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Home >
Services
>
Education |
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"...gaining
knowledge and confidence..."
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A
primary goal of CNSC is to provide low-cost, bilingual Computer
and Internet Classes to residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. CNSC
recruits lab assistants from San
Francisco State University as well as instructors through SFSU Internships.
Some students will receive scholarships for the computer classes. In 1999,
CNSC added 3 new computer classes to the 4 classes currently offered,
all taught in Cantonese and Mandarin.
English Classes and instruction in preparing for
the Citizenship exam remain in high demand.
In 1998 CNSC served approximately 500 individuals. This year, CNSC plans
to offer 30 ESL and Citizenship classes. The classes are taught by Jane
Chan, George Lee, John Sze, and Gary Hong. Fees for the ESL and Citizenship
Classes are based on income, and range from free to a maximum of $40.00
per course.
Understanding
the laws of one's new country can be a frightening challenge for a newcomer,
especially when the laws keep changing. CNSC responds to the urgent need
for clarification about such changes through our Education
Seminars. The Supplementary Security Income Seminar
helps recent immigrants keep abreast of important changes in law and policies.
In October of 1998, CNSC also began sponsoring Small
Business Workshops. The San Francisco Independent Living Resource
Center (ILRC) provides services to disabled persons
and has a counselor on site at CNSC once a week.
CNSC's Education goals realize these positive outcomes:
- CNSC clients gain computer and Internet skills. They will gain the skills they need to improve their employment opportunities.
- Parents gain the knowledge and confidence to monitor their children's use of the Internet and protect them from harmful sites.
- Parents gain the skills to help their children find educational and cultural sites on the Internet. Children of CNSC clients will gain the skills they need to perform well in school.
- Clients learn how to use e-mail,discussion groups, and possibly create a simple web site. Diverse Bay Area residents will gain a voice on the Internet.
Course Schedules: Call CNSC @415.421.2111 or email CNSC
Instructor: Jane Chan
4/7/00-6/23/00
Every Friday 3:15pm-4:45pm
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Computer Class
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Job Preparation Workshop for New Immigrants
Janitorial Training for Cal-Works & PAES Recipients
Open Enrollment 8:30am - 4:00pm or 1 :OOpm - 8:30pm
Educational
Seminars:
The adjustment process is not easy for newcomers as they need to grapple with cultural differences and language barriers, in addition to the normal stresses of daily living. One of the ways CNSC makes that process easier is by offering seminars on various topics.
Some topics covered included:
- immigration and naturalization laws
- social welfare programs such as SDI and SSI
- Job Training and Employment Rights for persons with disabilities (ILRC)
- Small
Business ownership.
At each seminar, we invite speakers with appropriate expertise to share their knowledge in community forums. In 1998, CNSC offered seminars about changes in the Affidavit of Support (form I-864), filing fee increases for INS processing services, Food Stamp eligibility, and Social Security benefits. Over 300 people attended the affidavit of support seminar led by attorneys Joe Chan and Helen Hui.
Small
Business Administration
Newcomers can be business owners as well as employees. With our new Small Business Seminars, CNSC helps newcomers find their way through the tangle of legal and financial obstacles that can make establishing a business in America so daunting. CNSC offers workshops in both the South Bay as well as San Francisco. This year, CNSC received a generous grant of $5000 from Bank of America Foundation to support this program.
In October of 1998, CNSC began sponsoring Small Business Workshops. We invited Mr. Danson Leung, CPA, to discuss restaurant tax regulations with current restaurant owners and future entrepreneurs. The positive response to Mr. Leung's presentation reaffirms our plans to provide future workshops.
The 1999 Small Business Education series included the following topics:
- How to start a business and apply for a loan
- Introduction to business tax laws, special tax credits, and S.F. Enterprise Zone benefits
- Potential risks and selecting the right insurance plan to protect your investment
- Marketing, both traditional and internet
- Labor laws and employer/ employee rights and responsibilities
- Laws and
business models for starting a new business.
CNSC thanks these and other members of the business community who have volunteeed their time and effort to make these seminars a success: Marks Lam, board member of the California Trade and Commerce Agency; Eddie Tsang, insurance broker and 1996 Charity Emperor; Faye Lee, Esq.; Catherine Yee, Esq; and Danson Leung, CPA.
English Classes (ESL)
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Chinese Newcomers
Service Center assists their clients in attaining their educational and
personal goals by offering a variety of classes. Learning English continues
to be the most frequent request from clients.
Our volunteer, Mr. George T. M. Lee, who has over 20 years of experience
in bilingual education,
currently teaches the classes.
Citizenship
Becoming a citizen can be a very daunting task for a newcomer in this country. Through our citizenship classes and related services we are working to ease fears and doubts and tobreak misconceptions about the process. The instructor of the citizenship classes, Jane Chan, cares greatly for her students and even accompanies them to the INS office for their interviews. To help spread the word that "It is never too late to become a citizen," CNSC has teamed up with the Commission on the Aging in a joint raturalization project.
Independent
Living Resource Center
The San Francisco Independent Living Resource Center (ILRC) provides services to disabled persons in areas such as housing, job training, mental health counseling and benefits advocacy. The Center has a Chinese Department under the direction of Mr. Albert Cheung. He does outreach at CNSC and is available on site once a week to counsel individuals.
Computer Classes
In 1999, CNSC opened the doors to its very own onsite computer center where classes are offered to the community in Chinese. The program started through the generous support of AT&T, which had provided computers and classroom space at its Global Communications Center. When the Center's offices moved in April, AT&T donated 15 computers, a printer, a fax machine, and other office furniture to our agency. The popularity of the classes continues to grow just as the diversity of students we serve continues to expand. We have children getting a head start on the information highway, young adults improving their job marketable skills, and older adults in their 70's and 80's eager to learn new skills, too.
Also: During the summer of 1999, AT&T donated office equipment, computers, and furniture to expand our computer classes for adults and children. With their donation, our new onsite computer learning facility opened in July. Since the opening of the facility, over 200 students have enrolled in classes. Alan K. Yee, a computer systems supervisor at Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, volunteered to be the learning center's consultant. We offer introductory courses on how to use a PC as well as instruction in Microsoft Office 97 applications. Summer classes targeted for children are also offered. Thank you AT&T for your generous support of this much-needed program!
SSI
-Supplementary Security Income (SSI Seminar)
The Social Security Income Seminar helps recent immigrants keep abreast of important changes in law and policies. We share the most up-to-date information in the seminars we sponsor.
More information here
Product Development
A three-way collaboration between SFSU, TeamTech and CNSC could produce educational products such as CD-ROMs that CNSC can use for on-the-spot training. These products could also be incorporated into a social enterprise model of revenue generation. SFSU will provide the technological skills and CNSC will provide the intellectual property and design. Subjects could include citizenship tutorials, small business development, or apropos our newest grant - a Chinese language training video for janitorial hotel workers. We are especially grateful to Professor Hamid Khani who has contributed so generously to this effort. This is quite an aggressive agenda for the next few years. Even if only a handful of these great ideas evolve into reality, the impact to CNSC's outreach will be enormous. We owe a huge debt to the vision and generosity of TeamTech. As pieces fall into place over the next few months, we will invite you to stay tuned and LOG ON! TESTIMONIAL (May Lau) I joined the computer learning class at CNSC during the month of August 1998, and am about to finish in November. The course helped me learn faster, and more efficiently.
What are they saying about CNSC?
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777 Stockton Street, Suite 104, San Francisco, CA 94108
Tel: 415.421.2111 Fax: 415.421.2323 email: cnscsf@yahoo.com