THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605180095
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 177 lines
IN A NONDESCRIPT classroom inside the Broadlawn Community Center, big things are happening.
High school dropouts are getting the basic education they missed; some who have never touched a computer are learning how to use keyboards and popular software; others who are jobless are learning how to write resumes, dress for success and find work.
People who previously thought they had little hope of accomplishing anything are learning that they have talents, after all.
It's all part of the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority's efforts to revitalize public housing neighborhoods by helping residents improve their lives.
The housing authority now is sponsoring computer and job training courses, paid for with a federal grant, that are free to the residents of public housing communities. Basic education courses also are offered and are open to the public.
There has been heavy demand for the computer courses; there's a waiting list for the third five-week session, which will begin in July.
But there were few takers for the first five-week session of the job- training program, taught by a couple of professors from the Chesapeake campus of Tidewater Community College. The session, which ended last week, had only three students.
Margaret E. Freeman, a housing authority specialist, said she was disappointed, but not surprised. The program began on the week of a major holiday.
``I think what happened was it was Easter week,'' she said. ``People were very busy.''
Besides that, the program was new, so residents had no proof that it was worthwhile.
A second session will begin next month. Freeman is looking for participants, and is trying to arrange for child care and transportation, so more residents can attend the classes one night a week.
Mostly, though, she and the two TCC professors are relying on word of mouth to promote the program.
The three women who participated in the recently concluded session can show others that it was worth a try, particularly if they land a job.
``Word of mouth is much better than any advertising you can do,'' said Rita J. Barnes, coordinator of the women's center, counselor and instructor of personal development for women at the community college's Chesapeake campus.
Faye L. Jones is a walking testimonial.
The 43-year-old had become convinced that she would never be able to be a productive worker.
A serious muscle disorder forced Jones to give up her full-time work as an income tax return preparer; the disease causes chronic fatigue and intense pain.
She had lost her home and was living in the city's MacDonald Manor public housing community. She was surviving on a small disability check and trying to cope with an incurable disease that most people don't understand.
She was losing hope.
``Perpetual poverty robs a person's spirit of joy,'' she said. ``And staying on a small disability pension and trying to have normal things is almost impossible.
``Like, my microwave died, and I can't go buy a new one. That may sound like a small thing. Anybody can live without a microwave. But not being able to go buy one takes away a measure of yourself. I don't know how to explain it.''
Her daughter convinced her to attend the job training classes at the Broadlawn Community Center off Campostella Road.
She now has a resume and has applied for a part-time job teaching computer classes to elderly people.
``I don't know if I'll get this position, but I never would have applied for it, if I hadn't taken this class,'' Jones said, ``because I felt like nobody would want me, if I couldn't work 40 hours a week, eight hours a day.
``Because I wasn't able to fit into a regular work environment, I was becoming discouraged.''
Paula E. Simmons, a 29-year-old resident of the Broadlawn public housing community, knows what that feels like.
Simmons was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1994, soon after she took her two kids and left her abusive husband.
She lived with her mother for awhile, and then an aunt. The only place she could afford to live on her own was in public housing, where she and her kids could survive on food stamps and child support payments while she learned to cope with a chronic illness that would affect the rest of her life.
Her goal of becoming a dental hygienist, for example, had to be set aside because the job requires a level of muscle coordination that multiple sclerosis sufferers often lose.
``It took me awhile to come to terms with it,'' Simmons said.
But she has, and now she is signing up for any course the housing authority offers.
The job training program helped her regain some of her former hope that she can achieve a career goal in spite of her illness.
``Living in public housing, you could easily get into a rut, where you could kind of lose sight of being ambitious,'' she said.
``I want a piece of the pie,'' she said. ``I want a decent car. I want a home, maybe a second marriage.
``I want people to say, `Gosh, there's Paula. She might have a disability, but she sure is going somewhere.''
She hopes to begin taking courses at TCC in the fall to finish earning an associate's degree that she began work on years ago. Eventually, she'd like to earn her bachelor's degree.
The job training instructors convinced her to consider a degree in counseling.
``I'll give anything a try, if it means I'm going to be driving the car instead of the car driving me,'' she said.
Driving is what got Karen G. Parish into the program.
Parish, a 48-year-old resident of the Mill Creek neighborhood, does not live in public housing and so wouldn't normally be eligible to participate in the housing authority's job training program.
But Parish agreed to give Jones a ride to the evening classes, so she was allowed to attend, too.
Unlike the others, Parish already has a job as a clerk in a Portsmouth jewelry store. The store's owner passed away recently, though, so Parish is not sure how long the owner's family will continue to keep the place open. She's preparing to find a new job.
It hasn't been easy.
After the end of a long marriage to a man she describes as very critical of her, Parish said her self-esteem was very low.
She wasn't confident that she had anything valuable to offer employers, and she didn't have much experience looking for jobs.
``I do have a problem tooting my own horn,'' she said. ``That could be a problem for me in interviews.''
Her resume now describes her as having: ``Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to adapt and master diverse challenges.''
She joked that she didn't recognize herself from the description.
But unlike before the job training program, Parish now can rattle off her strengths as well as give an honest assessment of her weaknesses.
For example, she said, ``I'm not a leader.
``Everyone talks about a career. I really don't think in terms of a career. I'm just interested in going to work, earning a living and having job security.''
``That's good to know about yourself,'' said instructor Barnes, encouraging as always.
Barnes knows what it means to motivate people who have lost faith in themselves. A dynamo of a woman herself, she specializes in teaching women how to succeed in a tough world.
``You can't give up,'' she said. ``When you run into a stumbling block, you have to go over it, under it or around it.''
A common mistake people make, she said, is not knowing what their goals are. Without goals, they're without direction.
With that in mind, Barnes and co-instructor Ernest S. Spruill used the course to teach the women to begin setting realistic life and job goals, and to find a way to achieve them.
Simmons, for example, said she didn't know how she would pay for school. Barnes pointed out that financial assistance is easily available to her.
``If you're realistic about life and know where you are, that's when you can change it,'' Barnes said.
The women also learned how to find job openings, make an application and write a letter of introduction. Spruill helped them write resumes, and Barnes coached them on how to get through an interview.
Barnes said she believed the course was a success, despite the low turnout for the first session.
``I think some of them have learned quite a bit from five weeks ago,'' she said. MEMO: For more information about the job training course or any of the
programs offered by the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority,
call Margaret E. Freeman, 523-0401.
ILLUSTRATION: Photos by GARY C. KNAPP
Instructor Ernest S. Spruill used the course to teach the women to
begin setting realistic life and job goals.
Paula E. Simmons, a 29-year-old single parent, brings her two
children to class with her.
A serious muscle disorder forced Faye L. Jones to give up her
full-time work as an income tax return preparer.
Rita J. Barnes is coordinator of the women's center, counselor and
instructor of personal development for women at TCC.
by CNB