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44 2O24–2O2 5 GU I D E to Y E L LOW S P R I NG S understanding inspired her to speak out in spaces where diversity and identity were part of community conversation. Doing so laid the groundwork for what would become more than a decade of social justice work, much of it centered on advocacy for immigrants and refugees. Hsu herself spent seven years as an immigrant in Tel Aviv, Israel, with Mazursky, who is Israeli. Being new to a country and culture in which she was often “the other,” she said, was sometimes isolating. “I’m a community-oriented person,” she said. “I was con- stantly fighting to figure out what it meant to contribute to the community in a society in which a lot of facets were saying, ‘We don’t want you here.’” Hsu said her desire to con - nect with others led her to embark on several projects, including establishing and cooking for Taiwanese food pop-ups and working on a goat farm. She also began working with Kav LaOved, an organiza - tion centered on providing labor rights support, education and legal representation to Palestinian and migrant work - ers in Israel. This work, in combination with her own cultural identity, she said, sometimes garnered pushback from folks who saw her — and those she supported through Kav LaOved — as “outsiders.” Nevertheless, Hsu — at the time already fluent in English and Mandarin — was emboldened to learn to speak Hebrew as a way to further connect with those around her. “My experience learning Hebrew had been within that framework of being pushed out for my opinions,” she said. “So we started this radical language-learning program; we were learning and teaching Hebrew and Arabic and Rus - sian. The program grew; teach- ers were students, students were teachers.” Language, Hsu said, can be a powerful tool for and within communities. After moving to Yellow Springs, she worked for a time as a Mandarin-language interpreter through Columbus- based Asian American Com- munity Services. Working as an interpreter meant lending her voice to Chinese women who were being exploited as work- ers in illicit massage parlors in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. And people coming together to learn a language, she added, can be an “incredible space to build community.” Hsu said when she first moved to the village, she and Mazursky made time to meet regularly with friends and learn languages together — Spanish, Farsi, Mandarin, Arabic, Hebrew. The process, she said, meant that those gathered together had to give and receive vulnerability and trust in a way that was both humbling and gratifying. “You have to be willing to put yourself essentially in the position of being like a child — you don’t know the words, you’re frustrated and scared and you don’t want to sound stupid,” she said. “And you’re going to sound stupid,” she added with a laugh. “But you’ll learn and grow from it — so I think everyone should try to learn a language, if they can.” As she became part of the Yellow Springs community, Hsu joined the boards of two local nonprofits, Home, Inc. and the YS Community Foundation, or YSCF. Both organizations are, in their own ways, devoted to community-building: Home, Inc. by building homes for low- income residents, and YSCF by providing support for local nonprofit organizations. It was through her involve- ment with YSCF that Hsu embarked on another project that aims to build community — in this case, by addressing economic instability in the vil- lage. In 2022, Hsu and fellow YSCF board member Len Kramer worked to establish let's connect | llamame 864-650-5886 YourMiamiValleyGirl laura.pardorao@coldwellbanker.com YoUR RelocatIon & RenoVatIon connectIon Laura Pardo Rao Realtor ® A villager for over 15 years, I love helping people come home to the Miami Valley. With a background in marketing and investing, I will bring my passion for real estate and renovation to your home sale or search. ’ Saint Paul Catholic Church Phillips at Elm Street Established 1856 Office: 308 Phillips Street • 937-372-3193 office@stpaulyellowsprings.org • www.stpaulyellowpsprings.org WEEKLY MASS Sundays: 11:15 a.m. Wednesdays: 6 p.m. Thursdays: 8:30 a.m. Fridays: 8:30 a.m. 30+ Years of fresh , LocaL food eVerY saTUrdaY 8 a.M.–NooN BrYaN ceNTer ParKING LoT