Author: Kathy Mills

As we navigate through the chill of February, we at Central Kentucky Community Action Council (CKCAC) are committed to ensuring the safety and comfort of all individuals and families in our community. With temperatures dropping, it’s crucial to address the importance of weatherization to keep homes warm and energy efficient.

Community Assistance Programs:

CKCAC understands that financial constraints may hinder access to weatherization services. Our agency offers various assistance programs to support eligible individuals and families in improving their home’s energy efficiency:

Stay Informed and Prepared:

As winter weather persists, staying informed and prepared is crucial. Keep abreast of weather forecasts and take proactive measures to safeguard your home and family from the cold. In case of emergencies or weather-related concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to local authorities for assistance.

For more information about our weatherization services and assistance programs, please contact Central Kentucky Community Action at 270-692-2136 or visit our website www.ckcac.org. Our dedicated team is here to support you in creating a safer, more comfortable home environment.

Stay warm and stay safe, more to come, much more……………….

We are starting to see an increase in the number of volunteers in the Senior Companion Program. This is very exciting for us. We have welcomed one new volunteer in Grayson County and three new volunteers in Marion County. We are in the process of bringing on a new volunteer in Nelson County just this week and should be starting the process with a new volunteer in Hardin County next week.

 

We are very excited to get to introduce the program to new volunteers and work with them as they bring so much assistance to the frail elderly members of our communities. The bonds that these seniors are creating are so important to the people they assist and to the families of those clients.

 

We will also be having our in-service training sessions starting again in February. This is an important opportunity for our volunteers to share with one another their blessings and struggles that they encounter in their community service. They offer support, advice, and friendships to one another. Watching these relationships grow is something that we truly enjoy. If you would like to make new friends in our community and be of assistance to an elderly person or persons who is trying to maintain their independence in their home, please contact us here at The Senior Companion Program. You can reach our director at (270) 270-692-2136 ext. 601 or (270) 402-7194 or email mary.blake@ckcac.org. 

 

Congregate Meals have been super busy packing up LaRue County Senior Center and clearing it out. We couldn’t have done it without the help of all of our employees, the County letting us use their truck and the helpers they County let us borrow. Congregate Meals will be serving lunches from the Hodgenville Christian Church for the next few months. The Senior Center will be getting new paint, new flooring, and a new air condition system.

Congregate Meals Program is still in need of a full-time, part-time cook in Nelson County. Also, a part-time cook in Grayson County and a Congregate Meals Coordinator in Hardin County.

Our meals continue to grow and we love that we are seeing more seniors coming out to visit us! You can reach our director at (270) 692-2136 ext. 603 or (270) 699-1439 or email melissa.brown@ckcac.org.

The Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) needs a few volunteers at the Bardstown Senior Center & The Hardin County Senior Center at Griffin Manor. Volunteers must be 55 and older.

The volunteers are primarily needed from 11:00AM to 1:00PM to help plate and serve meals but they are welcome to come in early and stay late to participate in the activities at the center and have a meal too! The Bardstown Center is open from 8:30AM to 2:30PM Monday through Friday and the Hardin County Center at Griffin Manor is open from 9:00AM to 2:00PM Monday through Friday.

Volunteers may be reimbursed up to $60 per month for their mileage to/from the centers and receive supplemental insurance while on duty.  They will also be invited to the Annual Appreciation Reception, where they will have a nice meal, receive appreciation gifts, and have a chance at winning door prizes.

Feel free to contact Melissa Bland, RSVP Director, at 270-737-1059 or RSVP.Director@ckcac.org if you have any questions or want additional information.

CKCATS trip capacity continues to increase, and we continue to look for ways to increase our staff. We are working with Nukem Graphics to do van wraps in each county to advertise the hiring of drivers. We have also partnered with Atmosphere Entertainment, Inc. to announce our hiring ad during the basketball season in all counties, and for producing our video ads for social media. We will continue to think of more creative ways to advertise to grow our staff.

In December of 2023, CKCATS experienced some inclement weather that caused us to limit our services in our counties. Limited services for inclement weather days consists of trips only for dialysis and chemo clients. We were able to complete the limited-service trips without any injury to drivers or clients.

 Medicare trips continue to increase. We have more flexibility in providing Medicare trips than we do with Medicaid. My goal for this year is to increase drivers, which will increase the number of Medicare trips that we can provide.

 On January 25^th, CKCATS received 6 new low floor mini vans. These vans came from American Bus out of Cincinnati, Ohio and are very much needed to better serve our communities. They are all 2023 Chrysler minivans and come equipped with the essentials needed for transport. These vans will be registered and thoroughly inspected before being utilized and will be divided out between our 5 counties by the needs of the county.

CKCATS will hold their annual Public Hearing on February 28^th at the Central Office in Lebanon at 1 pm EST. This meeting is held to discuss the transportation needs of our counties and is advertised to the public. We encourage anyone who is interested in public transportation to attend.

 Thanks to the CKCATS staff for working diligently to keep up with the increase of trips and for showing up to get the job done even in inclement weather! We continue to hire full-time and part-time drivers in Marion, LaRue, Nelson, Breckinridge, Grayson, and Meade counties. If you or anyone you know would like to join the staff at CKCATS please go to careers@ckcac.org to apply.

Who SWA Connect is?

 

SWA Connect is proud to be an authorized provider of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). As an ACP provider, we are committed to helping families, students, seniors, and individuals across the country access affordable, reliable broadband internet and the digital resources they need to thrive. With our nationwide coverage and commitment to quality, you can count on us to provide the support and service you need to stay connected and empowered.

 

Our Android tablet with broadband 4G LTE mobile internet, puts the world at your fingertips, allowing you to stay connected to work, school, family, and friends no matter where you are. With fast and reliable internet speeds, high-quality video and voice capabilities, and a range of built-in apps and features, our tablets are the perfect solution for anyone looking to stay connected and productive on the go.

 

What is ACP?

 

The Affordable Connectivity Program or ACP is a government assistance program by the FCC designed to ensure that low-income households can afford the broadband they need for work, education, healthcare, and more.

 

The ACP is a new program that has replaced the old, temporary Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program on December 31, 2021. The old, temporary EBB program offered similar benefits as the ACP program and as it has proven to be vital for millions of Americans, the U.S. Congress has recently passed a bill to replace the short-term EBB program with a long-term program, which offers similar benefits.

 

TO SIGN UP

 

You may view our website: ckcac.org/news and scroll down until you see FREE INTERNET & TABLET then click on CLICK HERE TO ENROLL.

 

The Affordable Connectivity Program is administered by USAC with oversight from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

 

The Weatherization Program is currently training and has hired 2 new staff. The Weatherization Assistance Program is currently updating the priority list for the new calendar year. The Weatherization Program is providing weatherization services to our 8-county area with 13 jobs in-progress. The Weatherization Program is fully staffed with an in-house crew, and we are utilizing contractors to perform HVAC and electrical work that we must perform to the dwellings receiving services. We look forward to the future of the new contract year of CKCAC’s Weatherization Program to progress and better serve our 8-county service area. We are excited to share CKCAC’s Weatherization Program received our contract for the DOE BIL funding in the amount of 1.2 million. We will be working extremely hard to hire new staff so we will be able to acquire all required training and certifications required to work within the weatherization program over the next few months. With the BIL funding we have been allocated funding to purchase new vehicles and equipment with the opportunity to offer services to qualifying multi-family projects/units throughout our 8 county service area.

Our goal with weatherization is to continue to reduce energy waste and assure the health and safety of each client we serve through testing consisting of aliening air and thermal boundaries, pressure diagnostics, heating system diagnostics, indoor air quality, and base load energy consumption diagnostics.

Central Kentucky Community Action Council Weatherization Program is fully staffed with a highly trained supporting and technical staff consisting of Josh Mattingly-Dwelling Needs Evaluator/Crew Leader, Mike Burden-Retrofit Installer, Andrew Salleng-Retrofit Installer, Cory Carpenter-Retrofit Installer and Barbara Garrett-Weatherization Administrative Support Specialist. We would like to say a huge thank you to all Weatherization Staff for their dedication to improving the quality of work and their dedication to ensure the health and safety of all the clients we serve.

Central Kentucky Community Action Council has leveraged funds from utilities to expand the reach of the Weatherization Assistance Program. This year we are leveraging funding from DOE, DOE BIL, LIHEAP, East Kentucky Power, Kentucky Utilities, and Louisville Gas & Electric.

The Kentucky Works Program supports the Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (K-TAP) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the following Kentucky counties. Anderson, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Franklin, Grayson, Hardin, Henry, Larue, Marion, Meade, Nelson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble, Washington, and Woodford. Our goal is to assess these individuals to identify barriers, work to overcome those barriers to make them self- sufficient. We also have job readiness classes to help with resumes, job search, job interviews, etc.

 

During this Fiscal year we received 235 referrals for the KTAP program. This number was up from 26 in the last fiscal year when COVID was having a big impact on our program. We placed 54 of these clients in work preparation activities with the majority of these doing volunteer hours to gain needed work experience. Our employment Specialists continue to follow up with these clients and track their hours to make sure they are successful. After helping our clients overcome barriers, we were able to place 86 in unsubsidized job placement which helped put them on the way to self-sufficiency. We currently have 39 clients employed in the KTAP Program. One success story is a lady that was hired at Inoac at $19.09 per hour.

 

On the SNAP Employment and Training Program we continue to reach out to these clients and complete assessments when they are referred to us. We had 1,259 referrals for the SNAP program during the last fiscal year. This is up from the 250 referrals we had for the last fiscal year.

 

We continually work with employers in our area to make sure we have the right job opportunities for our clients when they are ready to make that move and keep a current job listing in each of the counties we serve. We also work with our non-profit agencies in each of our counties to make sure we have an adequate number of job sites that are willing to take our clients to give them work experience to help them become self-sufficient. 

 

We continue to offer a wage subsidy program where the employer will be reimbursed for a portion of their wages during their first six months of employment if they hire one of our KTAP clients.