Esperanza Ebersole hopes her Bluffton-based radio station will further open the waves of communication between her Hispanic listeners and English-speaking residents.
Beginning later this month, 1430 AM will introduce on-air Spanish lessons for English speakers. She envisions the first 30 minutes to be dedicated to learning Spanish and the second 30 minutes for listeners to call in with questions.
"We want to help others learn our culture so we can have better communication," Ebersole said. "It's good to learn another language. The more you know the better. We're trying to open some windows and doors."
Ebersole is fluent in Spanish, English, Italian and French. She is an artist first, and a business woman second. As a young woman, she lived and studied in Paris to be a fresco painter and later donated one of her paintings to an Italian church. Ebersole's career has been colorful, not unlike the many paintings that hang on the walls of Radio Sol's offices - walls that include the faces of people from Morocco, South America and Mexico.
Ebersole, who moved to New York from Colombia when she was 18 to attend college, lived there for many years.
"I'm a New Yorker at heart," she said.
But 9/11 changed everything, and she decided to come to the Lowcountry to visit her sister. She ended up staying. Since 2001, she has owned a bakery in Bluffton and a consulting firm that provides legal and financial aid to the Hispanic community.
"I saw a real need for the people who didn't really know how things worked," she said.
That need eventually turned into broadcasting across the AM airwaves to a growing population of hotel and restaurant workers, day laborers, construction workers, golf course attendants, and others, who she says contribute a lot to the community.
She worries about the final phase of the E-Verify law, known officially as the South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act, which requires employers to use E-Verify for all new hires or only employ workers who possess a valid driver's license or identification card issued by the state or other identification approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles. All public employers and public contractors with 500 or more employees were required to comply by January 2009, all private employers with 100 or more employees by July 2009, and then all employers by July 2010, according to various state websites.
"Business will suffer," she said. "Who is going to clean a hotel room for $3," she asked.
Ebersole said she knows a woman who makes exactly that much at a Hardeeville hotel. "There's no value given to these people and they're taken advantage of. These people need the money, so they do it."
Many of the people Ebersole has met over the years face real obstacles. Here's just one example she shared during an interview last week: A Mexican man lived and worked here for 10 years, all the while saving his money. Back home, a group of thugs caught wind of his success and kidnapped his niece and held her for ransom. They threatened to harm her. Ebersole said he had no choice but to pay the ransom and lost all of the money he had saved for 10 years. He now works on a Pennsylvania farm in an effort to start over, she said.
"People are fearful ... it's really ugly out there," she said. "The crime took over Mexico."
Even so, Ebersole said she is empathetic, but believes that rules should be followed.
"I don't agree that people should be here illegally," she said. "There are a lot of opportunities here and they need to do it the right way. I love this country. I've adopted this country as my own. I would give my life for this country."
Radio Sol will soon have a second recording studio and increase it's on air offerings, to include different kinds of Hispanic music.
The language classes are part of the AM radio station's expansion. It will celebrate its eighth anniversary this month with a Latin Music Festival June 19 at Shelter Cove.
Two months ago, Ebersole moved her offices from Godfrey Place off Goethe Road to Dr. Mellichamp Drive next to Mi Tierra restaurant in Old Town.
"We're really happy here," she said. "We're at the center of Bluffton."
Latin Music Festival
When: 3 to 10 p.m. June 19Where: Shelter Cove, Hilton Head IslandDescription: Hear the sounds of Latin and South America, with headliner Diana Reyes of Mexico. There will be dancing, food and entertainment. More than 8,000 people are expected to attend the festival which in celebration of Radio Sol's eighth anniversary. Cost: $25Details: To learn more, call 757-9974.