communication skills

[Jack Scannell <jack@ecoss.org>]

I'm Jack Scannell, program manager for the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS).  We're non-profit and have been a proactive environmental education services organization in the area since 1994.  Our website at www.ecoss.org has detailed  information about our history and programs.  Prior to joining ECOSS as a pollution prevention specialist to manage our Region 10 Environmental Justice P2 program, I was a working in the Office of Air in the region as an inspector and outreach educator
for the CFC program. 

My work at ECOSS involves both the public and private businesses. The public work is the result of our managing/administrating the Household Hazardous Waste program for King County.  In this program, we have 6 outreach educators from the various minority population communities in south King County including, the Vietnamese, Chinese, East African (Ethiopian, etc.) Hispanic.  

My primary interest and focus in being part of this forum is to represent the segment of the general population that is lacking the communications skills necessary to have access to the public information that the Agency generates.

During my 4-state inspection/outreach activities with the EPA, frequently came into contact  with small business owners who could not read or write.  Unbelievable as it sounds in today's modern America, it still exists.  These people never volunteer this information because, in most cases, they are embarrassed about it.  The only reason that I learned this fact was in following up on several owners who did not respond to our official certified Violation Action letters.

More recently, while managing our Household Hazardous Waste program with our multicultural educators, I have learned that, in many of these communities, the adult immigrants do not learn our language, but prefer to preserve their language and culture as much as possible.  In that sense, also, they read newspapers and listen to radio in their own language.  

Both of these examples represent a serious public access problem when it comes to official US government outreach efforts.  I would like to hear what others may have to say about this issue.