Education and Tutoring Programs

Overview

RC students put their language skills and time to work helping others learn, from tutoring local kids to supporting adults building new lives in the U.S. These programs pair hands-on service with coursework, so you grow as both a learner and a community member.

Freedom House Detroit: Freedom House Detroit (FHD) is a nonprofit organization that supports people from around the world who are seeking asylum in the U.S., offering comprehensive services, including legal help. Through an RC French service-learning course, you can help FHD clients develop their English language proficiency and navigate American culture, while learning about the postcolonial political contexts of the Francophone African countries from which FHD residents originate, as well as the U.S. asylum process.
PALMA: PALMA (Proyecto Avance: Latino Mentoring Association) is a twice-weekly tutoring group where you help Latino children in the Ann Arbor area with schoolwork and support adults learning English. Tutors come from across the university and bring a range of Spanish skill levels, all working to encourage academic success and the value of higher education.

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Freedom House Detroit

Freedom House Detroit (FHD) is a temporary home and lifetime community for people from across the globe who are fleeing persecution and seeking asylum in the US. FHD provides a continuum of comprehensive services designed to support clients throughout their asylum journey -- from shelter and legal aid to language and customs skill-building to preparation for living and working in the US.

Underpinning these services are staff, volunteers, donors, partner organizations, community groups, and FHD alumni who form a community of support around every client.

The Residential College French Program offers a service-learning course in which students engage with the clients at Freedom House Detroit.

Are you an advanced student in French interested in helping asylum seekers?

French Service-Learning RCCORE 309.011

Fall 2026 - T 4:15-8:30 pm, Th 4:00-5:20 pm (Butler-Borruat) (2 or 3 credits)

If so, you might want to consider enrolling in this French service-learning course, which partners with Freedom House Detroit. The course can be taken for 2 or 3 credits and counts toward the majors and minors in French and Francophone Studies and Romance Languages and Literatures, as well as toward the CASC minor. Please note that priority will be given to students with senior standing. If you are interested, please contact Dominique Butler-Borruat (dborruat@umich.edu).

Read about how volunteering at Freedom House set RC student Brett Graham on his graduate school trajectory.

Donation to Freedom House will be appreciated.

PALMA

PALMA (Proyecto Avance, Latino Mentoring Association) is a twice-weekly tutoring group that helps Latino students in the Ann Arbor area with their schoolwork, and helps adults with basic English as a Second Language instruction. Our primary goal is to help foster academic excellence by encouraging the students to learn and monitoring their progress. We also hope working in a university environment will promote the importance of a post-secondary education.

Who are we?

PALMA draws its tutors mainly from University students who can communicate in Spanish (we accept various skill levels) and works with Latino children of all ages as well as adults.

Step inside a PALMA tutoring session and the program's end-of-term celebration with families at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. This short film captures the relationships between tutors, students, and the wider Ann Arbor community.
In April 2018, we celebrated our 15th anniversary. Read about this milestone here.
Learn more about PALMA by contacting the program's advisor, Cristhian Espinoza-Pino.

Last Updated: 07/07/2026

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Education and Tutoring Programs

Overview

Freedom House Detroit

PALMA