Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1996)
6 News/Feature The Clackamas Print Wednesday, February 21,1996 Child care opportunities provide hope for single parents Laney Fouse Staff Writer For most young college stu dents, furthering their education means getting to class everyday on time, completing all assign ments, studying for tests and passing the finals. For some, getting up every day can be a challenge. For oth ers, working around their class schedules or scheduling classes around work requires a great deal of effort. But, imagine for a moment you are a single parent; a parent with a dream. That dream consti tutes the desire for a better life for your children. The only way to achieve your dream is by getting a college education. What if you can’t afford child care? What if in the middle of a term your baby-sitter decides to quit? Does this mean you have to give up your dream. For some fortunate parents, pursuing their dream is made possible by the ASG’s Child Care Scholarship program. Cheryl Corrie, child care of ficer in ASG, along with the help of Amy Lundy and Rachael Austen started this program last year in an effort to help students with this special need. The idea came about because the ASG office was flooded with questions about child care. Each year several students drop out or don’t register for col lege because of inadequate or unaffordable child care. The scholarships enables ASG to buy time slots at the Family Resource Center. Funding comes from several sources. The college Foundation Board donates $1,500 and ASG Photo by Lora Wahrgren Curious kids at the Family Resource Center child care program take a break from playtime. matches these funds. Fund-raisers are held throughout each term. These in clude selling Valentine’s gifts, candy and holding a barbecue. Corrie says that plans are under way for a cup and plant sale in March, as well as a barbecue. Another fund-raising activity includes the sale of popcorn. It is on sale Monday through Friday in the ASG office. “The children from the day care center gather pennies and come over to buy popcorn. It’s so cute. I have pictures of them coming to buy popcorn and all you can see are these little arms reaching up to the counter. You can’t even see their faces,” said Corrie. Her involvement with the Child Care Scholarship program is one bom out of personal experi ence. “Back in 1986,1 was a stu Volunteers still needed to aid in post flood relief FLOOD HELP from page 1 with the water here. We aren’t doing anything to it,” said Wiseman, adding that emer gency provisions are being made if the need arises. “We’ve developed a plan pending a crises,” said Dean of College Services Gary Dirrim. Bottled water has been re served with an outside firm along with 60 modified “porta potties” in case there isn’t enough water for the flush toi lets, he said. The concern over water stems from the possibility of the water supply being cut off. “A big embankment of earth on Clackamas River Drive is about to slide down into the in take tube that provides our wa ter supply from the Clackamas River,” stated Dirrim. He also expressed his con cern if that happened, not only would we lose our water supply but so would Oregon City, West Linn and Gladstone. “I hope it will dry out and solidify. So, pray it won’t rain for a while,” said Dirrim. “The National Guard is ready to build a temporary in take tube. Their contingency plan will take a two week period to complete. A second.intake tube is already under construc tion but won’t be done for an other three to four months,” he said. Dirrim mentioned that the college has water stored and he has met with the Oregon City Fire Chief to discuss water needs in case of fire. “The welding shop may have to stop teaching because sparks from students welding could start a fire,” he said. Another outside firm has contracted in regards to food. “We may have to prepare meals elsewhere and have it brought in. It might be in the form of sandwiches and may not be as tasty, but food will be pro vided,” said Dirrim. For information on ways to help, contact one of the follow ing: Community Flood Clean-up : Mary Palmer or Peter Bush at 657-7892; Clackamas County Volunteer Coordinator: Karen Kasserman at 650-3514 or Clackamas County Public Health at 655-8471. Send clothes and money for relief activity to the Salvation Army. Blood donations are needed at American Red Cross at 3131 N. Vancouver Ave. in Portland. dent here and a single mother of five children. Sometimes, I would have to take my children to class.” she said. “When I came back here in 1991,1 realized other parents had the same problem and no one had addressed the issue. “When we first started this program, it was a short-term goal and our long-term goal was to have a facility on campus for stu dents,” said Corrie. “But now it looks like the Foundation Board is taking over the funding next year. This will enable them to get grants from the community. More funding means more grants to be given out next fall. We’re work ing on it becoming a regular pro gram here. Our goal is to double the number of time slots from seven to fourteen.” Student parents wanting to enter the program must first com plete a pre-application. “The application is to make sure that they are not over-the- income guidelines set up by YPOP (Young Parents Opportunity Pro gram),” Corrie said. “The actual application [for placement] comes out about three weeks after that. Students have another three weeks to complete and return that application,” she added. Once the Financial Aid office determines a monetary need for the student, Corrie and her com mittee get down to the actual se lection. The committee goes through an elimination process. If the student’s class schedule and time allotted at the Family Resource Center match, the student receives the scholarship. But, as Corrie cautions, “Only one child per fam ily between the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years- old (about preschool age) are allowed. Sometimes it’s really hard when we have to turn people away. We once had a lady apply who had twins.” She feels that those parents who do get their child into the pro gram are fortunate. “The Family Resource Cen ter has an excellent program. Hiey are well organized, they have cer tain hours that they do certain things. The children are in an en vironment where they can play and also learn,” said Corrie. Currently, time slots are only available for daytime students. Corrie hopes to expand the pro gram next year to include evening students. “We usually have anywhere from 16 to 20 people, including single fathers, apply for the schol arships.” ASG Senator Michelle Wagner is looking into alternate daycare centers close to campus. She hopes to find ones who are willing to work with students. In stead of students paying the whole fee, they could work off some of the time in exchange for child care. One of the responsibilities of the program is that the parents write a testimonial on how the pro gram has helped them. “I would like to take this op portunity to thank all those who make the child care scholarships possible; without them I could not remain in school,” one divorced mother of two writes. Another recipient shares, “I would like once again to say a very big THANK YOU for the scholar ship help you have granted me. I would have not been able to con tinue working toward my certifi cate without it.” Corrie feels the scholarship program is vital to not just the stu dents but to the community as a whole. “If you’re stuck in a minimum wage job with no future — you don’t go anywhere,” she added. Looking forward to graduat ing this June, she plans on com ing back in the fall to continue her education. This time to pursue studies in office administration. She’s working to put together a book of guidelines and recommen dations for the person who will step into her position. Corrie and husband Tom are the grandparents of two. “Raising five children (who are now 15,18,19,21 and 25 years) was a challenge,” she laughs. “But, I came back to college to work on my accounting degree. Instead of it taking two years, it’s taken a few years.” Graf itti a menace on campus Amy K. Hanson Managing Editor Graffiti is often present in any public place and has been increas ing around campus. “It cycles up and down,” said Kirk Pearson, director of Physical Plant who added that the amount of graffiti on campus tends to in crease at the start of a term as well as during vacation periods. “We are very fortunate here in that we’re not as bad as some campuses,” Pearson said. He added that in the last three to five years graffiti has increased in amount and severity. Pearson said that the restrooms seem to be the prime target. Most of the damage is done to the restroom stalls, although mirrors and counters are being scratched and carved. On the first day of classes this term, the Community Center restrooms were badly covered in what appeared to be gang graffiti. “It’s costly without a doubt,” Pearson said, adding that the cost to clean and repaint one stall is $ 125.This includes the cost of the paint and contract. Graffiti artists are rarely caught. According to Pearson, if they caught and cited someone, they would most likely have to pay for the cleanup, which is costly. If graffiti has a gang related appearance, Plant Services calls Public Safety to examine it. They then take pictures and send them the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. From there it is reported to the Clackamas Interagency Gang Intelligence, a task force dealing with gang activity in Clackamas County. According to Diana Sheperd, administrative secretary for Pub lic Safety, there has been a fair share of gang grafitti, gang names and gang type. Pearson said that they can take proactive measures to lessen the effects of graffiti, but that this too costs money. “I don’t know what the an swer is,” Pearson said. “I’ve been to a seminar or two and there does not seem to be any one answer. Everyone agrees that once you let it go, it’s only going to get worse and it spreads.” Sheperd said that ASG has suggested covering restroom walls with paper to lessen the dam age. Cleaning up graffiti also con sumes time and materials. Plant Services has begun waxing the road signs on campus in order to make this cleaning task easier. “I guess I can’t change soci ety,” said Pearson. “So (I’ve) just got to deal with it.” CtaMiM Ado ©Safe, experienced, quality Child Care, Oregon City. Fenced yard activities, reasonable rates, refs. Call 656-5629. ©Now hiring lifeguards ($5.80-$7), swim instructors ($6.75 -$9.25), and management ($7.25-$9.50). City of Portland, 10 outdoor/6 indoor pools. Training courses offered. 823-5130. ©For sale: Red *88 Honda prelude, 2.0 s, 5 spd, moon roof, cassette, alarm, new tires, great condition, only $6200. Call Nicolle, 653-4961. ©For sale: 1983 Buick LeSabre Wagon, CC, pwrwin, PDL, auto, V-8, straight body, nice interior, $400. See Nick in Auto Mechanics or call ext. 2569. ©For sale: 1980 FirebirdT-Top parts, Factory turbo care, minus motor, transmission, rear differential. 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