Clatsop Community College
1653 Jerome, Astoria OR 97103
For immediate release
Contact: Margaret Frimoth (503) 338-2378

Single Parent/Displaced Homemaker Program Luncheon Highlights Challenges and Successes of Working With “High Risk” Students

Directors from 14 Single/Displaced Homemakers/Transitions programs across the state, most operating within the framework of local community college, gathered at the Columbia River Maritime Museum last week to participate in a luncheon discussion of the challenges and successes of working with “high-risk” adult students. The luncheon was part of the two-day Spring 2007 Single Parent Displaced Homemaker Program Director Meeting hosted by Clatsop Community College’s Lives In Transition (LIT) Program.

Joining the directors at the luncheon were representatives of state and local social service agencies, and LIT students and graduates. Luncheon participants voiced frustrations, concerns, challenges and successes in an open dialogue. Participants representing programs from other parts of the state were gratified to see the extent of local collaboration between CCC’s LIT Program and other agencies in Clatsop County.

“Collaboration with other agencies is one our program’s strengths,” said LIT Program Director Margaret Frimoth at the luncheon opening. “I do feel lucky to be in a community that is so supportive of the program and the partnerships.”

Lives In Transition, is a program held at CCC that gives support to students who have been out of school or who are overcoming personal barriers to education. LIT students are often displaced homemakers, single parents and dislocated workers who want to return to school. The program consists of two tuition-free, three-credit courses: Life Transitions and Stress Management, to help people get re-established with education. LIT students learn to budget time and finances and to juggle family, school and job responsibilities. The program also introduces students to GED, financial aid, admissions, and the PLUS Program (Partnerships for Learning Undergraduate Studies).

Federal funds for single parent displaced homemaker programs were eliminated in 1997, yet programs statewide and nationally continue to operate within communities and in community colleges with state and local support.

In addition to funding provided by Clatsop Community College, the LIT receives financial support from the United Way and Windermere Real Estate. The program also partners with Tongue Point Job Corps, Clatsop Community Action and CCC’s JOBS Program.

During the luncheon, several of CCC’s LIT students and program graduates shared how the program has affected their lives.

“When I first came to CCC in 2004, I had finished getting my GED at MTC [Management and Training Corporation],” said LIT graduate Karen Bersine. “Coming to the college was scary—I wasn’t sure I would make it. Because of LIT I did—to this day I’ll tell you it is the best class I’ve ever taken. Because of them, I’m graduating this year and I’ve been accepted to Eastern Oregon University.”

Program directors expressed specific challenges that programs face in serving this student population, often labeled as “high risk.”

“We can’t have successful students if programs aren’t in place for housing, childcare, transportation,” one program director said. “You get these people who want to make changes in their lives, but how can they if they don’t even have housing? I don’t know what we can we do to get people to see what people have to overcome to be successful.”

Margaret Frimoth, CCC’s LIT program director, was pleased with the result of last week’s gathering.
“What surprised me was the incredible support and camaraderie that was there,” Frimoth said. “We were all speaking the same concerns and celebrating the same successes. Supporting our programs is supporting the future. It’s different than working with children, but our students are the parents of those children. It’s an investment in future workforce, stabilizing the economy and more equitable, accessible education.”


ATTACHED IMAGE: Clatsop Community College’s Lives In Transition Program Director Margaret Frimoth, bottom left, and some 2007 LIT Program participants, from top left: Kirsten Fischer, Tracy Rose, Baby Hannah, Kathy Luper, Ada Whitman and Therese Frech.