Tuesday, May 4, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 5
50 local families to receive funds for better housing
By Heather Woodward
hwoodward@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Kansan staff writer
Moving day is coming for 50 low-income families in Lawrence.
The Lawrence Housing Authority received a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which helps families to get back on their feet.
To qualify for assistance, the family must make less than 50 percent of the area median income. The median income for a three-person family in Lawrence is $43,600.
The families can move anywhere in Lawrence or Douglas County into the rental housing of their choice and will split their rent with the housing authority.
Charlotte Knoche, director of rental assistance programs, said that the housing authority would take referrals from local organizations detailing which 50 families should receive the assistance. She said families would be taken on a first-come, first-served basis until the $300,546 grant runs out.
"The benefit of this program is that families that are in crisis financially and have a real possibility of being split up can get help," Knoche said. "It frees up some if their financial stresses so they can work on making their family life better."
The families who will receive assistance also must be at risk for having their children removed from their homes by Child Welfare because the living environment is considered a dangerous housing situation.
A dangerous housing situation is defined as one or more of the following:
Unsafe or unsound physical structures
Rat and Insect infestation
Rat and insect infestations
Domestic violence
Homelessness
"Lawrence has a definite need for a grant like this." Knoche said. "We have over 470 families on a waiting list for assistance, and we haven't had grant funding that was targeted for families in the last four or five years."
With 76 percent of low-income families and 80 percent of very low-income families unable to make ends meet, Lynn Goodell, director of the Housing and Neighborhood Development Department, said he would characterize the housing situation in Lawrence as very needy of this type of federal assistance.
"We have high-cost housing, and low-income families can't pay the rent," Goodell said. "We need all the help we can get."
Goodell said that public housing and Section 8 housing programs, which adjust each rent based on income, also assisted about 450 low-income families in Lawrence.
HUD approved grants for 31 states, Puerto Rico and Guam. Lawrence and Hays were the only two cities in Kansas to be approved for grants for 50 families in each city and a total $401,771 in federal assistance.
— Edited by Darrin Peschka
Awards banquet honors Ambassadors
The KU Ambassadors honored their top participants last Sunday at an awards banquet and dinner at Pachamamas, 2161 Quall Creek Drive.
The Ambassadors are a student organization that gives tours to prospective high school students to encourage attendance at the University of Kansas.
They are required to complete one office hour and give one tour a week to maintain their position. The Ambassadors are also in charge of the Junior and Senior Days held for high school students throughout the year.
Curtis Sloan, Powhattan sophomore, was named ambassador of the year.
"It's a really big honor because all the ambassadors are great," he said. "They are such a great group of people."
Sloan missed only one office hour during the duration of the year.
Carrie Depenbusch, Columbus sophomore, and Ambassador coordinator, said Sloan embodied the perfect ambassador.
he has a great attitude, is very charismatic and is just an outstanding person," she said. "He was very deserving of the award."
Ten students were also named outstanding ambassadors for their hard work and dedication throughout the year.
Palvih Bhana, Lawrence sophomore; Jessica Dunn, Kansas City, Mo., junior; Dan Ferguson, Lawrence sophomore; Jackie Johnson, Lansing junior; Amanda Kaschube, Flossmoor, Ill., sophomore; and Kelly Harvey, Jefferson City, Mo., sophomore, were among those named.
Jennifer Miller, Great Bend sophomore; Steph Mellon, Lawrence sophomore; Gwen Perney, Topeka sophomore; and Steph Turek, Olathe sophomore, were also honored for their efforts.
when I visited KU, I had a great tour guide," she said. "I hope I have the same effect on other students."
Harvey said she became an ambassador to help influence high school students to come to KU.
"They are wonderful representatives of our school." Depenbusch said. "We just wanted to reward them for their hard work and dedication throughout the year."
The Ambassadors also honored six graduating seniors.
Jeff Lacroix, Olathe; Mandy Dye, Independence; Michael Albright, Great Bend; Kate Mcgee, Loveland, Colo.; Kendall Day, Saint Francis; and Kelly Thompson, Springfield, Mo., were awarded a prize as a token of thanks from the Office of Admissions.
Kim Beeler, assistant director of Admissions and Scholarships, said the seniors have helped younger ambassadors adjust.
"They are a great group of students and I know they will be successful later in life," she said. "I was just glad I had the pleasure of working with them."
Beeler said all the ambassadors are fun to work with because they all enjoy giving tours and working with students. Harvey agreed.
"It's just an honor to be recognized for something you love doing," she said.
— Kansan staff report
— Edited by Matt Merkel-Hess
Gail Sherron, adviser for the KU Ambassadors, hugs Curtis Sloan, Powhattan sophomore, after naming him Ambassador of the Year on Sunday. The Ambassadors are volunteers who lead campus tours for visitors and are in charge of Junior Days and Senior Days. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
Campus minister eases international students' transition
By Yoshitaka Ebisawa Special to the Kansan
Special to the Kansan
His business card reads "Friend of Internationals."
Lanny Maddux, a campus minister with Campus Christians, Inc., helps, supports and shares his love with international students at the University of Kansas.
When Qinghong Cai, graduate student from Changsha, China, found out she was going to have a job interview, she was upset. In China, people are assigned a job; they do not seek it. She did not know how she could handle an interview.
So she went to Maddux. He listed questions that he thought an interviewer might ask and met with Cai at the Kansas Union.
After practicing with the 54-year-old minister. Cai relaxed.
"I felt a fatherly love from Lanny," she said. "He is the symbol of friendship."
adjust to a new culture when they come to the United States. To help students with this challenging adjustment, Maddux runs the Lawrence Host Family Program as a co-chairman and teaches a nonprofit English class.
Cai said Maddux was a good listener and tried to understand the broken English the international students sometimes speak.
Most international students have to
"He is very patient." she said.
He is very patient, she said.
Lynne Vanahill, assistant director at International Student Services, said KU was fortunate to have Maddux.
it is difficult to think of appropriate words to define Lanny because there aren't enough generous words to describe how wonderful he is," she said. "We are extremely indebted to Lanny for all that he gives to the KU international student population."
In 1968, Maddux earned bachelors' degrees in theology and sacred literature at Ozark Christian College. He said he
has always been interested in other countries, language and especially the people.
"My goal in college was to work in another culture, helping them and teaching about Christ," he said. "I wanted to make a difference in people's lives."
His dream came true in the early '70s when Maddux and his family spent six years in Brazil as missionaries with an independent Christian church group.
"I went there because I saw a need in a country that was rapidly changing, with opportunities to make a difference," he said.
He taught a youth class in a church and in a theological education extension course, directed choirs, helped a male quartet, started a young men's singing group and helped to start a church.
"I stayed and ate with poor people, traveled with them," he said. "It really expanded my horizons."
After returning from Brazil, he served as a minister at a church in Topeka and
as an associate minister in Chicago. In 1991, Maddux and his family came to Lawrence.
He studied English as a second language at KU and earned a master's degree in 1993. He made friends with several international students in his classes.
"It is a great thrill to meet, work with and get to know students from all over the world," he said.
Patricia Maddux, his wife of 33 years, said she enjoyed having international students at their home.
"I think that the students enrich our lives" she said.
Carmen Delgado, former KU graduate student from Costa Rica, developed a friendship with Maddux during her stay in Lawrence. She said Maddux was kind and responsible.
"He is someone absolutely impossible to forget," Delgado said. "We all love him dearly."
Edited by Tara Hinkhouse
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