Alliance for Cultural
and Ethnic Harmony

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Becky Arenas is a parent educator and social worker with Life Services Systems. She has been very active for many years in Latin Americans United for Progress (LAUP) and other Hispanic organizations and in voter registration efforts. She has lived in the area for over 50 years, and is a graduate of Hope College and Holland High School. Becky has seven adult children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. She says, "I believe in the work that ACEH does, and how we reach out to other cultures; I would like to do more of that."

Natalie Avila a Holland High School junior, a youth representative to ACEH since the fall of 2007, has been elected to a full board position. She is a graduate of the Neighborhood Leadership Academy, active in choir and a child care volunteer at Resurrection Life church, takes part in Dutch Dance, and has been a cashier at Family Fare. In May she is running for Queen of the Latin Americans United for Progress (LAUP) Fiesta. Natalie is the youngest in a family of three brothers and another sister. She says: "I want to contribute to my community and be a link to other young people."

Linda Blauwkamp operates the Leaf and Bean, a Holland cafe where, she says, everyone is valued as a person first, second, and last. She is a graduate of Hope College and Western Seminary and the mother of six adult children. Linda says her friendship with Joy Forgwe, a single mother of four African-Dutch children, opened her eyes to many things she would never have learned in her own community. She became a part of the ACEH board to "be involved in opening the eyes of others."

Jack Hyde a high school special education teacher in New Jersey and suburban Chicago for many years, retired to Holland in 2000. He has a master's degree in special education and is author of "Just Another Brick or How I Survived over 8500 School Lunches," an education memoir and treatise. He writes a weekly column for the Holland Sentinel. Jack says: "When we moved to Holland, my biggest fear was that there would be a lack of diverse population. I have been pleased to learn otherwise; lives are strengthened by diverse people who gather in friendship and trust and learn from one another. Celebrating our diversity in ethnicity, faith, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, and age is a positive option to ignoring differences or trying to fit them into a preconceived mold. ACEH leads in many ways with positive examples and I want to help that continue and grow."

Bin Lim has been an ACEH member from its founding and has served as treasurer. He is an engineer, retired from Herman Miller, and active in the Lakeshore Interfaith Institute. Bin and his wife, Lisa, have 4 children and 2 grandchild. He says, "I think ACEH is a unique organization attracting progressive, open-minded, and compassionate people who are trying to dismantle the (sometimes ever so subtle) social injustices in our community by getting involved in discussion in a very personal way. We have to educate ourselves and the community, to get rid of our prejudices and unconscious false understanding of others. I have no choice but to be active and hope to attract others to do the same."

Norma Luna works part-time as a nurse for a local agency and as an on-call instruction aide for Holland Public Schools. She was on the Holland Human Relations Commission 1993-95 and has been active in the community, taking part in the Neighborhood Leadership Academy and Holland Citizen Police Academy. She coordinates the All For One Dance group led by her teenage daughter, Dominique Vargas. Norma also has two adult sons and two grandchildren. She says: "I want to be part of the board to contribute a little of my past as well as my growing knowledge of working with diverse groups in the community. I can share ideas that we use to continue our diverse dance program and hear how young people feel about barriers that exist because of discrimination. We need to promote unity."

Rev. Angela Taylor Perry is pastor of Reconciliation Ministries at Faith Christian Reformed Church, Holland; her Hearts in Harmony program seeks to intentionally create multiracial friendships. An artist, poet, and vocalist, in 2005 she was the first African American woman to graduate from Calvin Theological Seminary. Angela is married, with adult children and several grandchildren, and defines herself as a "22-year survivor of multiple sclerosis." She says: "I believe my desire to bring people into harmonious reconciliation is also the passion of Alliance people. I have found ACEH to be a group of sincere folk who have a passion and an appreciation for people of all nations. Because I have a need to be connected multiculturally, I want to walk my journey of life with others who have the same need."

Mary Yedinak taught in Holland Public Schools for 29 years, including elementary school physically and health-impaired children and sixth grade science and communications arts students; she retired in 2000 and substitute-teaches at Corpus Christi Catholic School. She was active in the Holland Education Association, serving as treasurer and as a negotiator. Mary says, "As a Catholic, a single person, and with non-Dutch heritage, I have had some interesting experiences in Holland." Mary previously filled the remaining term of board member Dan Cornelissen and has now been elected to a full term. She says: "We are diverse in many ways. I believe everyone should be treated equally and with dignity. I wish to help promote that treatment for everyone."

Marvin Younger taught elementary students in Holland Public Schools for more than 30 years, receiving many state and local awards; for 20 summers he trained teachers in Micronesia. He volunteers on the Holland Area Arts Council board, Holland Human Relations Commission, Lakeshore Area Youth Leadership board, International Relations Commission, and Upward Bound. Marvin says, "As a board member, I hope to foster a respect for and acceptance of the diversity that is so much a part of Holland, working to build bridges of communication between ethnic groups and the city, and examining ways to involve all stakeholders in the life of this community."

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