St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center Team with Neighborhood Service Organization to Help Parents Go Back to School

DETROIT, Aug. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Summer is quickly disappearing.  Most parents are facing back to school shopping for new lunch boxes and clothes.  Some are shopping for refrigerators and sheets to outfit their son or daughter's new dorm room.  Families are spending the last few weeks of summer getting things to meet the basic needs of their children.  

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For a lot of parents in Detroit, this is not a once a year, back to school issue.  It is an every day, fight for survival issue.  How do they support their family and give them the basic needs if they are unemployable?  Not just unemployed, but unemployable, because they never received the proper education?  

How would their lives and the community be different if their children were clothed and fed and they had a chance to finish their education?  To what heights could our city soar if adults had the education they need to get a job or have a chance to go to college?  Life wouldn't just be a struggle to survive any longer.  

It's time for East Side parents to sharpen their pencils and head back to school.  St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center (SVSFC) is extremely proud to announce the launch of their partnership with the Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO).  SVSFC has brought their free, personalized, GED tutoring preparation program, The Education Experience, to the NSO Harper Gratiot Multi-Service Center (located at 9641 Harper, Detroit, MI  48213).

SVSFC's Education Experience provides one-on-one assessment and tutoring, to bring students up to an academic level that is appropriate to begin preparing for the GED and then prepares them to take the exam. In an attempt to remove as many barriers to achievement as possible, when the student is ready, The Education Experience schedules, pays for the GED exam and in some cases, provides transportation to the testing site.

"Together, we are working towards giving Detroit an overall solution. We are happy to bring the next step, completing their education, in helping adults support their families on the East side.  We are grateful to NSO for their enthusiasm and providing us with the ability to work directly with the community they already serve," said Diane Renaud, CEO of St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center.

Since 1955, NSO has been reaching out to people across metropolitan Detroit by strengthening and empowering neighborhoods, supporting families and helping people in need. Over the years, the scope and variety of services offered have grown into a network of sophisticated, vertically integrated programs that have received local, statewide and national recognition.

"Education has the power to make the difference in the lives of not only individuals, but family and the greater community," said Sheilah Clay, President and CEO, Neighborhood Service Organization. "Through this partnership, we hope to place the tools individuals and their families need to succeed within reach  —  creating success stories in the very neighborhoods where we live and work."  

To learn how to enroll in The Education Experience GED Tutoring program, please call St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center at 313.535.9200, ext. 3103.  Students must be at least 18 years of age to enroll.

Founded in 1844, the St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center most recently served Southeastern Michigan as a residential/foster care agency for children. However, in 2006, the Center closed its residential campus due to elimination of funding. It was determined that rather than close the doors of the organization, to return to its roots – providing assistance to the residents of the community through educational programs.  St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center moved to Detroit to continue nearly 170 years of service to the community through basic skill-building and academic enhancement for at-risk children and adults. These programs are designed to help build self-sufficiency skills for academic and employment success, personal achievement and dignity.  In March 2011, The Education Experience was launched, with expanded hours, services and locations, to better serve the community.  

For more information, visit www.nso-mi.org or http://www.svsfcenter.org/

Contact: Diane Renaud, (313) 535-9200, [email protected]

SOURCE St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center