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"...gaining
knowledge and confidence..."
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 Social 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.
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Course
Schedules: Call CNSC @ 415.421.2111 or Email
CNSC
ESL
Class
Instructor:
George Lee Tin
Mon 5/9/00 - 6/29/00
Every Tuesday & Thursday 9:00am - 11:OOam 5/20/00 - 8/26/00
Every Saturday 9:00am - 11:Ooam
Instructor:
Jane Chan
4/8/00 - 6/24/00
Every Saturday 9:00am - 11:OOam 4/8/00 - 6/24/00
Every Saturday 9:00am - 11:Ooam
Citizenship
Class
Instructor:
Jane Chan
4/7/00-6/23/00
Every Friday 3:15pm-4:45pm
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Computer Class
Instructor:
Oscar Wong
Introduction to PC
5/21/00 - 6/25/00 Every Sunday 9:00am - 12:00pm
6/3/00
- 7/8/00 Every Saturday 9:00am - 12:00pm
7/22/00 - 8/26/00 Every Saturday 9:00am- 12:00pm
7/23/00 - 8/27/00 Every Sunday 9:00am- 12:00pm
Microsoft
Office 97
5/21/00 - 6/18/00 Every Sunday l:OOpm - 4:00pm
7/23/00 - 8/20/00 Every Sunday l:OOpm - 4:00pm
Internet
7/2/00 One day Internet course 9:00am - 4:30pm
7/16/00 One day Internet course 9:00am - 4:30pm
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Job
Preparation Workshop for New Immigrants
Every
Wednesday 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Janitorial
Training for Cal-Works & PEAS 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.
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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.
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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)
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 to break 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.
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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!
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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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