THE IMPACT OF COMMUNITY AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS OF LA CONSOLACION UNIVERSITY PHILIPPINES (LCUP) AT MOTHER RITA HOMES.

Maria Corazon Segismundo, Wendy M. Benasa, Ryan Jay Dayao Maria Corazon Segismundo, CPA, MBA, Wendy Benasa, RSW, Ryan Dayao. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History Received: 09 August 2018 Final Accepted: 11 September 2018 Published: October 2018

La Consolacion University Philippines, the only Catholic university envisions itself as a Marian-Augustinian based institution producing responsible graduates who values unity, charity and truth. LCUP offers a wide variety of community extension programs and activities in different adopted communities to improve not only the quality of life but the standard of living, their spiritual, moral and psychological formation.The Community Extension Services and Outreach Program unit of LCUP have continuously develops diverse program based on the identified needs of the adopted communities specifically Mother Rita Homes. The study assessed the impact of the LCUP's community extension programs on the residents of Mother Rita Homes. A total of 100 respondents were utilized as the subjectof the study. Frequency, percentage and ranking were used as the statistical tool and the results of the study revealed that the LCUP -CESOP programs and activities are effective at different extent. Individuals are also influenced and empowered by these programs either financially or personally. The community programs touches the respondents in numerous ways. Residents became more concerned with their neighbors' welfare and they showed eagerness to help one another.Beneficiaries of Mother Rita Homes are all enthusiastic to learn new skills and develop their confidence in all aspects. LCUP -CESOP community extension programs can be improved according to the needs of the community and the recipients of every program.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-
Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are mandated by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to perform the three-fold function namely: research, instruction and sustainable community service, Tumapon (2017). These institutions are believed to be the significant catalyst or change makers for sustainable development for communities and society as a whole, Mattis (2017). Higher Educational Institutions has a greater influence and mechanisms in initiating improvements within the society. In 2010, Erickson found out that Higher Education Institutions are encouraged by government to engage themselves with constituent communities. According to Rubio et al. (2016), participating in community extension activities is a different way of learning. It helps cultivate the hidden personalities of the students', personnel, staff and even society. In an article published by Tumapon in 2016, it was emphasized that the expertise of HEI's and its skills and knowledge in capacity building will truly benefit the chosen adopted community.

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La Consolacion University Philippines, the only Catholic university situated atthe City of Malolos,Bulacan envisions itself as a Marian-Augustinian based institution producing responsible graduates/citizens who values unity, charity and truth. LCUP offers a wide variety of community extension programs and activities in different adopted communities to improve not only the quality of life but the standard of living, their spiritual, moral and psychological formation, as well as livelihood programs. Most of the community extension and outreach programs are research and accreditation based.
The Community Extension Services and Outreach Program unit of LCUP have continuously develops diverse program based on the identified needs of the adopted communities specifically Mother Rita Homes. It is committed in delivering Marian Augustinian Christ-Centered quality community service programs and visualizes the progress of self-reliant empowered individuals. It also gives students' the opportunity to get involved in community service and explore various volunteer projects for the underprivileged and needy.
Change agents need to understand the community's necessities and means in a rational and proficient attitude, Center for Community and Health, (2018). According to Prestonwood Network in 2016, outreach follows the model of addressing the needs of the community. Participation is vital in achieving success of these programs for the adopted communities. Extension activities instituted by HEI's is considered as "service learning" according to Tumapon, (2016). This has been the common trend not only in HEI's but equal to all academic institutions regardless of its category, private or public. This is the response of the academic institutions to the pressing concern of poverty, equality, social and civic problems and the improvement of the quality of life in the community. This was supported by Dotong and Laguador, (2015) they emphasized the role of Higher Education Institution's in building a strong community with empowered residents.
It is the vision of LCUP's Community Extension to provide a Marian-Augustinian Christ centered qualitycommunity service program that integrate instruction and research using the institution's resources.
In this study, the researchers determined the impact of the community outreach programs implemented by LCUP-CESOP for the past years. This study will enable the institution and the department to evaluate the different programs given to the community, its relevance and also to discover its strengths and weaknesses as perceived by the beneficiaries.

Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study was to assess the impact of the LCUP's community extension programs on the residents of Mother Rita Homes. Specifically, the study sought answers to the following questions: 1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of: 1. Age; 2. Gender; 3. Civil Status; and 4. Educational Attainment? 2. What is the perceived impact of the community extension programs of LCUP-CESOP to the: 1. Community; and 2. Individual? 3. What is the perceived influence of the community extension programs of LCUP-CESOP to the respondents? 4. What are the reasons of the respondents' participation and non-participation in the community extension programs? 5. How may the community extension programs be improved?

Methodology:-
In the conduct of the study, the researchers made use of impact evaluation type of research. This type of research provides useful information in analyzing a particular program, intervention or social problem being addressed. In this study, the overall effects to the beneficiaries were assessed and evaluated. Evaluative type of research aims to improve the designed plans, programs and activities of the unit and institution. This type of research explains what was attempted and why, it answers the questions "to whom and how and what were the outcomes observed?"The overall impact of the LCUP-CESOP programs on the residents of Mother Rita Homes was revealed in this study.

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The questionnaire used was originally adopted from Dilao (n.d.) and Codamon-Dugyon, (2016). There were some modifications made with the questionnaire to achieve the study's objective. The questionnaire was a multiple response type of questions and composed of three (3) parts. The first part of the questionnaire is the profile of the respondents namely: age, gender, civil status and educational attainment. The second part is the impact of community extension programs and activities, which is composed of seven (7) questions. It covers the effects of community extension programs of the community; effect of community extension to the individual participant, recipient, beneficiary; how community extension touches the respondents and reasons why do the respondents participate in the LCUP's community extension services. Part three is the need for improving the community extension; and the reasons for improvement and the last part cover the ways to improve the extension program.
In order to attain the objectives of the study, the statistical tool used were frequency count, percentages and ranking.Frequency is the number of times the event occurred in an experiment or study. This was used in tabulating the data of the survey questionnaires given to the respondents of the study. This is the initial step in analysing the data for statistical treatment. While ranking is a scale of achievement or status to classify the responses according to its level or priority. Percentage is a tool used to determine the ratio of the response out of total population. The standard formula for percentage was utilized.
The respondents of the study were the beneficiaries of the extension programs specifically residents of Mother Rita Homes located at Look 1 st City of Malolos,Bulacan. A total of 201families from Phase one (1) up to four (4) resides in the area. The community socialized housing was established through the efforts of the benevolent German doctors. In Bulacan, the initial socialized housing project was one hundred eighty-six (186), Dumaguete City two hundred (200), Bais City one hundred two (102), Tanjay one hundred seven (107), and Candelaria, Zambales sixteen (16).
Out of the two hundred one (201) residents surveyed, a total of one hundred (100) completed questionnaires were checked and considered as acceptable.There were questionnaires marked as invalid due to incomplete answers, and some were not returned due to some unknown reasons.However, each respondent was given enough time to answer the questionnaire given. The researcher took time to gather the instrument a week after it was given to the respondents. There were instances that the researcher explained some questions to the respondents in order for them to fully understand the rationale of the instrument. All inquiries were properly answered and the respondents' showed willingness to answer the questionnaire. The respondents were able to accomplish all the questions in the questionnaire knowing that their identity will not be revealed and the confidentiality of the information they provided will be used only for the purpose of the said study and nothing else.

Results and Discussions:-
Profile of the respondents. It can be gleaned from the data, there were a total of 100 respondents comprised of 35 males and 65 females. More than half of the respondents were female. This can be associated with the active participation of mothers in most of the activities provided by LCUP-CESOP with the community.
633  The data showed the diverse age range of the beneficiaries at Mother Rita Homes. As shown in the table, majority of the respondents were 26 -35 years oldwith a frequency count of 44. It can also be observed 26% were 16 -25 of age, 15% were 46-55 and only 5% were 55 and above. It can be perceived that majority of the respondents were young adults, they were the extended family of the original residents of Mother Rita Homes who still lives with their parents.   Single  32  32  Widowed  4  4  Married  61  61  Separated  3  3  Total  100  100 As shown in table 3, married respondents has a greater number compared with single with 32%, widowed 4% and separated 3%.

Effect of community extension programs
The effect of the community extension programs to the community is measured through a multiple response questionnaire. There were eleven (11) indicators that measured the effectivity of the programs.
As shown in table 4, respondents were asked to identify the effects of the community extension programs to the community. Based on their responses, the community extension programs of LCUP-CESOP helped in promoting health and wellness among the residents as the topmost effect. It helped in promoting health and wellness among residents 94 1 7 It helped in promoting peace and order, and good governance in the barangay. It prevented the youth and the mothers not to be indulged with vices (drugs, gambling) 74 8 A number of respondents claimed that these programs helped the community in so many ways, their knowledge and skills were enhanced and they became motivated to clean their surroundings. The preservation and conservation of natural resources ranked fifth, while the residents became motivated also to establish livelihood projects in the community ranked sixth.The results indicates that the LCUP -CESOP programs are effective at different levels and extent.  -CESOP community extension programs on the individual were also evaluated and table 5 shows the different effects. Majority of the respondents' confirmed that the most common effect among the residents is that youth and mothers were prevented to indulge in different vices, they also gained knowledge in the diverse programs offered to them and through the programs they were able to find a job. They also claimed that the programs boosted their confidence and it also increases their income and lastly, it augmented the family income. The results of the study imply that these program recipients were inspired to improve their standard of living. This can be considered as a positive effect on the individual due to the development they have personally observed.  Table 6 shows how the community extension touches the respondents. As shown in the table, majority of the respondents confirmed that there are personal changes specially the spirit of sharing which they acquired from the implementers of the programs. Respondents' were also inspired to be responsible to the community, the patience of trainers' was one of the reasons. They were also empowered and the spirit of volunteerism was awakened. Respondents' were also asked for the reason of their participation with the different community extension programs by LCUP-CESOP. The topmost answer was respondents' wanted to learn and gain many skills with 100%, majority affirmed that the programs were beneficial with 95%, and they are very much interested in joining the program with 55%. Recommendations were also one of their reasons but eventually they begin to love it with 51%, some claimed that they were ashamed if the implementers will be the one to clean their surroundings and the requirement of barangay officials to participate with 44%. This shows that these beneficiaries are very much eager to learn and they are willing to participate in the different programs of LCUP -CESOP. As shown in table 7, the respondents' claimed that there is a need to improve the community extension programs of LCUP-CESOP as manifested by the 94% while 6% contradicts and said that there is no need to improve the current programs. These respondents wanted LCUP-CESOP to continue the current programs and develop more diverse programs.

Need to improve the community extension
636 6 All programs must be facilitated by LCUP -CESOP to avoid duplication of programs 77 3 Table 8 shows the reasons for improving the community extension programs of LCUP -CESOP. Advanced or higher level of trainings for the different livelihood programs ranked first, screening of participants should also be considered by the program implementers and programs must be monitored to avoid duplication and continuous trainings of the participants is also recommended. In terms of the environmental programs, they suggest a weekly cleanliness drive for greater impact and to increase the number of beneficiaries. The data shows that the beneficiaries are involved in the programs and they are also concerned with its improvement and development. This also means that beneficiaries of the LCUP -CESOP programs should be studied, planned, and organized. Programs should be based on the needs of the community. Skills on basic repairs and welding 24 1 7 Sewing machines to be loaned by the recipients 15 9 8 Continue to campaign on Solid Waste Management 22 3 9 Actively join when there are other extension programs 17 8 10 Continue to assist the students in their programs and activities 21 4 In terms of the different areas that can be improved, respondents' of the study would like to learn more on basic repairs and welding with the topmost choice, add more activities for the cleanup drive program including the appropriate tools ranked second, solid waste management is one of their major concerns ranked third. They also wanted LCUP -CESOP to continue assisting students in their programs and activities, fourth. Advance training in sewing is also suggested fifth, followed by trainings on cooking sixth, computer literacy for mothers and students seventh, and for them to have an opportunity to actively join the different LCUP -CESOP programs eighth, and if possible sewing machines can be loaned to the beneficiaries ninth and more rigid training in baking is the last. The result means that they are interested in the community programs and they are very much willing to participate.

Discussion:-
A total of one hundred (100) beneficiaries of LCUP -CESOP community programs were surveyed in this study. More than half of the respondents were female, 65% with 26 -25 age bracket and half of the respondents reached college level. In terms of the effect of the LCUP -CESOP community programs, it can be gleaned that the community programs are effective especially in promoting health and wellness among the residents. Individually, they were influenced by these programs as shown in their responses. The community extension of LCUP -CESOP touches the respondents in different approaches. They have shown willingness in participating in the diverse community extension programs given to them as manifested in their reasons for participating. Majority of the respondents agreed that LCUP -CESOP programs can be improved and developed. They are looking for the