£. Nettie McCrory: W. .Program director M ~a,^«__ Innovative >.: Pregnancy Prevention Program By Audrey C. Lodato [ Teenage resident* aptwo Char *W® houaing projects are partici ; pants in an innovative pregnancy - prevention program caBid “Teem N’ Touch.” Begun two and a half year* ago - under the auspices of the Urban ? the program has taken a turn in direction over the past six months, with a director, Nettie iMcCrory. “Previously, it was a pregnancy program,” UcCTOry explains. .■* ‘We’ve turned it into a pregnancy prevention program.” vaK* Homes. The goals of the pro gram are to preys* initial preg nancy and keep foe youngsters In ; sc{*0®*- Ft* those who drop out of ■Wool “we see if we can im mediately gat them Into a GED program,” McCrory says. >•' ' The program work* on an eight attend after regular from about 4-7 p.m. “We ’.With education and ; eolation planning,” the . ports. : iT?" *•* ./• •' mao auenoing toe reception wort : Benjamin Ruffin, vice president and Special assistant to president Kennedy; Malvin Moore III, NCM [public relations director; George •Ptesens, NCM Regional Agency .Director; Waiter Twitty, retired Manager of NCM’4 Charlotte As trtct; Dr. Mildred Baxter Davis, a Third Ward community leader and In ember of the N.C. Soil and Water Conservation Commission; Robert Davis, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools principal and taw-time . member of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party; Kathleen Crosby, area superintendent for' Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools; Sarah Stevenson, a member of the Mecklenburg County Board of Edu cation; Charlie DanaeUy, a Char Iptte-Mecklanbtrg Schools principal and member of the Charlotte City Council; Kelly Alexandw Jr., presi dent of the N.C. Conference of Branches of the National Associa tion for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and mem bar of the NAACP board at Arec tors; and N.C. Sen. Mel Watt, D-Mecklenburg. A highlight of Sunday’s reception was a presentation by NCM sales agent J. J. Crawford, who told Kennedy and Nowlin that bis Asheville-based group of agents told $204 in new business last week The average weekly amount In new business for a Charlotte district sales group la between $804100 ferred by other students and agen das AtpreesnLtaffeare more boys Overall, 200 studmts he^fpar tlcipated. Attractions for the students in clude karate classes, which, says McOory, helps develop self-esteem and self-discipline, and field trips to provide cultural enrichment. -7 Teens N’ Touch operetee on a point system. When prH^panW reach a certain number of points, they get to go out for some acuvity withe “role model.” * concept stall She adds that the program has few dropouts, and these who do leave before completing the eight weeks uwally do so becaum' of schedule w^^and tsuslly return at a Parents are involved through a parent committee An advisory committee?' dudes businesspeople,'ateedwcTa student, and the president of a housing project group. The com mittee helps Teens N’ Touch stay on top of what’s happening locally. UNC-Charlotte is conducting a study to see how effective the pro gram has been ;?• .. g Fttndlng for the program comes -from the United Way and tbe . Charles Stewart Mott famdatkn of St. Louis. MeCrory, a former family life education teacher in Baltimore, MO, is obviously excited about Teens N’ Touch. “I want this program te fly,” she emphasizes. “Somebody should be helping these Uds.” I . .... .. ^ByLoretUMwgo Looking «t reruns of "The Brady Bunch" moat people would get die idea that when a man and a woman who both had children from a pre vious marriage married each otlmr, everything ran smoothly, with die exception of an occasional dis agreement. “Not so," says Chris Boone, presi dent of the local chapter of the Stepfamily Association of Ameri ca, Inc. and s stepmother. ‘That’s ooe of the biggest myths that people have of families that include children from other rela tionships.” According to Mrs. Boone it is more the exception than the rule that a family that falls under the heading of remarried family or step family operates under the same conditions that a nuclear family (two natural parents and their off springs) does. Agreeing with that statement, Irv Eddiestein of United Family Ser vices added, “People are under the false impression that the stepfamily is similar .to the normal family, bat it’s not. The issues are different and so are the concerns." ' While other myths have zeroed in an the stepfamily Including the one that began with the fairytale, "Cinderella” of the wicked step mother, it is not myth that the stepfamily or remarried family is growing larger everyday. Statistics show that by 1990, the number of stepramuiec and single parent households will be greater than the number of traditional families. Pre sently, one out of every five chil dren live with a stepparent and S M million women have hweaipe step mothers in the last five years. “These unions bring with them people who have no formal guide lines to follows as bow stepfamiUea are to behave. StepfamUies have to find their own way," cited Mrs. Boone. One organization that is trying to reduce the anxieties of atepfamlliea as writ as be a source of infor mation for them is Stepfamily Asso ciation of America. Founded by Emily and John Visher, the organi zation provides educational, mate rial, acts as a central clearing house as well as lobbying force in Congress. According to Mrs. Boone, the na tional organization baa already aue- , ceeded in establishing a “Step parent's day” in certain states. “They have also struck an agree ment with a national greeting card company to begin m»Hng • tap parent cards. In farming the local chapter of good idea if others who were ex periencing Similar problems c La Watts o«*o«M(Cnc mvaciAN MOl SaoMoa Ford M. CtaHpta.HX. 393-3333 Wharo Yoo'r* Afcvoyt VWoBflW iA ■ • - <- ■