Parents as Community Leaders 

The GLFRC's Parents as Community Leader (PCL) is a multi-ethnic group of area parents who are interested in helping children and families live better. The group meets monthly, at 5:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month. PCL began meeting in October of 2000 with the help of a grant from the Greater Lowell Community Foundation and the active support of GLFRC member agencies Casey Family Services, Concord Family and Youth Services, and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention for Cruelty to Children. The group expanded to about 20 members, and in June a celebration of the first year of activities drew members and their families, as well as GLFRC Advisory Board members, to a barbecue in North Common Park in Lowell. 

In August, 2001, Parents as Community Leaders members planned and carried out two presentations for parents of school age children at the Mercier Center in Lowell. Diana Rocha of the Federation for Children with Special Needs presented "Parents are Powerful" in Spanish to 18 parents at the first event, and in English to a group of 19 parents on the second occasion. Simultaneous translation into Khmer was provided at the second event by Kowith Kret. Between the two evenings, over 40 children were provided with child care on site -- with crafts and videos, toys and snacks. 

For information please call:

• Jane Benfey       (978) 681-9562 (English) 
• June Taing         (978) 937-3552 (Khmer) 
• Marta Romero   (978) 937-3552 (Spanish)

Parents as Community Leaders group sponsors two community events

The presentation was offered in Spanish on August 3, and in English on August 27; translation into Khmer was available at the second event. Dinner, prepared by PCL members, and childcare were offered at both events.  Each evening was attended by 18 to 20 community members, and many parents signed up to become members of Parents as Community Leaders in the coming program year. 

Greater Lowell Family Resource Collaborative Annual Meeting
September 17, 2001

 Greater Lowell Family Resource Collaborative brings inspirational speaker to Lowell

Inspiration can be hard to come by for those who work in human services, especially in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. On Monday, September 17, at a 9 a.m. at the Mercier Center in Lowell, the Collaborative held its annual community meeting, attended by over 60 people, with the goals of invigorating and sustaining commitment and collaboration among providers of human services in the Lowell area..

Speakers included Senator Steven Panagiotakos, who spoke to the need for all of us to work together in difficult times. The senator introduced the keynote speaker, the Reverend Zina Jacque, a well-known inspirational speaker with many years of experience in higher education and faith-based commitment to meeting the needs of youth and families. Reverend Jacque is presently developing an urban counseling center at Trinity Episcopal Church in Copley Square, and has previously served as the Executive director of the TenPoint Coalition in Boston. 

Certificates of Appreciation were presented to Representative Carol Cleven, of Chelmsford, for her long advocacy in the legislature on behalf of families; to David Kronberg of the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, for his work on behalf of Lowell and its surrounding towns; and to Tehron Hudson, a member of Parents as Community Leaders who has been actively involved in many of the Collaborative’s projects over the past year.

The annual election of Advisory Board members was held at the same meeting, and the following people were elected: Shirley Alejandro, Carmen Brown, Allen Casad, Peggy DiCori*, Karen Frederick*, Elaine Gaffny*, Fran Gilmore*, Mark Goldman, Denis Grandbois*, Kathleen Hulbert*, Margaret Mahoney, Connie Martin, Helen McCreedy, Maryellen McEleney, Donna Meade*, Gail Medeiros*, Terry O'Neill, Alice Reitz*, Paulette Renault-Caragianes*, Marina Schell*, Kosal Suon, Rena Theum, Robin Toof.

Officers elected were: Karen Frederick, Chairperson; Donna Meade, vice-chairperson; Kathleen Hulbert, Recording Secretary

*Returning members

Parents as Community Leaders begins second year with expanded membership

On November 6, 2001, Parents as Community Leaders, the parent committee of the GLFRC, began its second year of meetings with a group of 19 parents, and staff from four local agencies.  The meeting was hosted by Casey Family Services, and dinner was provided by Community Teamwork’s Child and Family Services.

Donna Meade and Angie Lee of Concord Family and Youth Services came to say goodbye to the group, as their agency closed its local mental health clinic. Both will be much missed; flowers, plaques and a cake were provided to wish them the very best and thank them for their contributions over the past year.

Merrimack Valley Hub: MVHub.com Website launched at Community Event

On Tuesday, December 4, at 9 a.m., with the launch of the Merrimack Valley Hub Website, or www.MVHub.com, Lowell residents acquired a new access ramp to the Information Superhighway. The site was introduced with a demonstration at the MIL conference Room at UMass Lowell. About 40 people attended, and the feedback on the site was very positive.

The site logo, (at right) was designed by Deidre, a staff person at New Beginnings. This map of the Merrimack Valley  was the winning entry in a logo contest with prizes offered by the Merrimack Repertory Theater and the Doubletree Hotel in Lowell.  We would like to commend all those who entered the contest, as well as our panel of contest judges.

MVHub.com is designed to help people find information about services and programs provided by more than 100 agencies in the Greater Lowell area.  This interactive site is the first of its kind in the region. It is simple to use, and allows users to identify services available in specific languages, to review eligibility requirements for programs, to locate program site on a printable map, and even to translate listings into several languages including Spanish and Portuguese. It also links to other Internet sites, offering agencies an opportunity to provide additional information to those who visit the site.

Website bolsters social service reach
By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent, 12/16/2001

LOWELL - If you have a need in Lowell, chances are there is someone who can help.

There are agencies ready to help those who are hungry, short on clothes, or looking for a job. There are organizations to teach adults reading, provide counseling to rape victims, and offer recreation for retarded adults. There are services for immigrants trying to find their way, families in crisis, and people in need of low-cost legal help.

But with so many agencies doing so many things, locating the service you need can often be a dizzying task.

Until now ...

Last month, a new Website providing an extensive listing of human service and cultural resources in the city began operation.

Formally launched on Dec. 4, the Merrimack Valley Hub Website is the product of a yearlong collaboration among Greater Lowell Family Resource Collaborative, New Beginnings, the Police Department, and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. The collaborative is a multi-agency program that offers a variety of family services. New Beginnings is a private nonprofit group that helps adults pursue education, housing, and other goals.

The site, MVHub.com, which to date lists 74 organizations, is the first in the region to offer a comprehensive guide to services. Also innovative are its interactive features. To help make the site more accessible to the city's large immigrant community, for example, organizers included software that allows a user to call up versions of the site in Spanish, Portuguese, and other languages.

Users also can send e-mail to request more information on a program or suggest additions to the site. At the bottom of each agency description is a map that users can click on for directions on how to reach its location.

For those who do not have a computer at home or work, there are at least 10 sites in the community that feature full or partial public access to computers. Organizers stress that the Website is still a work in progress. A number of organizations are not yet listed.

And the languages offered on the Web cover only some of those spoken in the city - notably absent is Khmer, the native language of Cambodian-Americans, who constitute a large segment of the city's immigrant population. Organizers say the Internet service through which they offer translations covers only certain languages. But they hope to find ways to offer information in Khmer and possibly other languages not now covered.

Another goal is to expand the site so that it serves not just the city but the Greater Lowell area, and eventually the Merrimack Valley. 

But those who have viewed the site said it is already invaluable. In addition to listing agencies, the site allows users to search for programs by name and to scroll down a list of more than 300 services. There are also links to agency Websites.

Among those who are enthusiastic about the site is Bodie Barton, a family resource coordinator for Community Teamwork, an antipoverty agency that provides a broad range of services, from fuel assistance to child care.

He said one of the aims of his agency is to help families to ''be able to navigate the community.'' He said the Website aids that effort.

''They don't have to go to the places. As long as they have access to the computer, they can access MVHub.com,'' he said. By learning to use the site, even when they are no longer enrolled in the agency's programs, they will be able to find the services they need, he said.

Jane Benfey, coordinator of the Greater Lowell Family Resource Collaborative, said social service organizations typically have not done a good job teaching people to locate needed resources themselves.

''A lot of times, the information stayed with the professional, the need stayed with the consumer. We're trying to break that. We're trying to say, `Information belongs to everyone. And everyone has needs.'''

Organizers say another important strength of the site is that it can be revised and updated as new services are offered and others discontinued. There have been printed guides to services in the past, but most have become outdated almost as soon as they were printed, according to Benfey.

With up-to-date agency information readily accessible, the staff at various agencies will have a much easier time referring clients to services that their agencies do not provide. Barton said that will save time and resources that agencies can use to enhance their own services.

New Beginnings began exploring the idea of a Website listing community services about three years ago. But the project never got off the ground because of a lack of resources, said Maryellen McEleney, a project coordinator with the agency.

In mid-2000, the collaborative also began thinking about the idea of a Website. Benfey said that through speaking with McEleney and Kevin Mullen, director of New Beginnings, she learned of their interest in the concept. She also learned that the Police Department, through its federally funded Weed and Seed crime-prevention program, had purchased software that could be used to create the Website.

The collaborative, New Beginnings, and Cristi Lemon, the Police Department employee who headed the Weed and Seed program, agreed to work together in developing the site. Another partner was UMass/Lowell's Community Psychology Department, which provided the help of graduate students.

The Family Resource Collaborative, New Beginnings, and UMass/Lowell are contributing staff time to the project, while New Beginnings is picking up the costs of hosting the site. Organizers are offering free training to those who need it in how to use the site.

Kennedy Sarin Khat, a community coordinator for Community Teamwork's Women, Infants, and Children, a federally funded nutrition program for pregnant women and young children, said the Website will be particularly useful for people who need a service but do not feel comfortable asking about it.

Khat said when he sets up an information table about nutrition programs at community events, some people are reluctant to approach him because they do not want others to know they need help. But with the Website, he said, ''they can access [the information] from their home. They can see where to apply, who to talk to. It's all confidential at their home. I think it's great.''

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