/
WESTERN MICHIGAN
p
Ameri an ulture."
Grandparen ,aun , nd uncle
Family Health enter A-Team' hack row, (l-r): Krato hvll 'teve Reiman, urkre • mlth, tephen
Robin n. Front ro . Pamela Iteghl and Monica Padgett. (photo. hy D. 00 )
Disabling ecret
becomes cl-aim-to fame
By DANNY COOKS
Corr".pon d"nt
20. It wa the reality of her inability
to read.
AU E RE ALL D the inci­
dent: A written j ke wa pa sed
around "at a dinner party, ea h per-
n in turn laughing a he or h
read it. She wa. near tears, 0 reat
was her pain over th imminent di -
cov ry r her. ecret. Scared and
a harned. . he eventually Lled the
room b .t'orc h r turn to read came.
however, gave
t deal with her
Spruette, who took lime between
cia e and after chool to help me."
Having taken the bull by the
horns, Alice didn't finish after ob­
taining a G.E.D., he wa awarded
a high chool diploma, also. Even­
tually, he attended Kalamazoo
Valley Community College for one
and a half yea , tudying octal
. work, before transferring to Daven­
port College, tudying bu ine
management for two years, receiv­
ing a certificate.
ALICE' FUTURE plans in-
clude obtaining a bachelor'S
in social work from We tern
Michigan University (WMU).
For the pa l' seven years she
ha been employed a� WMU'
food ervice department a a
cook, ri ing to her pre ent
po i tion a a Head Cook in
Burnham' Dining Service on
Western' campus.
Alice' community invol­
vement includes an advi ory
board member of the William.
W. Institute, an employment
re earch facility funded by the
Upjohn Company. She i al '0
a staff mernb r of the Whole
Art Theatre Company.
Under contract with Della
Publications to publish one of
her many literary creation,
Alice aid the manu cript i
about life's struggles for a
Black woman.
Sniedze Rungi , Director
of the Whole Art Theatre feel
Alice has the potential to be aneth r
Sojourner Truth. "Sojourner w
raised by a Dutch family and spoke
Dutch exclusively until age ten."
Rungi aid Sojourner wa then
old to an English ettler and h�d to
re-Iearn how to relate to others.
"Alice also had to go through a
erious learning proces. I admire
her."
ret.
"I had to fight my own name,
my own elf-piety" he aid, ex­
plaining why it took her two more
years b ore a tually attacking the
problem. ttl had t ay, 'I d n't c re
if you know I can't read.'"
P rta e Adult Educati n Center
whi ked li e from third grade
reading level t an eight grade level
in one and a half years. "I have to
give pecial credit to Mary
Ihc
n
r op
n
By DANNY COOKS
Corr •• pondfMt
On Wedne day, November 20th
the Family Health Center at 117 W.
Paterson held an open hou for
community organiz tions nd ag n­
cies who work with Family He lth
Center client , and al 0 for com­
munity leaders.
Director Eurkre Smith intro­
duced newly-appointed medical
director Stephen Robin n, who
came to Kalamazo from Duane
Water' Ho pital in Jack on.
Michigan; Dr. teve Reiman. D.O.;
ui-going medical dire tor Clyde
Kratochvil, M.D., PhD.' and
Phy ican' A si tant Moni a
Padgett and Pamela Iteghie. Smith
aid "the e new additions will en­
ure the succe of the Center."
Kratochvil, who retir d from the
Air Force after 26 years a Com­
mander of Areo pace Medical Re­
search in Dayton, Ohio and then
retired from Upjohn Internation­
al Medical Director. aid h '11 con­
tinueonattheCenter. "I'm plea ed
to ay we've turned the Center
around. Everybody was ying we
were going down the tubes," he bel­
lowed, obviously proud of the Cen-
ter and pleased with hi
contribution to its revival.
Like Smith, Kratochvil credits a
dedicated taff for turning the Cen­
ter around. "Thi open house i to
how the community that we are
alive and well, w haven't failed;
there arc a lot of good doctor'
ar und who pitched in and help d."
o TRARY TO the opinion
of the uninformed, the Center is not
a medical clinic for poor Black
folk-- "It i for the medically under-
erved, or indigent," Kratochvil
tre ed. "Half the people erved
here are white ." he dded.
A i ting doctors with an in­
crea ing ca eload and decreasing
o
D
. A girl child wa born in 1957
into a ituati n unique Ior many
Black families. Her mom, wanting
a better life for this child, aw an
opportunity to impr vc the
newborn' situation by relinqui h­
ing some parental right. --giving
them to a clo e friend, Alice Clay.
Alice, a married nurse unable t
conceive children herself,
embraced the infant' a her own.
However, over ub equent years,
the child, named Alic
Boyd, bounced be­
tween natural and
fo ter mother. By age
fourteen Alice had not
bonded to either
"Mom." It i not far­
fetched to b lievc
Alice may have been
confu ed, with
divided loyaltie .
Seeking relief,
Alice fled into the
arm of a man; the
wrong man. At age fi f­
teen. Alice bore a
child, a product of her
mi guided effort to
bond with someon .
Alice quit chool at
age ixteen to get a job
. 0 her cmld wouldn't
b rai ed on welfare.
Over the next eleven
years thi high chool
dropout kipped
thr ugh at lea t eight job, al 0
bearing another child at age
nineteen.
An accompli hm nt which Alice
appears extremely pr ud of wa a
thirteen year relation hip. "It made
me feel afe," he c n ided. The
relation hip helped her keep con­
cealed from the world her di .abling
ecret, a secret which finally ur­
faced in an embarras ing way at age
r in rd r to
overcome. "You now within
yours I what i right nd wron ,
what i n d d and not need d.
You h v to t ke th r ponsibility
out on th
facts."
•
I
door
the amount of tim a p tient h to
wait, i th mann r Iteghie beli v
he can as i 1 th Center in erving
the community. Her home tat of·
Georgia and the University of
Georgia' . medical coil may
till fre h in her mind but It hie,
Bachelor of Science Degree in
Biology leading her w y, look for­
ward to'''a new adventure" in water,
winter wonderland.
A recent graduate of Howard
University, Padgett aid, "I've al­
way wanted to be in health care,
even a a mall child." To be
needed here in Kalamazoo i her
dream come true.
In addition to the e full-time
personnel, there are five part-tim ,
contracted doctors available to help
the Center' patients, according to
Smith.
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