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Lees-McRae brings life-changing program to
High Country
By Caroline Monday
It is rare that anyone should have the opportunity to change their
life in three weeks.
Susan Shuford and NOSW graduates
Rose Holtsclaw and Rose Hampton stand with Lori Sliwa
in front of the story quilt the group made during their
time at Lees-McRae last summer. Photo by Caroline
Monday |
Each summer, however, the New Opportunity School for Women (NOSW)
at Lees-McRae College brings that opportunity to 14 low-income
women from the Southern Appalachian region.
It all started in 1986, when Banner Elk native Jane Stephenson
was approached by a friend, Gurney Norman, who knew a woman in
need. Stephenson’s husband was then serving as president
of Berea College, a school in Kentucky that has become known for
its outreach programs.
Norman said a friend of his had unexpectedly become divorced and
did not know what she was going to do. He was hoping that Berea
might have a program that would help her. There was no such program,
but his request made Stephenson realize that there needed to be
one.
Stephenson said she realized how women who lived in rural areas
could become isolated and not able to access resources. “It
was sort of a revelation to me,” she said.
Stephenson began to think, “This is something we should be
working on.”
Luckily, grant providers agreed and the program received enough
funds to set up the program and run it for two years. And thus,
the New Opportunity School for Women was born. The (NOSW) at Lees-McRae
was launched in 2005.
The school was designed to serve low income women who had not
had an opportunity to receive higher education. Stephenson and
other organizers decided that the best way to serve these women
would be to bring them together at Berea in a short residency
program.
To learn what these women would need, Stephenson said she turned
back to Norman to ask about his friend. “Of course I called
him and said, ‘Tell me everything about this woman and what
she would need.’”
She and the other organizers decided on a curriculum that included
not only job skills, like learning to use a computer and write
a resume, but also life skills like confidence and networking.
The school worked to not only prepare these women to better support
their families, but also to broaden their thinking. Stephenson
said they take the students to cultural events and to museums.
“We give these women tools and resources to help them make
decisions about their lives,” Lori Sliwa, director of the
Lees-McRae branch, said. “It’s all about having the
right tools.”
The women come to Lees-McRae for three weeks during the summer
and stay in dorms. They learn about Appalachian literature, computers,
self-esteem, creative writing, personal finances, job-finding
skills and more.
The school offers students a time to concentrate on themselves,
and the women learn that they can take care of their loved ones
better if they are also taking care of themselves.
Creative writing and expressive arts activities give the women
a chance to tell their stories and to have their stories heard.
“When you hear their stories, it’s powerful…”
Sliwa said. “It opens people’s eyes to the importance
of women helping women.”
Susan Shuford, Lees-McRae director of counseling and NOSW assistant
director, said one of the key roles the school plays not only
during the three week session, but throughout the year, is to
offer support. “It’s important to have someone backing
you up, saying, ‘You’re capable, you’re strong.’”
Shuford noted that the students make long-term friendships while
they are attending the school, and these friendships offer additional
support.
Rose Holtsclaw and Rose Hampton are two students who found a lasting
friendship during their time at NOSW. They attended last summer’s
session, and their lives have already changed.
Holtsclaw found a sustaining job at Lees-McRae and plans to study
restaurant management. She hopes to someday own her own restaurant.
Hampton is studying psychology at Lees-McRae and plans to pursue
a graduate degree to become a counselor. “I want to help
people like I was helped here,” she said.
Before attending NOSW, Hampton said she felt like things were
“spiraling out of control.”
“I felt like I was in a tunnel,” she said. “I started
through it and I had stopped in the middle. I was stuck and I
couldn’t see any light.”
Now, Hampton said, she feels she is moving forward. “I haven’t
made it all the way through yet, but I can see the light at the
end,” she said.
Holtsclaw said she learned about the program while she was looking
through the newspaper for classes to take. After seeing the listing,
Holtsclaw came to the NOSW office, but was scared and almost did
not go inside. “I didn’t think they would accept me,”
she said.
After meeting with Holtsclaw, Sliwa said she hoped she would apply.
“I kept looking for your application in the mail everyday,”
she told Holtsclaw.
Hampton said she had similar thoughts to Holtsclaw, and, “In
the back of my mind, I was thinking, ‘Nothing good ever happens
to me.’”
She said she had prayed for God to send her an angel to help her.
“I think you’re my angel,” she told Sliwa.
“I thought nothing good will come out of it,” Holtsclaw
said. “I was wrong.”
Hampton and Holtsclaw are just two of the many women to come through
the school, and they are not the only success stories. Of the
combined graduates of the Berea and Lees-McRae programs, 76 percent
have found sustaining jobs, pursued higher education or both.
They find support throughout the year, through emails and holiday
cards and at reunions held each year.
Lees-McRae offers the use of its facilities to the school, but
other funding is supplied solely through grants and private donations.
Opportunities to donate or to sponsor a student are available.
To learn more about how you can help, contact Lori Sliwa at (828)
898-8905 or email her at sliwal@lmc.edu.
The school is still accepting applications for the 2008 session.
If you are interested in attending, contact Sliwa as listed above.
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