Reports from the Field

The following reports come from CFNC's Family Support Services team that includes three social workers, an ESL instructor, and a Nurse Practitioner:

I recently visited a family of recent immigrants whose child is enrolled in one of our preschool programs. The parents have two young girls, both of whom were born in the US. During my visit, the father expressed concern about the feasibility of remaining in Virginia given the current anti-immigrant climate. After expressing interest in participating in one of our immigration information workshops, and while talking about ways to support their children’s education, I asked them what they saw in their daughters’ futures; what did they see their girls’ doing 15 years from now? Both parents looked at me dumbfounded. They had not thought that many years ahead. After thinking hard, the father sadly stated that they had been so concerned with their everyday struggles that they had not taken the time to consider their daughters’ futures. With tears in his eyes he said he wanted to see them with a career, living a better life. I pointed out to him that his daughters could achieve that because as American citizens they could attend college through scholarships. Neither parent thought that could be a possibility for their children. I encouraged them that it was not too early to begin speaking with their daughters about the importance of education, so that they could begin fostering a belief and expectation in their daughters that college was a part of their future. I also encouraged them to attend our immigration workshops in order to keep informed on what they could do to resolve their immigration status.

A mother, whose daughter was enrolled in our program last year, came into the office to ask for assistance with her daughter’s Kindergarten homework assignment. As we provided her with assistance, she informed us that her daughter’s Kindergarten teacher was very pleased with her daughter’s performance in school. The teacher asked her about her childcare prior to entering Kindergarten. The mother informed the teacher that her daughter had been attending CFNC. The teacher went on to tell the mother that she was very impressed with her daughter and that she was very impressed with CFNC and how well they prepared children for Kindergarten.

When I met recently with a single mother of one of our students, she expressed excitement about her son’s opportunity to attend preschool. As a low-income, single mother who receives no assistance from her son’s father, high-quality preschool would have been impossible for her son without CFNC. During my visit, she said she was concerned about her son’s speech development, and that he was supposed to have been evaluated but she had never been able to set up the appointment for him. She was also concerned about not working enough hours to support her son and wanted to find a full-time job that would allow her to drop off and pick up her son from school. Based on her two major concerns, we set two goals: one, to get her son the help he needed regarding speech development, and two, to find a full-time job. Together we listed ideas of where she could look for a job, and how best to seek employment. Following my visit, she met me at my office and filled out the required forms for her son to be evaluated for developmental delays. She also brought job applications in and we filled them out together. Now, just three weeks into the school year, she has completed her first two goals: Her son has been referred to a speech therapist and she has a new, full-time job that is very close to her home and allows her to drop off and pick up her son each day.

18-year-old A. came to CFNC’s Family Literacy class in the fall of 2005 and stayed for one year. She was an eager student and loved communicating with others. She found a job in the summer of 2006 at a Travel Agency and a catering service and wasn't able to attend classes the next fall. This past week, two years after I had last seen her, she came in to register herself and her sister-in-law for our ESL classes. She told me that she really wants to improve her English and that this was a good time to do it. She is four months pregnant and she quit her two jobs. I tested her and found that she had maintained most of the gain she made two years ago as a participant in our program. In fact, I noticed that she was using the present tense correctly when I asked her about her daily schedule. I was thrilled to hear that because teaching the different verb tenses is a continuous challenge in my classes. Most of my students typically use only one verb tense when they describe their actions in the past, future and present. She had remembered my lessons on daily schedules and other present tense applications.
She also told me that she had tutored her sister-in-law, and now wants to learn English so she can get a better job. Her goal is to get her GED in English and go to a community college to learn a profession. I am sure she'll learn a lot in the coming four months before her baby arrives. She might even come back after the delivery. Maria Lara, the CFNC babysitter, is fantastic and A. should have no problem leaving her little one with her. I feel confident that she will be ready to raise her child in America and will find a good job to support her family. -