Description
- Abstract:
- Matilda Maria Amaral A member of the same parish for 33 years, Matilda Amaralâs life has been marked by her respect for the Church and concern for others. Her connections to Fox Point reflect these interests expanding her reach in the community through her food pantry and work with the needy. Of this she says, "I always had a soft spot in my heart for the less needy and coming here to this parish Iâd always see the homeless⦠and I always felt bad so I decided to do something about itâ¦our [Holy Rosary Food Pantry] mission is to help the needy, regardless of race, ethnicity, no matter who they are we help anyone that comes to our door and its to help them toward self sufficiency." Matildaâs experiences in Rhode Island draw connections between these two aspects of her life. After moving to East Providence as a young adult, she says she still maintained contact with the Portuguese population and the church. Her involvement with Holy Rosary Church emerged following her arrival in the Fox Point neighborhood and served as a connection to the larger lusophone community. "The neighborhood. It was mostly Portuguese in that street and they were very welcoming, the people, actually, when we came." She immigrated here in 1973 and of her expectations in coming to America she says, "I was 11 ½ and all I could think was like paradise, and you could have chocolate for breakfast and lunch." She describes the church and the broader Portuguese community as being definitive of the Fox Point neighborhood.
Citation
"Interview with Matilda Amaral"
(2008).
Fox Point Project.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:1149825/
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Transcript of interview with Matilda Maria Amaral
- Type: Transcript
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Interview with Matilda Amaral
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Fox Point Project
Since 2008, students from the Brown Center for Public Humanities have worked with Professor Anne Valk on collaborative projects to preserve and present the cultural heritage and social history of the Fox Point neighborhood. An archival collection of oral history …...