Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 6, 1994 TAG: 9405060113
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
At a news conference at Greenvale Nursery School in Northwest Roanoke, league officers outlined plans to create a $1 million fund to provide scholarships for children from low-income families. The league is starting the fund with a $250,000 contribution and pledging $50,000 per year for the next five years. It is asking Roanoke Valley residents and businesses to contribute another $100,000 annually for five years to bring the fund to $1 million.
Income produced by the endowment will be distributed to families that cannot afford care for their children. Many families need only a few dollars per week, said Sandra Carroll, executive director at Greenvale.
The nursery school was founded 60 years ago with help from the Junior League. Its charges are based on a sliding scale depending on a family's income. It has a waiting list of 180 children, Carroll said. It is one of two child-care centers in the valley with a sliding-fee scale. The other is the Northwest Child Development Center, which has a waiting list of 78 for next fall's session and 10 for this summer's, according to Yolanda Morris, its bookkeeper. Both facilities receive United Way support.
The annual cost of licensed child care in the valley ranges from $3,400 to $6,500, Carroll said.
The endowment fund is one of five programs the league announced as part of its new focus on a single issue. Previously, the league has supported as many as 12 projects in a year. The narrower approach is being adopted by leagues across the country, said Valeta Pittman, president of the Roanoke chapter.
Other efforts the league will make to improve the availability of affordable child care are:
nCreating an alumni organization for Greenvale Nursery School, which has served more than 11,000 children in its six decades of operation. The alumni could raise money for the center, provide public relations assistance and serve as a model for other facilities in the area, said Suzn Head, the league's vice president.
nHelping the YWCA in Roanoke establish a special-needs day-care center at its downtown headquarters by 1996. The center would include ``sick care'' for children of working parents. The league will plan and implement educational events to emphasize the need to businesses and social service agencies.
nWorking with the West End Center to develop and implement a family mentoring program by recruiting and training volunteers to help families obtain services they are entitled to, such as education services for the gifted or mentally impaired, school assessments and testing, medical services, speech therapy and job training.
nDeveloping and teaching a life skills and parenting curriculum for Roanoke's Maternal and Infant Education Center, which serves pregnant teen-agers. Classes will cover such areas as time management, nutrition, budgeting, conflict resolution, applying for jobs and choosing a day-care provider.
The projects are the result of two years of training and needs assessments by the league, which has 212 members. The Roanoke Valley Council of Community Services had identified 27 potential needs the league could help fill. They were narrowed to three, Pittman said in an interview: abuse of women, children's health, and affordable child care. Raleigh Campbell, the council's executive director, praised the league's plans.
The league issued a policy statement outlining its underlying beliefs:
nThat the community's children are entitled to quality child care that's affordable and accessible.
nThat low-wage earners ``should receive special child-care consideration.''
nThat employers ``should recognize and support the need for child care for their employees.''
nThat child-care options should be available to teen-age parents so they can continue their education and avoid some of the problems associated with teen pregnancy.
nThat programs should be developed to address the needs of children ages 12-18.
The league will continue its commitment to ArtVenture, the children's program at the Art Museum of Western Virginia, for two more years, and indefinitely to Project H.O.P.E., which provides recreation, instruction and mentoring for children ages 6 to 18 in an attempt to reduce the teen pregnancy rate.
Proceeds from two league fund-raisers - the Roanoke Valley Horse Show and the Stocked Market, a holiday gift bazaar - will go toward its $50,000 annual contribution to the endowment fund, Head said. Grants also may be obtained.
Citing the decline of the family as one of the nation's pressing social issues, Head quoted anthropologist Margaret Mead, ``Never doubt the ability of a few committed women to change the world.''
by CNB