Press Releases Fall 2005

CONTACT: Cathy Summa, Director, Marketing & Communications
(831) 479-6158
casumma [at] cabrillo.edu

September 28, 2005

Katrina Evacuee Attending Cabrillo College
Elizabeth Loftin and family find a new home and a healthy start

APTOS, CA—Elizabeth Loftin, a nursing major from Delgato Community College in New Orleans, was scheduled to begin nursing school at Charity School of Nursing in downtown New Orleans in January 2006. Her future plans were irrevocably altered when the mayor of New Orleans called for a mandatory evacuation of the lower New Orleans Parishes in the days preceding one of the worst hurricanes to hit the U.S. in many years. She lived in Orleans Parish, which was mostly destroyed by severe flooding.

Luckily, Elizabeth and her three-year-old daughter evacuated to Houston, Texas, the Saturday before Katrina hit. However, her husband Jeremy Loftin, a native of Santa Cruz who moved to Louisiana when he was 12 years old, opted to ride out the storm. After being trapped in their apartment for several days, Jeremy Loftin, with the help of a neighbor, managed to escape the floods and fires and join his wife in Houston.

The couple and their daughter were invited to move in with Jeremy’s mother, Pat Winton, a long-time Santa Cruz resident. While visiting Jeremy’s grandfather, who is a Cabrillo College student, Elizabeth came across a current copy of the Schedule of Classes.

 “I realized that I still had time to register, it was two days before the last add day, so I called the Admissions Office and they scheduled an appointment for me to meet Cabrillo Counselor Irma Gil, who expedited the process,” said Loftin.

Gil quickly helped Loftin enroll and provided access to support services like childcare. Gil also identified Loftin as someone who could benefit from Cabrillo’s innovative Women’s Educational Success (WES) emergency grant program. She contacted the Cabrillo College Foundation to administrator an immediate WES grant.

“Irma was my saving grace for getting back to school,” said Loftin.  “She set me up with childcare for my daughter at the Cabrillo Childcare Center, and gave me an emergency grant from the Women’s Educational Success Program to pay for books, fees, and relocation.”

“This is exactly the kind of situation that the WES Program was designed to address,” said Melinda Silverstein, Executive Director of the Cabrillo College Foundation. “I am so glad that WES was able to support her returning to college at such a critical time in her life.”

“While I am disappointed to have been so close to earning my degree and not being able to finish it at the Charity School of Nursing, I feel so lucky to be here and that my daughter is safe and in a good day care,” said Loftin.

Loftin is taking two classes this semester: American History and Political Science, and hopes eventually to get into Cabrillo’s nursing program, which may be difficult because her transcripts are probably still underwater at Delgato Community College. She hopes that she can get her transcripts by the end of next semester, when she will have completed all of the prerequisites at Cabrillo College for the nursing program.

For more information about the WES program, contact the Cabrillo College Foundation, 831.479.6338.

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