赋权中心庆祝40年来帮助SAC学生发挥他们的潜力

当伯莎·奥瓦莱(Bertha Ovalle)决定在SAC注册时，她的目标不是获得学位. It was to encourage her adult daughter to continue her own education.

奥瓦莱花了30多年的时间抚养孩子，并帮助照顾孙子. 当她的女儿选择全职工作而不是继续上SAC时, 奥瓦莱认为，诱使女儿重返大学的最好办法就是自己报名.

“I told her ‘guess what, 我今年秋天就要开学了，你要和我一起去，帮我熟悉校园,’” Ovalle recalls.

Her plan worked. Once Ovalle enrolled, her daughter agreed to return to SAC as well.

实现了最初的目标后，奥瓦莱很快意识到她需要帮助才能继续上学.

“在注册的时候，我并没有太在意自己，但当我开始上课的时候，我意识到了这一点. I had doubts,” Ovalle said.

As she began her college career as a 51-year-old with a GED, 她向赋权中心(当时被称为妇女中心)寻求指导.

“赋权中心的女人们握着我的手，告诉我一切都会好起来的,” Ovalle said.

For four decades, 赋权中心一直在帮助像奥瓦莱这样的非传统学生在SAC取得成功. 该中心为学生在课堂内外的成功提供全面的支持. By providing both encouragement and connection to resources, 该中心帮助学生消除入学和留在学校的障碍.

When it started in 1981, it was known as the Women’s Center. 该部门的设立是为了帮助那些被认为是流离失所的家庭主妇，在抚养孩子或离婚后需要市场技能的妇女.

Dr. 赋权中心主任海伦·维拉(Helen Vera)于1984年开始在那里担任咨询师. In addition to advising women in academics, her role included convincing students they were capable of succeeding.

“在离开旧角色进入新角色的过程中，他们对未知充满了忧虑和恐惧,” Vera said.

While the initial focus was serving women returning to school, the center has expanded its services to meet a wider scope of needs, including support for first-generation college students, undocumented students, 有小孩的学生，甚至没有高中文凭的学生.

他说:“我们把没有获得普通教育程度证书的学生送走，让他们拿到普通教育程度证书后再回来, and then we wouldn’t see them again,” Vera recalls.

In response, the Empowerment Center created GED-Thru-College, 这是一个免费的项目，帮助学生获得普通教育证书，目标是进入大学. 该项目创建于2009年，是圣安东尼奥仅有的同类项目之一.

随着时间的推移，赋权中心扩大了其重点，以反映社区不断变化的需求. 欧共体与几家当地机构合作，招募那些通常不考虑自己上大学的人, including women’s shelters and low-income housing residents. 欧共体外联协调员经常与大学通常不接触的人群打交道.

“I saw it was a need in our community,” Vera said. “If these populations weren’t assisted and reached out to, 他们永远不会有机会改变自己的生活，过上更好的生活.”

Once enrolled, the Empowerment Center helps students stay in school, providing advising, referrals to childcare, 为妇女提供领导力发展项目，并提供奖学金和经济援助.

这种支持不仅帮助奥瓦莱和她的女儿从SAC毕业, but inspired them to earn bachelor’s degrees. 如今，Ovalle在SAC的学生学习援助中心全职担任行政服务专家, 她经常把学生介绍给赋权中心寻求帮助，因为她是一个新的非传统学生. Her daughter is now working on her master’s degree.

“他们让我对自己有信心，相信我能做到，”奥瓦莱说. “And I did it!”

By shifting its focus to reflect the changing needs of students, the Empowerment Center has not only lasted 40 years at SAC, but is positioned to continue supporting SAC students into the future. A new 12,500平方英尺的EC大楼目前正在SAC校园东侧建设，预计将于2023年8月开放.

“A lot of college Women’s Centers have gone away. Ours has not,” Vera said. “We still feel there’s so much work that needs to be done.”

–SAC–