9/24/96
CONTACT: Stanford University News Service (650) 723-2558
STANFORD -- Stanford's WorkLife Center, formerly known as Child and Family Services, has changed its name to reflect the expanded services the center provides to help faculty, staff and students balance their work and family lives.
Now, members of the Stanford community who wish to obtain information on elderly parent care, life after 50 and stress management can get help from the center, which traditionally has focused on the areas of child care and parenting.
"We want Stanford to feel like a supportive community for all people who work, live and study here," said Kathleen Sullivan, the center's director.
The center, which changed its name last April, supports individuals and families by linking them with programs, both on campus and off, that can meet their personal needs.
"The mission of the WorkLife Center is not to provide everything that everyone would need to balance work and family life but to establish partnerships with many existing programs so that we can make all of these resources accessible to employees," Sullivan said.
The center is divided into four areas: elder care and caregiver services; balanced life resources; balanced personal aging; and child care, balanced parenting and grandparenting.
Services for seniors are provided in partnership with the Senior Coordinating Council of Palo Alto, which supports people over 50 and their caregivers. The center maintains a lending library on senior and other care-giving resources and provides counseling and referral services for students, faculty and staff with elderly parents who live elsewhere.
Individuals who are feeling overwhelmed, either at work or at home, can seek help from the center's balanced life resources program. The program offers small group presentations and individual consultations on personal balance. It also provides referrals to other campus and community resources, such as recreation and fitness programs and courses on personal money management.
The center's balanced personal aging program caters to people who are over 50 who want to take advantage of a variety of recreational opportunities and discounts available to them.
Although the center has expanded in scope, it will continue to help faculty, students and staff find quality care for their children and assist Escondido Village residents who want to become licensed to care for children in their homes.
The center also will continue to oversee Stanford's on-site child care programs and link parents and grandparents with a wide-range of child-related resources, such as parenting videos and information on where to find used furniture and maternity clothes.
Sullivan, the center's director, is a founding member of the College and University Work/Family Association (CUWFA), a national organization that seeks to provide leadership in creating a healthy and productive environment for men and women in higher education.
This year, Stanford is hosting CUWFA's annual conference, which will take place Nov. 7-9. For more information on the upcoming conference, which is open to the public, call the WorkLife Center at 723-2660.
-mic-
960924worklife.html
Download this release and its related files.
The release is provided in Adobe Acrobat format. Any images shown in the release are provided at publishing quality. Additional images also may be provided. Complete credit and caption information is included.
960924worklife.sit