Caroline House helps mothers, children

Immigrant mothers and children are helped by this group of nuns, they learn English, are helped with job applications and other things they need to live here. The women also make friends, other women with the same struggles. DP

By KEILA TORRES, Staff writer

BRIDGEPORT -- For Amarilys Rodriguez, who left Puerto Rico for Connecticut four years ago, helping her 2-year-old son with his learning disabilities was not easy.

That's because Rodriguez, 22, barely speaks English and "not everyone is willing to be a translator for you," the young blonde said in Spanish. So when someone at the Optimus Health Care Center on East Main Street told her about the Caroline House on Stillman Street, where both she and her son could obtain the services they needed, she jumped at the chance.

Connecting mothers with their children is one of the key goals of the Caroline House, which is run by the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

"We have a really strong mother/child program," said Sister Ann Moles, executive director at the Caroline House. The women attend classes from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, while the children are cared for in one of two play rooms in the building.

"You're teaching the moms and helping them teach their kids and advocate for their children," said Mary Ellen Gavin, development director for Caroline House.
"The kids never hear Spanish" in the day care, said Sister Moles. "By the time those kids leave here they can be put in a mainstream kindergarten."

Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University students serve as volunteers in the day-care center and even help with the tutoring.

On Fridays, the women attend a Life Skills program, in which the SSND provide speakers or activities to inform the women about different topics important to the women, like breast cancer.

The Caroline House was founded in 1995 by a group of SSNDs who converted the yellow Victorian -- donated by longtime city resident Alice Simon for the purpose of educating the community -- into a nondenominational educational center.
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