Church takes on role of helping to teach computer skills

Lohman

Living on Terrace Street near Del Mar College affords Edna Armadillo a birds-eye view of students going to classes, on their journey to bettering their employment prospects and eventually their standard of living.
   Armadillo says she isn't much different from the collegiate crowd. She works on Fridays as a private home care provider, but hopes of one day landing her dream job at a doctor's office and making more money.
   Problem is, she hasn't any computer skills. She doesn't even know how to log on to a computer.

To learn more For information on the center, call 882-4746.

   When the 45-year-old heard that Calvary Tabernacle, a church down her street, was establishing a computer center, Armadillo saw that as her chance to get those skills.
   "I'll do it because I know that those classes will benefit me and my family," said Armadillo, a single mother who has four children still living at home.
   Mike Lohman, pastor of Calvary Tabernacle, hopes that Armadillo's children and other youths also will take advantage of what the center will offer, including after-school mentoring.
   The church is establishing the center with a $25,000 grant it got Wednesday from the Weed and Seed program.
   Computer at home
   Lohman envisioned the neighborhood computer center two years ago when his daughter started school. By the time their daughter enrolled in kindergarten, Lohman said, she already knew how to run computer programs, having furthered the skills she had picked up at day care by working on her parents' computer at home.
   But her peers, who didn't have a computer at home or access to one, were at a serious disadvantage the minute they walked into a classroom.
   "Somebody needed to do something," Lohman said. "And then a light went off. I knew we couldn't just go about trying to change the lives of kids with the computer center. We needed to help teen-agers so that they can succeed in school, help single moms acquire the computer skills they need to get jobs they can support their families with, and open up the world for senior citizens so that they can order prescriptions online or e-mail out-of-town family."
   An incentive
   Yvonne Castillo, faith community coordinator with Youth Opportunities United, a collaboration between city and county designed to address youth risk factors, said Calvary's computer center should serve as an incentive for other churches to go after grant money.
   "We need to get the word out to the faith community that there is grant money available that is not tied in with the religious aspect of their programs," Castillo said. "You don't have to preach in order to teach a skill."
   In grant application documentation, Lohman included results of a sample survey that volunteers conducted earlier this summer throughout the 78404 ZIP code area, between Crosstown Expressway and Ayers Street. Survey results showed that 90 percent of residents reported not having a computer at home or having access to one.
   Other services
   In addition to computer classes, other center services will include marriage and drug abuse counseling, classes in self-esteem, PowerPoint presentations, resume writing and motivational and financial seminars. The center also will offer daycare for working moms. All services are free.
   The center will be open from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, run by volunteers and located at the church community center until it's relocated off church property next year.
   Users of the center's services do not have to be Calvary church members nor live in the 78404 area.
   "No one will be turned away," Lohman said. "Our goal is strictly to help our community. Our mission is to promote economic development and education."