Family And Children

Helping seniors learn new job skills Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland will offer a program to help senior citizens learn new job skills while working 20 hours a week with nonprofit organizations. The organization's Senior Community Service Employment Program is part of the Older Americans Act; participants must meet certain income requirements. Family and Children's Services has offices in Wilde Lake Village Center in Columbia and Whiskey Bottom Shopping Center in North Laurel, where it shares space with other agencies in the North Laurel-Savage Multiservice Center.

What's more warm and fuzzy than a room full of grandparents? A room full of foster grandparents. Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland's Foster Grandparent Program held its annual Recognition Ceremony at the Forum, paying tribute to its volunteers, 60 years of age and older, who give personal attention to children in day-care centers, hospitals, schools and programs for the homeless.Singled out for honors were Cornelia Ridgley and three sisters, Rosa Lee Minor, Ruby Sergio and Eva Walker, who all have been volunteering in the program since it began 26 years ago.Also in the gathering of about 250: Brenda D. Harrell, director of the Foster Grandparent Program; Stan Levi, executive director of Family and Children's Services; Sallie Hedenstad, Elder Services director; foster grandparents Leslie Saunders, Marjorie Stokes, Ocie Burch, Shelvin Caulthorne and Pauline Taylor.

A former Westminster school building will reopen next week )) with a new role and a new name.The former West End School will become West End Place. The renovated building will feature an adult day care center and eight studio apartments for low-income seniors.Karen K. Blandford, Westminster city housing and community development administrator, obtained $710,000 in grants for the renovation of the school building at 7 Schoolhouse Ave. It most recently housed the Westminster Senior Center.Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland Inc. contracted with the Westminster Common Council to use the city-owned building after it became vacant in October 1996.

Because all the bids were too high, the city of Westminster will readvertise the renovation of the former West End School and seek additional state money for the job.Despite cuts in the proposal, the gap remained too wide, said Karen K. Blandford, the city's administrator of housing and community development.The turn-of-the-century schoolhouse, off Pennsylvania Avenue near Western Maryland College, will house an adult day-care facility on the first floor and eight assisted-living housing units for the elderly on the second, to be run by Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland.

WITH HELP FROM the United Way, Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland helps Baltimore County and the rest of the region cope with some of their most pressing problems, including a burgeoning elderly population and troubled families.Family and Children's Services, a private non-profit group, operates on an $8 million budget; $1.5 million of it comes from the United Way.The organization uses this money in concert with public funds to provide valuable services it otherwise could not afford, such as adult day care and support for in-home eldercare; adoption initiatives for kids with serious health programs, including AIDS, and different kinds of family counseling.

Flozella Eleanor Riddle Clark, a civil rights activist who had a long career with the Family and Children's Society of Baltimore and later in real estate, died after suffering a heart attack Jan. 2 while visiting a daughter in Los Angeles. She was 75.She turned in her real estate license in 1994 after about 20 years, said the daughter, Veronica Hudson. But people continued to call, and the semiretired Mrs. Clark would help them with the paperwork and financing needed to buy the home.Mrs. Clark, who had lived since 1948 in the 2000 block of Wheeler Ave., had been married for 53 years to Harold Alexander Clark, a retired school principal.

Spring SafariTake your family on a leisurely stroll through the Baltimore Zoo Sunday and at the same time help raise money for the Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland, a nonprofit agency.Registration for the annual Spring Safari begins at 9 a.m. and continues to noon at the zoo's main entrance. The suggested course is 3.5 miles, but walkers can elect to see as much or as little of the route as they wish. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., participants will be treated to a roaring good time at the "Party at the Pavilion," where they can enjoy food, children's activities and live music.

RECENTLY, SOME people who are not my girlfriends gathered to say nice things about my work, and I insisted that my children dress up in clothes they do not find comfortable and come along to witness it.I wanted them to have a vision of my career that was not "leaving all day only to come home in a bad mood and make a sorry dinner," which is how my son describes my work life.It was a lovely ceremony, and I was delighted with my children's good behavior, because you never know how these things are going to go.On the way home, I thanked my children for being there for me and asked them for their thoughts.

The city of Westminster will combine adult day care and housing for the elderly at the former West End School, under a $466,650 grant administered by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.With the Small Development Block Grant, Westminster and Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland will renovate the West End School, off Pennsylvania Avenue near Western Maryland College, for use as an adult day care facility and eight assisted-living housing units.The project will enable Family and Children's Services to double its adult day care capacity from 20 to 40 participants a day.PoliceWestminster: A Burtonsville resident told police Monday that someone broke into his car and stole property while it was parked on West Main Street.

OAKLAND MILLS High School is having a Family Resource Fair for parents and guardians Monday in the cafeteria.The goal of the fair is to acquaint families with the service groups that are available to help families and the community deal with problems.The open house is sponsored by the Parent Support Network of the Eastern Coalition Against Substance Abuse, which has invited representatives of Taylor Health System, Youth Enrichment Program, Family and Children Services, Howard County Department of Addictions Prevention, Family Life Center, Howard County Office of Substance Abuse, Children of Separation and Divorce, Friends Medical Lab, Howard County Sexual Assault Center, Grassroots, Serenity Center, Oakview Treatment Center, Students Against Drugs, Huntington Learning BTC Center and Howard County Citizen Services.

Anthony and Iris Thorpe adopted their first child nearly 16 years ago, a 6-week-old girl whose mother had been given a diagnosis of HIV-positive. With two other children of their own, the couple figured that the infant made their family circle complete. Since then, the circle has ballooned, with 48 foster children, five adoptions and one foster child whose adoption is in the works. The Thorpes, of Port Deposit, have opened their arms to infants and toddlers from Baltimore who make up some of city's most disheartening child statistics: the offspring of drug-afflicted, HIV-infected parents.

Reasonable to limit gun rights of abusers We have no problem with hunters having access to guns, or people owning legal firearms, properly stored, for self-defense. However, all reasonable people surely must agree that there are circumstances that justify the termination of that right ("Added protection," editorial, Feb. 3). And a gun owner with a history of violence against his or her partner falls into this category, even if he or she is not a convicted criminal. Those of us who work with the victims of domestic violence know that the time between the issuing of a temporary and a final protective order is when a victim is at the highest risk of attack by her partner.

On November 21, 2008, Henry V. Rieger Sr Services and interment private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions are made to either Coastal Hospice of Salisbury, PO Box 1733, Salisbury, MD 21802 or Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland, 4623 Falls Rd., Balt., MD 21209. Arrangements by the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc.

James C. Holman, an attorney who represented corporate and banking clients and had been board chairman of a children's charity, died of congestive heart failure Monday at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Timonium resident was 61. Born in Springfield, Mo., he earned a bachelor's degree in history from Drury University, a law degree at Vanderbilt University in 1971 and a master's degree in law from George Washington University. After law school, Mr. Holman served in the Army at Fort Holabird.

Nonprofit returns to Wilde Lake building Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland has returned to its facility in the Village of Wilde Lake after a four-month absence while its building was being renovated. In January, the staff of the nonprofit organization moved to the basement of the Rose Price House, the building next to Oakland Manor in Town Center. Renovations to the Wilde Lake building, which 40 years ago served as Howard County Library's first Columbia branch, included a new sprinkler system, new acoustical ceiling tiles, new carpeting, paint and windows.

The Healthy Families program at Howard County General Hospital has received a grant of $45,500 from the Howard County government as part of the Community Service Partnerships program. Healthy Families Howard County provides first-time parents with educational programs and emotional support from pregnancy through the first five years of parenthood. Participants in the program receive home visits and referrals from Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland, when appropriate. The program began in 2001 with a grant from the Howard County Children's Board, and also receives funding from the Freddie Mac and Columbia foundations.

Helping seniors learn new job skills Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland will offer a program to help senior citizens learn new job skills while working 20 hours a week with nonprofit organizations. The organization's Senior Community Service Employment Program is part of the Older Americans Act; participants must meet certain income requirements. Family and Children's Services has offices in Wilde Lake Village Center in Columbia and Whiskey Bottom Shopping Center in North Laurel, where it shares space with other agencies in the North Laurel-Savage Multiservice Center.

On a recent weekday morning, the spacious, toy-filled basement of Lori Skillman's house has been taken over by toddlers. Seven have arrived, and more are on the way. They pull books off shelves, clamber into a plastic car and practice their newfound walking skills as their moms watch and chat. The children, all about 18 months old, are in a play group formed by women who attended a free support class offered by Healthy Families Howard County, a five-year-old program that is run by Howard County General Hospital and funded by the hospital and Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland.

The Mystery Book Club will meet at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Savage library branch, 9525 Durness Lane. The group, which meets the second Wednesday of each month, will discuss A Season for the Dead by David Hewson. The library's Nonfiction Book Club, which meets the third Wednesday of each month, will discuss The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion at 7 p.m. Jan. 17. Information: 410-880-5980. Recreation council offers `Snow Show' The South Laurel Recreation Council will present a free performance of The Snow Show by Bob Brown Puppets, and a visit from Santa and his friends (Teddy Bear, Snowman, Panda Bear, Chipmunk and others)

The Savage branch library, 9525 Durness Lane, will hold its Writers' Circle, a group that meets to share original writing with other aspiring authors for mutual support and comment, at 7 p.m. tomorrow. Registration is not required. The library will present "Mr. Claus Comes to Savage," a program for children ages 2 to 5, at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. tomorrow and 7 p.m. Thursday. Registration is required. Information: 410-880-5978. A workshop on making a gingerbread house, for ages 11-14, will be offered from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.