ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997            TAG: 9702170063
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER 

SHE JUST WANTED TO HELP GRANDMA

There are two things in this world that 9-year-old Vinceta Powell loves.

The first is her disabled grandmother, Carol Powell, whose sole support is a small monthly disability check.

The second is little kids - preferably ages 1, 2 or 3.

Vinceta had an idea: a job in a day care center would be a fun way to earn money that could help her grandmother make ends meet.

So, Tuesday - and again Wednesday - she called the HoneyTree Early Learning Centers and applied.

Vinceta even tried to work a package deal in which the learning center would care for her 5-year-old brother, Vinson.

Alas, it couldn't work out. Patsy Castellano, personnel director at the child care company, gently broke the news to the Lincoln Terrace Elementary School second-grader Thursday.

"She said I was too young," Vinceta said Friday. "I'm mad, because I want [a job]. I want to help my grandma, because she needs it."

Carol Powell, 52, suffers from diabetes and arthritis. She retired on disability from her job as a pest control operator with the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority in 1985.

She is raising her daughter's two children because their mother is in jail.

"The father, I don't know where he is, probably in jail, too," Powell said.

Powell said her only income is a $484 monthly Social Security disability check. Welfare caseworkers have told her that payment makes her ineligible for other assistance, such as food stamps, or Aid to Families with Dependant Children, she added.

Vinceta, Powell said, is a true go-getter who loves to be around other kids. She helps care for her brother. In the most recent grading period at Lincoln Terrace, she was on the honor roll.

"She loves to do things," Powell said. "The least little thing she hears about, she wants to do. I say, `Well, you're not old enough.' And she always says, `I want to try, Grandma.'''

"I just like kids," Vinceta said. "I like to be around them. Little kids, 1, 2 or 3. They're sweet and cute, that's all."

Vinceta said she's wanted a job in child care "since I was 6."

That may yet happen, but not soon.

"She sounded so sweet," said Debbie Vance, HoneyTree marketing director. "Our hearts just went out to her. We would love to have her - when she turns 18."

LENGTH: Medium:   56 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  JANEL RHODA\Staff. Nine-year-old Vinceta Powell called 
          HoneyTree Early Learning Center to apply for a job to help her 
          grandmother with money. Vinceta's grandmother, Carol Powell, takes 
          care of Vinceta and her brother Vinson, 5. color.