INFORMATIONAL EFFORT REACHES OUT TO SINGLE PARENTS

Dorothy Hardy, director of the single parent program at the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School, hopes a "community outreach" effort Wednesday will help single parents understand what resources are available to better themselves.

"We're looking for single parents," Hardy said. "What we want to do is get the information out there that they need.

"We feel there are many people who could be getting job skills by going back to school, and we hope to let them know what's available for them."

Hardy said the "door-to-door recruitment blitz" will take place from 3-5 p.m. Wednesday. Members of the single parent program's advisory committee and volunteers will meet at the former Cutmart convenience store at the corner of Sprigg and Morgan Oak Streets, and then will take flyers and leaflets to homes in the May Greene and Washington School districts.

"The leaflets and flyers will notify single parents of neighborhood informational meetings," Hardy said. "The purpose is to inform people of opportunities they could be missing.

"What we want to do is make certain that there aren't any single parents out there who have fallen through the cracks and aren't aware of the programs available to help them."

Hardy said her office serves as a clearinghouse to put single parents in touch with agencies that have resources for such things as tuition and child care costs.

"We don't have a budget to pay tuition to go back to school, but I try to keep up with other agencies that do have that money," she said.

Through the community outreach effort this week, the single parent program hopes to reach a large segment of single parents in the south and east end of town.

"I'm pleased at the number of persons who have volunteered to help us," Hardy added. "Calls have come in from other single parents and from grandmothers of single parents.

"One woman told me, `whatever you're doing, I want to help.'"

All the single parents will be invited to attend a meeting at 4 p.m. April 6 at the First Presbyterian Church on the corner of Lorimier and Broadway Streets.

The meetings will include information on career counseling services, ability and aptitude assessment, vocational and technical training, financial aid, and support services for single parents seeking additional education and job training.

Hardy said many single parents wish to improve their job skills and education, but don't know how to go about entering school.

"For some of them, we are there to provide encouragement," she said. "My exchange of information with them is highly motivational, because some people only need a little push. Others don't do anything, because they just don't know what's available."

Members of the single parent advisory committee include:

Patricia Bratton, a counselor at Central High School; Bernice Coar-Cobb, an associate professor at Southeast Missouri State University; Pam Gerlach, a social worker with the Missouri Division of Family Services; the Rev. Clifford Mitchell, pastor of Second Baptist Church; Michael Sterling, president of the local NAACP chapter; Molly Strickland, counselor with Lutheran Family Services; Sylvia Taylor, volunteer and single parent; Bertha Walker, residence counselor at the Community Counseling Center; and Debra Willis, the community representative of the NAACP.

For additional information, contact Hardy at 334-0826.