BENTO TWP. - "Someone's
got to upport my . ds, and I'd
rather it be me." .
Th ord ere po en by a
young divorced mother of two
ho receiving Aid to Depen-
dent Children (ADC) fund
Debbie, 28, of Benton Harbor,
prefers to remain anonymou be­
cau of the perceived] social ig­
rna attached to elfare recipients,
This w her reque t even
though Debbie has completed an
dvanced secretarial training pro­
am at Lake . chigan College,
or ed a volunteer cretary in
the College's Special Projects of­
fice, and has been employed a
secretary for local food manu­
facturer since pril 18 of this
year.
Jerry S. Frank, manager of
Employment and Training and
Children's Service at the Depart­
ment of Social Service (DSS),
d this to y about persons like
Debbie, "You just can't stereo­
type and y people on elfare
don't ant to or. "
itb the economy as it' to­
day, many good people who
formally had or ed or ould
or if they could fmd employ-
ment must no aid, accord-
in to Frank. y are laid off
and for the fust time in their live
ha to . ance, he ex-
plained.
DSS began cooperative pro­
gram with Lake . cbigan Colle
on August 29, 1983 to provide
elfare recipient with training to
fill specific vocational need.
y
e
Cou
with 120 hours of hands-
on experience are given in those
occupations identified by local
bu . ne and industry having
employment potential, Frank
id, So far, cl se in sale , nur
'de, electronic embly, machine
shop, dvanced cretarial, and
word proce ing have been pro­
vided.
SEPTEMBER 5 -11, 1 4 THE CITIZE
PAGE FIVE
their two cretarial cour of I and bgreviation.
120 hours each, the omen com- chec book usage
pleted a four- ee employability basi cs.
course. Applications, resumes, the Th
interview, office dre code, and
basic office do's and don't er
taught. From that time on, om
behavior was expected durin
cl time including ttendance
punctuality and appropriate
ath included
weD as the
on the definitions, Debbi ex­
plained.
"Sh inspired us," Debbie
stated firmly.
. R 11 also thinks ell of
Debbie. Debbie's attitude and at­
tendance ere both excellent, ac-
cording to . R 11.
"If II to hire someone out
of that group, I ould have hired
her," Mr . R II said of Debbie.
good exampl for the
ela 0"
Inspite of Debbi having no
previou office experience, rs.
Ru II said he willingne to take
reesponsibility � get things done,
think of her If, and to help other
students made her an in pir tion
to the group. After Debbie began
volunteering in C's Special Pro­
jects office, e ould also com
back to c and share her on-th -
student really pulled to­
a group, Debbie said of
. If one did not under­
Ie n or had any other
type of difficulty, other student
ould come early to cl and
help her
e helped each other out
lot," Debbie' said.' e all wor ed
together and we had fun."
Debbie had high marks for her
C instructor, Linda R ll.
Mrs. Ru 11 would develop incen­
tive for learning, especially in
areas of difficulty. For example,
several student had trouble with
pelling, according to Debbi . Mrs.
Ru ell decided that the spelling
words ould be more meaningful
if the students also learned their
"If you want' it, you
have to go after it. No­
body's going to give it
to you."
Debbie volunteered for her
cretarial training. Why? I
wanted to feel good about my­
If," e explained.
Sh prefers t work and be-
lle her c rna eS felt the same
way. "' e began the class,
Debbie herself wondered whether
"the others ere doing this just to
ay on aid." But, she sa that
everyone "worked hard" on their
class . gnments. If they ere
orking that hard, it wam't just
to stay on aid, Debbie concluded.
In fact, the omen talked dur­
ing class breaks about getting off
ADC, e ·d. If anyone heard of
a job offer, they came in and told
the re of the c
ean bile, Debbie and her
classmate learned to behave if
they ere aheady working in an
office environment. As ell
nt Authority
A TTE TIO : Berrien County
Do You Naito' Help Paying Your R nt?
The Section 8 Existing Rental Assistance Program
may be the ans ere
This is a federal program to help people pay their
rent. If you are eligible to take part, some of your rent
will be paid to your landlord every month by the
ichigan State Housing Development Authority
( SHDA).
The part you pay yourself III be based on your
family income and the number of people in your
family. However, the total amount you pay for rent and
utilities generally ill not exceed 30 percent of your
income.
The e are the qualifications: (1) You must be in­
come eligible; (2) the living unit you choose must
meet the Housing Quality Standards of the federal
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD);
and (3) the rent for the unit, including utilities, must be
within the Fair Market Rent established by HUD.
A altlng II t ha n d for thre -bedroom
unit for IIglble hou In B rrI n County_
For more information, please contact:
Nancy Randall
322 Stockbridge .
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49001
Telephone: (616) 385-1107
guage for the office.
The secretarial courses covered
busin English, business math,
typing, word processing, and the
office claculator. English included
grammar, spelling, punctuation,
definitions. However, if everyone job experiences with her cla -
earned 100 per cent on the spell- mate, rs, Russell said.
ing -tests, no one would be graded "I enjoyed helping them. It
� • • ����&d�e�ya��d
me and liked m . They weren't
ashamed to " Debbi ex­
plained.
Volunteering to ork in the
Special Projects office paid off for
Debbie. Be . des gaining office ex-
perience, w there when
Benton Harbor food proce or
phoned the office for secretarial
referrals.
Debbie w eventually hired by
this company and i no off wel­
fare. Her pleasant personality and
her ability were the reason for
her being selected, ccording to
her immediate supervisor, a mar­
keting istant for the firm,
"I think her typing ability and
communications ability ere two
of her strongest points," Debbie's
supervisor said. "To me, it do n't
matter how Debbie got her edu­
cation long as e is capable of
performing her job duties."
Debbie's job includes typing,
filing, customer service respon '­
bilities and processing orders, in­
voices and bill of lading.
"Debbie will do beyond what
you her to do," her supervisor
said. "She has one of the key jobs
in the pIant."
According to her pervisor,
_-------------_---_----. Debbie will eventually be trained
to help the company' controller
with bookkeeping overflow.
That's just fine with Debbie be­
cause bookkeeping' the field sh
ould like to pursue.
"It has lot of room for d­
vancement," she ld .
Advancement an ccess are
ntial to Deb . . She explained
that e belie it is important
for her to be a good examp to
her children, a girl, 10, and a boy,
6.
Debbie ummed up th Ie on
she'd . e them to learn from her
by saying, "If you ant it, you
have to go after it. obody'
going to give it to you."
succESS
DE.PENDS
ON
BEGINNINGS
... GE.T
STAR TEO
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� LADY 'rs EMPIRE �
: BARBER&BEAUTY SALON .•
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: 271 I • IMPIRI 926-63..:
i lady-.r Is Back:�
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: _ SR. CITIZE�S WESt ���S��FRI. I.e :
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ATTORNEY AND COU SElO AT LAW
K. M,orri Gavin
GENERAL PRACTICE OF LAW
505 E. Empire Stre
8eflton Harbor, MI 49022