Up-County Family Center helps parents thrive

Bill Ryan
The Gazette

(1/29) ‘‘We don’t have an admissions criteria, so anyone can come to the center. But it’s specifically for infants and toddlers and their families,” Frye said.

She added that some men with children attend classes.

Emmitsburg Commissioner Joyce Rosensteel, who serves as the town’s liaison to the center’s advisory board, said the center ‘‘does a lot for the community.”

Like the home of a large family, the center was humming with activity during a typical Monday. The maze-like hallways in the one-story building were lined with car seats and strollers.

Mothers were lounging quietly in the child development room with their young children napping in their arms after the morning story time. Reading activities are at the core of the center’s mission for success.

‘‘Early literacy activities are important, even if [the children are] not ready to read,” Frye said.

The room was full of colorful toys for the children

‘‘Where’s your smile?” said Anne Sabatino, to her three-month-old son, Anthony. Sabatino normally takes advantage of the Wednesday computer classes at the center.

A voice over the intercom soon announced lunch. Volunteers were cooking grilled cheese sandwiches and chili in a large, well-equipped kitchen.

Lunch was a casual affair, with some children and mothers choosing to play in the child development room a little while longer and some staff members catching up on work.

But the dining room, well lit by wide windows, did fill partially up with about 30 people. There was still space for more.

Moms held their young ones or put them in high chairs. Two older kids ate at their own table. Some of the women on the staff joined the participants for lunch.

The center is served by a staff of nine full- and part-time employees, Frye said, as well as volunteers.

The walls of a classroom in the rear of the building were loaded with GED and reading and writing textbooks. The classroom, used for evening high school lessons, was quiet during the day.

Across the hall from the computer room, a jobs board advertised local employment opportunities.

But at the front of the building, a board displaying the activities for the week listed something that wouldn’t require a resume or a textbook.

‘‘We’re all doing manicures,” Frye said. ‘‘We try to give our parents the opportunity to have time for themselves, and to learn how to value themselves, and Mom’s Club does that.”

Mom’s Club is a weekly program designed by parents for parents, Frye said.

Juggling life’sbiggest challenges

Up-County is in the process of disbursing a $50,000 grant it received last year from the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. The money is being used to keep the doors open longer during the week, replace carpets that are 10 years old, and offer more free educational programs, according to Frye.

Up-County is funded by the nonprofit organizations Catholic Charities and Friends of the Family and also by United Way of Frederick County. It rents building space from the Town of Emmitsburg.

Participants learn how to conduct themselves during job interviews and workdays, and how to write a resume, use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel. While learning how to juggle school and family, they can also take classes for high school credit.

‘‘Some of our participants are pregnant teenagers who could continue in school, but it’s easier here, in some cases, to have them work on flex-school work while there’s care for their child right up the hall,” Frye said. ‘‘They learn how to juggle school and parenting, and job search and parenting, and meal prep and parenting, and all the things that parents have to learn in general.”

Helping othershelp themselves

Frye, 47, became the director of Up-County in November. The Eastern Shore native and current Westminster resident has built her career around social work.

She has been involved in case management, vocational rehabilitation and, prior to her new post, running a shelter for disturbed adolescents.

‘‘I really like working at a small, community-based organization,” she said. ‘‘The culture here is very welcoming.”

One example of a lesson that offers step-by-step guidance on juggling is that of planning for a dinner. Participants first plan a menu and budget for it before buying ingredients and executing the meal.

After lunch a staff member, equipped with a handful of gift cards, took some of the mothers to the grocery store.

Some meals are cooked at the center for practice, Frye said.

But the most measurable effort that Up-County makes is getting someone with a ninth- or 10th-grade education to finish the GED or flexible high school program.

‘‘Traditionally, rural areas are under-served, under-funded, difficult to find jobs in,” Frye said.

One mother who finished taking high school classes — called Flexible Evening School — at the center, now works there and attends evening classes at Hagerstown Business College in Frederick.

Sarah Rohrbaugh, 20, said she has been coming to Up-County, as either a participant or a staff member, for five years. She became a mother at the age of 15.

‘‘I learned how to juggle school and a baby [here at the center],” Rohrbaugh said, ‘‘[and] how to actually be a mom.”