Church offers Child Care to VGCC GED students
Too often, according to Vance-Granville Community College Dean of Adult Basic Education Leo Kelly, Jr., lack of child care prevents some working adults from getting an education. One church in Henderson is trying to change that.
The five-year-old Rock of Ages Discipleship Ministry, located at 2040 Francis Avenue in Henderson, recently began offering free child care on Tuesday evenings for parents who are taking free VGCC night classes at L.B. Yancey Elementary School. Adults can get help with reading, writing or math skills, and they can also prepare to earn a GED , the high school equivalency diploma that opens up new job opportunities.
Pastor Greg Fulton of Durham works on outreach efforts for the church, and he explained that it is important to him to establish relationships with other organizations in the community. “We were looking at what the needs of the community are and how the church can meet those needs, so I called Leo Kelly at Vance-Granville,” Fulton said. Kelly told Fulton that approximately 40 percent of adults in the area have less than a high school education. Fulton offered to let Kelly use space in the church for GED classes, but a grateful Kelly suggested that the church could offer a unique service to supplement GED classes already going on at the nearby elementary school. “We decided that the church can allow our students to leave their kids in a safe, nurturing place one night a week, so that child care issues don’t become a hindrance,” Kelly said. Rock of Ages Pastor Beverly McCoy, who is also a VGCC Nursing graduate, said that the child care service is part of the church’s mission to help the entire community, from children through seniors.
At Rock of Ages, children will receive tutoring to help them with their school homework, but they will also have fun, according to Pastor Faye Fulton, including dancing and training in entrepreneurship, in which they can think up their own small business ventures. Snacks will also be provided. Faye Fulton and Hope McCoy supervise the church’s youth program.
Kelly hopes that this partnership will particularly benefit people between the ages of 18 and 26 who dropped out of high school. “We need to do something to get that group ready for work, and education is the only way to get them prepared,” Kelly said. “If we don’t prepare them, they may be a drain on all of us.” He encouraged all adults to reach out and spread the word so that those who lack education know that resources such as the Rock of Ages child care program are available. For more information or to register for GED/literacy classes, call Sue Grissom at (252) 738-3315 or Leo Kelly at (252) 738-3314.
