Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 15, 1992, edition 1 / Page 22
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New ' Yf Center Empowers Families B\ SHERIDAN HILL Chrontck Assistant Editor "This is the inner city branch of the YWCA, open to everyone," offers Courtney Saunders, who is as friendly as she is tall. She stands two heads above this reporter, but her smile warms every inch of the 8400 square-foot Empowering Fam ily Center, located at 610 N. Liberty Street. When she talks about parent ing and the importance of the fami ly. even her formidable height is diminished by the conviction of her words. "Everyone wants the best for their children, from low-income to the wealthiest," she declares. The center, which officially opened last month, is directed by Saunders and is funded for three years by a $243,000 grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Poor and Needy Trust Fund. It is designed to be a self-help facility, staffed primarily by parents and volunteers. Skill-building programs serving young and parenting teens will begin the first week of November, but currently, the center's most active group is the very enthusiastic marching bands. Early in the day, 20 drums stand quietly against a wall, waiting dutifully for school to let out, when the building fills with enthusiastic children, whose eager hands snatch them up and pound out a marching rhythm. Over 120 children are enrolled in the two marching bands, the Marching Angels (ages 4-11), and the Marching 100s (ages 12-20). Nearly 20 years ago when she worked at the Patterson Avenue YMCA/YWCA, Saunders orga nized the marching bands as a way to reach kids: it worked, because she had 320 marching children by the end of the second year. This summer, she was overjoyed to res urrect the bands. Some of the origi nal Marching 100s have returned to volunteer their time with the kids, who practice three days a week. Parents also roach the children. "This is not just kids dancing and marching," stresses Saunders. "It's an excellent feeder program, to get kids and their families involved, to set up communications and estab lish trust." In two weeks, when parenting classes begin, the number of fami lies served by the center should double. Eleven local agencies will help teach the classes, and a group of parents will be trained as facilita tors for each group. "The concept of the family is declining," says Saunders. "We want to empower the parents to regain responsibility for their chil dren." Upcoming Programs at ' Empowering Center PROJECT HOME START To help parents get their 4 year-olds ready for kindergarten Registration: Nov. 4 First Class: November 9 Classes meet Moa. Thurs 1:00-2:30 p.m. PROJECT LIFE-SKILLS BUILDING To help parenting teens explore their skiil? and potential and become more independent Registration: Nov. 2 First Class: November 5 Classic meet Tues.$ Thurs., 4-5:00 p.m. PARENT/CHILD BUILD PARTNERSHIP To foster parent/child communications, good value-sharing and decision* ?? * making Registration: Nov. 5 First Class: Nov. 9 Classes meet Mon., Wed., Fii, 5-6:00 p.m. ' ? ? ' : (L-R) Jennifer Goolsby (9), Jessica Palmer (10), Shanita Robin son (9), and Carla Daniels (10) are Marching Angels who prac tice twice a week at the center. ?X Courtney Saunders oversees the new YWCA family center A BELLSOLJTI I COMPANY Mama always said, "Don't leave the table 'til you've cleaned your plate'.' So I got Call Return. Now if the phone rings while I'm eating, I can return the call a little later. After I've had dessert, of course. CALL Return lets you return the last call you missed just by dialing ?00. It's $4.00 a month. Order by November 30 and get two months FREE'. For gift giving occasions, ask about our Gift Service Card program. Call 780-2144. Southern Bell Note $10.75 connection charge applies .Two -month- free offer limited to one of selected services Business rates arc higher Clall Return is not available in all areas, cannot he provided on all types of telephone service and wodts only for calls dialed directly between customers having the service capability Some calls may incur long distance charges CLall Return and Repeat Dialing must be sold together in some arras <01992 Southern Bell Make your life a touch easier.? Call On Us?
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Oct. 15, 1992, edition 1
22
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