THE RACE FOR THE COAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD

Danette Goulet

Jean Forbath wants to breathe new life into the governing board of the

Coast Community College District.

An extensive history of community service, dating back to 1947, when

she was student body president of her high school, is testament to her

penchant for getting involved and trying to fix things.

She has had a lot of practice, given her longtime career as a mother

of seven and grandmother of eight.

But it is her years of close ties to the community -- as the founder

and 22-year executive director of the Share Our Selves outreach program

in Costa Mesa, and, more recently, her work with Save Our Youth -- that

has inspired her to seek more official involvement.

“I think I can bring a new perspective, and by ‘new’ I mean I’ve

worked in the community with poverty and the working poor for more than

30 years, and am very familiar with it,” she said.

In 1970, Forbath began Share Our Selves as an adult education program

at Saint John the Baptist Church.

“It’s our responsibility to our faith to try to improve our

community,” she said.

Although the program eventually became an independent nonprofit

organization, it remains spiritually motivated with a lot of civic

involvement, she said.

Forbath tells stories of various groups she has talked to who are

struggling to learn English and can’t wait until they are proficient to

take trade classes.

She also talks of the students who go to Save Our Youth, and how eager

they are to learn. It is about bridging the gap for those children, she

said.

“They don’t all have the help at home,” she said. “If they take the

wrong classes, they may become discouraged and drop out. Greater

mentoring can lead to a whole new world for them.”

Forbath wants to make sure those students have a voice on the college

district board.

So now, 30 years into her personal community project, it has led her

to seek public office -- something she’d never thought she’d do.

As to why she keeps going from project to project, Forbath said, “You

bloom where you are planted.”