Authors Among Us Yard Sale Proceeds Will Go Toward Book Project

There are many yard sales held in Chelsea, but this may be the first from which a book is sprung.

Author and educator Stacy Amaral is pictured at the welcoming table for the yard sale that was held Saturday.

Chelsea resident Stacy Amaral and the weekly adult English-Spanish class that she coordinates will use the proceeds from last Saturday’s yard sale on Clark Avenue to write a new book about immigrants’ experiences in their home country and in Chelsea.

The group has received a grant from the Chelsea Cultural Council. In order to meet the remaining expenses for the publishing of the book, the group decided to hold a yard sale fundraiser. The class itself is supported by Chelsea Community Connections.

For the book, Amaral will conduct individual interviews with the members of the class. The residents are originally from Puerto Rico, Honduras, El Salavador, Cape Verde, and Zambia. 

“I’ll transcribe their interviews, write them out, and then we’ll put the book together and get it printed,” said Amaral. “It’s a wonderful group of people that I’m working with in this class.”

The name of the book will be “Estamos Aqui (We Are Here.”

Amaral grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., New Jersey, and Puerto Rico and lived in Central America. She is a 1969 graduate of Clark University and holds a Master’s degree in Educational Counseling. She was a teacher and an adjustment counselor in the Worcester school system and founded a dropout prevention program for Latino youth in Worcester.

She is an author who previously wrote “Sharing Voices: Getting From There to Here.” She has also written articles for educational publications.

Interestingly, there were many old books being sold at the yard sale. There was also delicious Latino food items for sale. Neighbors poured in to the yard to support the yard sale and wish the  well with its book project.

“We are grateful for the residents coming to our yard sale,” said Amaral, who has lived in Chelsea for four years.

Amaral’s next project is the building of a new garden at the corner of Marlboro and Willow Streets. The effort is being funded by the Community Preservation Act.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *