Danville/Boyle County area.

Working in cooperation with Centro Latino, a community agency dedicated to advocacy and support for local Hispanics, Hines applied for a Bonner enrichment grant to provide resources for a much-needed public forum. The Bonner Foundation is a program that provides students with access to education and the opportunity to serve.

According to Patrick Noltemeyer, director of volunteer service and Bonner program coordinator, "Often, individuals who immigrate to the United States are unaware of the laws governing driving or how to obtain a driver’s license. To address this problem, Shelly worked with Centro Latino to hire an interpreter and educators to train affected local people on these issues. The free public program was hosted at the Boyle County Public Library. Shelly is to be commended for not only identifying the problem, but for taking steps to combat it."

Hines arranged for speakers at the event, including a field officer from the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights and Danville's assistant police chief, and counts the program a success.

"There were approximately 50 people at the 'charla' on March 16," Hines says.

"At Centro Latino, we hope to host future programs on similar topics, perhaps on a monthly basis. Possibilities include a workshop with American Automobile Association in Spanish on driving regulations and inviting the Mexican Consulate to Danville to issue identification cards called 'matriculo consular' so that Latinos will have government-issued identification verifying their residence in Kentucky."

Hines, a Spanish and anthropology/sociology double major, plans to become a Spanish interpreter. During the past three years, she has been exploring her career interest in interpreting by learning about and becoming involved in the Latino community.  

In October 2005 she was certified in Spanish medical interpreting through a 40-hour course called "Bridging the Gap," which was offered by Catholic Charities of Louisville and Centro Latino. She has studied abroad in Mexico and in Ecuador and is a student representative for the Spanish program at Centre and a member of Sigma Delta Pi national Spanish language fraternity. In addition to working at Centro Latino as a Bonner leader, she tutors both high school and college students in Spanish.

Centro Latino was established in 2004 with a 3M Vision grant in an effort to assist Central Kentucky’s growing Latino population. As a free resource center for Latinos, the overall focus of Centro Latino is to network with social service agencies in Danville and connect area Latinos with the services and opportunities they offer. Since many Latinos are new to the area and frequently intimidated by language barriers, they are often unaware that these services exist. Additionally, Centro Latino offers free Internet access to Latinos and its staff volunteers to interpret, conduct clothing and school supplies drives, assist clients at various medical appointments, assist in sight translation of documents, and organize social and educational programs for community enrichment.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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