|
Rose Tarin has dedicated her life to the noblest of causes: helping children discover their potential for success. Before she began enriching the lives of homeless children and youth in 1996 as liaison for both El Paso ISD (EPISD) and Region 19 ECS, Rose administered the Social Service Component at the local Head Start program, attending to the educational needs of 3200 economically challenged preschool children from twelve school districts in El Paso and Hudspeth counties. The program, which is the third largest in Texas, provides educational, health, and nutritional services for the children as well as transportation and family counseling. With a Bachelors degree in social work and a Masters in counseling and guidance, Rose was a perfect fit for the humanitarian efforts of Region 19's Head Start program. Through her guidance, disadvantaged preschoolers were afforded a learning environment in which each could develop social, intellectual, physical, and emotional skills that would help them in school and throughout their lives.
Her concern for the welfare of children also led her to associate with Adoption Access, a Dallas agency that places at-risk infants in stable, nurturing homes. Counseling birthparents and directing them to solutions, Rose not only helps families make informed choices, she gives children whose lives were in question a brighter future. "Making a difference for young people in difficult situations is something Rose has been doing for a long time." As homeless liaison for El Paso ISD and Region 19 ESC, she has offered similar hope to thousands of children whose circumstances threaten their future success.
EPISD, the largest of Region 19's twelve districts, has 62,000 students at 88 campuses. As liaison for El Paso's schools, Rose facilitates the enrollment, attendance, and academic success of the district's 500 homeless children and youth. She also ministers to the educational needs of residents at twelve of the city's homeless shelters. She and her staff of nine certified teachers, eleven tutors, and four intake workers regularly visit sheltered families, informing parents of their educational rights under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and providing on-site family tutoring. The shelter population in El Paso is diverse and demanding, ranging from families with children, young women with chemical dependencies, unaccompanied youth, to teens struggling with emotional and psychological issues. Each population presents unique challenges and receives specialized attention from the highly trained staff; along with material support (school supplies, clothing, sundries, transportation), Rose and her staff offer much-needed encouragement and the advantage of an education, without which the homeless have scant home of improving their circumstances and realizing their dreams. All monies used for staffing and to support Rose's work come entirely from McKinney-Vento and Title I funds.
Rose's work also takes her and her staff far beyond El Paso's city limits. As homeless liaison for Region 19 ESC, Rose regularly travels the sprawling west Texas countryside to extend support for schools scattered throughout six outlying districts. In addition, Rose visits residents at three rural shelters and seven colonias. (For more information about colonias, see this month's Mailbag.) Most of her rural clients are poor, many are immigrants (legal and not), and few are educated. Regardless of their circumstances, every child-even those in desolate locations and dire situations-is eligible for an education, according to the McKinney-Vento legislation. Working in coordination with her staff, Rose informs her rural clients of their children's right to attend nearby schools, to receive transportation to and from home, to obtain school supplies and clothing, and to excel despite the odds against them.
And many do succeed. Rose related how Devanny Colunga, a young girl living at the Salvation Army Transitional Living facility, not only excelled in her classes but also won the El Paso ISD Science Fair. A second grade student at Douglas Elementary School, Devanny evaluated and compared lip moisturizers-a relevant topic, considering El Paso's arid climate. For her efforts, Devanny won the Sweepstake award at her school and then took first place in her division at the district level.
Rose Tarin's success in her role as homeless liaison to the extensive and diverse population of children and families El Paso and Hudspeth counties is well earned. Educated and experienced within the community, she understands the unique mindset of west Texas and where its greatest needs lie. She has spent years finding ways to enrich the lives of children whose fragmented home life stood between them and their right to happiness and prosperity. When asked what challenges she still faces as homeless liaison, Rose cites limited funding, particularly resources to provide housing for El Paso's large immigrant population. But given her record of overcoming daunting obstacles over the past eight years to provide first-rate educational services to area students, shelter residents, and colonia dwellers, one can assume that Rose will turn even this challenge into a victory.
|
