HRD Instructor Dedicated To Helping Women Get Off Welfare

Alma Fisher, HRD instructor second from left, sits with a group of ASPIRE participants while Sharon Carter from the Cooperative Extension Office instructs them on life skills.

In the Helpful, Resourceful and Delightful section of A-B Tech, also known as Human Resources Development (HRD), is a small group of young women, hoping to transition off welfare, out of poverty and into the workforce.

They were part of the Welfare-to-Work program, a federal program HRD Instructor and Case Manager Alma Fisher was very successful in implementing. Now these "moms" and "custodial parents" who are struggling to get off welfare fall under a different program, since funding was lost.

"The grant ended; it has not been refunded. But they will still get help. I've been doing this for like a million years under different names," Fisher explains. Resourceful.

Through the Welfare to Work program, A-B Tech served 95 participants from May of 1999 to October of 2002, even when other counties stopped operating the program, anticipating the loss of funding. These participants went on to become managers, Certified Nursing Assistants, store clerks, students - leaving a lifetime and sometimes generations of welfare behind. Helpful.

Human Resources Development Coordinator Kay Manley said Fisher, as case manager, "did an excellent job serving the participants in the program." Even though the program has lost its funding, Fisher said she is still working with its graduates "unofficially." For example, she refers participants to other agencies for additional help. And if that doesn't work, she often, without hesitation, helps them herself. She is nearing the day where she will keep two children in her home while their mother (one of the participants) has surgery. She explains this to HRD's Gea Skeens, who helped with the data entry for the program. "We are as supportive as possible," Fisher said. Delightful.

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LRC Employee Donates Scholarship

Library assistant Rebecca K. Davis recently donated $1,000 to set up a scholarship fund for college transfer students.

The "Sarah Ferguson Kirkpatrick Award" was named for Davis' late aunt and funded from her estate.

The A-B Tech and UNCA graduate said she wants to help other students pursue their dreams. "A-B Tech has been blessed with generous donations from our community. I felt inspired by these people. When I received money from my aunt's estate, I finished my degree at UNCA and my son has been able to attend NCSU with no money worries. I know how much harder it is for students today. Every little bit of money from grants, scholarships, and loans is a godsend."

Davis said she could not have finished her schooling without "outside help and support." She also encouraged others to add to the scholarship fund. "Any amount we can donate will be used by grateful and deserving students."

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Pam Silvers Commended By AACC

Pam Silvers, Business Computer Technologies Chair, was recently recognized as one of 40 semi-finalists for the David R. Pierce Faculty Technology Award, sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and Microsoft.

AACC Vice President of Member and Information Services Margaret Rivera said, "Competition for these awards was particularly keen, and your being selected as one of 40 semi-finalists was in itself a singular honor. Dedicated faculty such as yourself are at the heart of the learning enterprise."

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Farewell For Now

Members of the 161st Area Medical Support Battalion watch as the American flag is presented at a farewell ceremony at the Harvey L. Haynes Conference Center on the Enka Site. The 161st is the first National Guard unit in Western North Carolina to be activated to respond to the threat of war with Iraq.

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Regional Actress Performs One-Woman Show at Ferguson

Regional legend and actress Quinn Hawkesworth will perform her one-woman stage version of a mountain woman's story March 13 at 7 p.m. in Ferguson Auditorium.

Chapel Hill writer Lee Smith's "Fair and Tender Ladies" has been adapted to the stage by at least two regional writer/actors, including Hawkesworth, and performed in venues across the Southeast - especially in the mountains.

Hawkesworth, a southwest Virginia resident, has no trouble with the accent or the mountain songs. The title is based on an old-time mountain folk song and is the story of Ivy Rowe, a fiery and determined woman with great character. Hawkesworth uses Ivy's letters as a verbal vehicle to take viewers from Rowe's adolescence through a long and full life.

Hawkesworth has been touted by the local and regional press as convincing and effective as she portrays the young woman of the West Virginia countryside, then a mature wife and mother, finally an aging woman with a full reservoir of experiences to share with the listener.

Admission is $10 for the public, free to A-B Tech staff, faculty, and students. Proceeds will benefit th Arts and Science Scholarship Fund. Please call Ext. 177 for more information.

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Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Stacy Dyer, a graduate of A-B Tech, was featured in the Black Mountain News for being the facilitator of one of the first distance learning classes offered at Owen and North Buncombe high schools. The class, public speaking, is broadcast via a television set in the classroom, where Dyer and the students at both high schools can interact with each other. "This type of teaching and learning takes away some of the fear that goes with public speaking," she said.

"Gracias" to Michael Harney

William and Elizabeth Anthony, two students enrolled in Michael Harney's Spanish 112 class, wrote to Sun Chae, Chair of Humanities and Fine Arts, commending Harney's teaching skills. They wrote, "We marvel at his patience, power of expression, explanatory technique-all focused on maintaining the student's interest and determination to succeed."

OOPS

Last month, we reported that the daughter of Tina Fountain, account payables clerk, had been chosen as a national outstanding campus leader at Montreat College School of Professional and Adult Studies by Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. The winner of the award actually is Tina, and not her daughter. Congratulations, Tina.

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