As a member of the Charlottesville community, Poveda is part of several local initiatives that support and advocate for immigrant neighbors: the C’ville Immigrant Freedom Fund, the Charlottesville Immigrant Transit Assistance Group, the Hands Off Maria campaign (which seeks to protect a Latinx immigrant who has been granted sanctuary in a local church) and Sin Barreras.
Now in her eighth year at UVA, Poveda teaches “Writing for Social Justice and Change,” a Spanish course in the Civic & Community Engagement Program.
In the two-semester course, students hone their grammatical and writing skills while reading and discussing works by authors who have used writing as a tool for social justice and change.
In addition, they take part in a community engagement project through Madison House or the UVA’s Latino Health Initiative in which they must complete 18 to 20 hours of volunteer work with local organizations in the fields of immigration and education, health or social work.
“Their experiences inform the curriculum,” Poveda said. “For me, as a teacher, the biggest challenge is to bring together the experience outside of the classroom with what we do in class.
“We do regular reflections and talk about what it means to be a volunteer. We also talk about privilege and what it means to work for social justice.”
Katie Dodds, a second-year student in the College of Arts & Sciences, said the community outreach component of the class has been, for her, the most valuable part of the course.
Dodds has been working with Madison House’s Latinx and Migrant Aid Program, LAMA, at its Cherry Avenue site. Each week, volunteers work on homework one-on-one with children, in a pair that is sustained throughout the semester to facilitate close bonds between tutor and student.