Author: Kathy Mills

Community Collaboration for Children (CCC)

Community Collaboration for Children (CCC) would like to welcome Casie Heintz as an In-Home worker. She graduated from ECTC with an Associate in Applied Science in May 2025. She is currently working on her Bachelor of Social Work. She is a mom of two boys and excited to help other parents learn new parenting skills.

The Trail of Hope Regional Network is comprised of anyone from the Lincoln Trail region who comes together to increase awareness of child abuse and neglect. If you are interested in being a network member please reach out to Ronda Bertrand, CCC Director/Trail of Hope Network Coordinator at 270-692-7553. November 18th CCC Trail of Hope Regional Meeting will meet at CKCAC Building in the conference room at 708 Westport Road in Elizabethtown at 10:00AM. Trail of Hope Regional Network’s Build A Bed Program has been busy making sure 12 children have a bed since the first of July. We have several more to deliver in the next few weeks. We are working on sponsorships to purchase bed frames, mattresses, bedding, and pillows.

Parent Engagement Meeting Program is excited to partner with Elizabethtown Independent Schools and Hardin County Schools this year. We have expanded to 11 more Hardin County Elementary Schools. As of the end of August we have completed 23 PEM Meetings.

Wow!! Cakes 4 Kids volunteers have been busy the past several months. CCC has delivered 9 cakes to our families.

The first week of October we will be putting Toys for Tots boxes in Nelson County.

Congregate Meals Program

September has bought a lot of new changes for Congregate Meals:

Our new Hardin County Kitchen has begun cooking out of the Elizabethtown building as of September 15th. We are no longer cooking in Grayson County and Nelson County will continue cooking for the time being.

September 1st was the start of Dine in only meals on Wednesdays. We had seniors that never come inside that started dining in and a lot of seniors who did not come so our meals served went down.

October 1st Congregate Meals will start our Dine in only meals on Thursdays, so we are hoping for more seniors to come inside to eat their meals and congregate with other seniors.

The Health Department is working with us to get seniors their flu and/or shingles vaccinations for the seniors that sign up at the centers.

Executive Director’s Newsletter – September 2025

I hope your Summer is wrapping up well and that you are ready for Fall to be here. I know I am! Bring on the cooler weather, football, and pumpkin-flavored goodies of the season!

August was a very busy month for me as we have opened our Elizabethtown building and had various meetings across the state. I was fortunate to attend Community Action Kentucky’s Board Meeting and strategic planning session. Our statewide association is a collection of all CEO/Executive Directors from the 23 Community Action agencies of the Commonwealth. It is a great opportunity to learn best practices from one another and help improve the work we do for the folks of Central Kentucky.

September 12th marks the end of the summer LIHEAP subsidy. Please make sure anybody in our community who is struggling with utility bills visits your local CSBG office for support.

CKCAC is entering the beginning stages of our own strategic planning process. If you have any suggestions for areas where we should focus our efforts and energy, please feel free to contact me!

To improve internal communication, we are going to try our first CKCAC Connection with Bryan Conover. CKCAC Connection is a chance for staff members to submit anonymous questions to me for me to answer live. My hope is that we can help staff members be more informed about how the agency operates and our interconnectedness. I also want to use this space as an opportunity to better communicate what I am up to and what the future may hold for us. A recording will be shared with any staff members who are unable to attend the live event, as well. Wish us luck!

September 30th is a big day for the nation and our agency. We are actively monitoring Congress’s attempts to keep the government funded and open as the federal fiscal year comes to a close. The House and Senate subcommittees who oversee funding many of our programs all passed mark-ups that are good for CKCAC. We are hopeful that those funding levels hold when the final budget is eventually passed.

As always, thank you for all you do.

Washington County Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)

 

Our Washington County Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) office will be closed until October 13, 2025 with the EXCEPTION of Monday, September 22nd, Monday, September 29th, and Monday, October 6th.

These days are Washington County Food Box days and the office will be OPEN for box pickups.

Washington County residents seeking assistance can stop or call our Marion County Office on 340 Hood Ave, Lebanon, KY 40033. The office phone number is 270-692-6411.
Thank you 😊

CKCAC Area Board of Directors Meeting

 

As a non-profit agency, Central Kentucky Community Action, Inc. is required to inform the local community of the Area Board of Director’s Meeting which is open to the public. The meeting will be on Wednesday, September 17, 2025 at 3:00PM EST. For more information, call the Central Office at 270-692-2136.

Senior Companion Program (SCP)

The Senior Companion Program (SCP) is actively looking for volunteers and our numbers are growing!

Senior Day at the Marion County Fair was a tough day for Janice last year. She had always been active in her community and able to attend events like this; however, that year she was at home watching the cars go by her house on their way to the event. No longer unable to drive, Janice found herself lonelier and more isolated. She was blessed with children who would do everything they could for her, but she didn’t want to rely too heavily on them, because they had jobs and other responsibilities to attend to. She was ready to get out and do the things that she had done in the past, but she simply could not. That’s when Janice reached out to ask about a senior companion. Someone that she could enjoy friendly conversations and social outings with. Someone whose time would be compensated, so she wouldn’t feel like she was, “putting anyone out.”

Fast forward to Marion County Fair Senior Day 2025, Janice and her companion Hilda were there to enjoy all the festivities. They were all smiling as they talked with friends and neighbors, listened to music, and enjoyed the meal. According to Janice, having Hilda to visit with and get out of the house with has been life changing, and everyone, including her family and doctors have noticed.

If you are 55 or older, out of the traditional workforce, and would like to be a Senior Companion Volunteer and spend a little time during the week boosting the quality of life for a senior who needs a little assistance in order to remain independent, contact Mary Jean Blake at 270-692-2136 or 270-402-7194.

 

Congregate Meals Program – August Update

We are continuing to serve over 2,000 meals weekly to seniors at our Centers’ an incredible effort that reflects our dedication to supporting our communities.

The new kitchen in Elizabethtown is nearly ready for use. We are still in need of a full-time and a part-time cook to join our team. We’re pleased to welcome a newly hired cook who brings valuable experience from her time cooking in the military.

We held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Elizabethtown building on August 8th. The facility looks fantastic inside and out, and we are truly blessed to have such a space for the many programs that will operate there daily.

Meade County’s kitchen also received a much-needed facelift, including expanded space to better serve our seniors.

Additionally, we were recently gifted new games and cards, which our seniors are already enjoying during their time at the centers.

Central KY Community Action Transportation Services (CKCATS)

The CKCATS team continues to work hard to provide services in all counties. Medicare and Medicaid trips continue to keep our staff busy.

CKCATS took a total of 67 Seniors to the Senior Celebration in Elizabethtown on May 22nd. The event turned out very successful with it serving nearly 500 Seniors in the Lincoln Trail area! It was a day full of connection, celebration, and community. We are very proud to participate and partner in making this event successful each year.

CKCATS attended the annual contract meeting with our Brokers on June 17th and June 20th. These meetings are held each year to sign new contracts, discuss new rates, and any issues or concerns that any of the sub-contractors may have. All was well on both ends.

CKCATS set up a booth at Senior Fair Day at the Fairgrounds in Marion County on July 2nd and at the LaRue County Senior Day at the LaRue Co. Extension Office on August 1st. These are other successful events that are held each year for the Seniors in Marion and LaRue counties. Seniors get to eat, play games, listen to music, and congregate with other Seniors while learning about the services that are offered to them in their area.

Several staff members from the CKCATS team attended the Community Action Kentucky (CAK) Conference in Lexington from June 10-12. This was a very informative training that consisted of a day that concentrated on transportation and other tracks that focused on leadership and management skills.

CKCATS fleet has improved tremendously within a year with the newly received fleet. We are excited for our passengers to ride in our new vehicles and are grateful that we are able to give them a pleasant experience during transport. We are now in the process of going through our old fleet that has met their useful life so that we can junk or sale these vehicles to have more room for our new vehicles. Currently, we are waiting for 2 more new transit vehicles that are on back order.

We have been in the process of transitioning between our old scheduling software to our new scheduling software. I am excited to announce that on August 1st, we have completely transitioned to our new software called TripMaster. Along with the scheduling software, we have replaced our paper manifests with tablets for the drivers as well as new cameras for all of our vehicles. TripMaster includes camera software that consists of GPS and live view of our vehicles. This transition has been needed for a long time. All of our staff has worked hard to learn the new system and they are excited about the new changes.

CKCATS continues to accept applications for future hiring. If you or anyone you know would like to join the staff at CKCATs please go to: careers@ckcac.org                    or https://centralkentuckycommunityactioncouncilinc.applytojob.com/apply to apply.