Category: Newsletter

Ronda Bertrand, CCC Director

April was Child Abuse Awareness Month. CCC provided pinwheels and yard signs in all eight of our counties. Trail of Hope Regional Network is required to hold trainings: April 20^th was Addiction in the Family presented by Dr. Steve Patrick and Dr. Rick Carroll on Zoom. April 22, CCC and Head Start partnered to raise money for Trooper Teddy Program with the Cattleman’s in Marion County. On April 26^th Darkness 2 Light training was in person at the Nelson County Extension office.

I would like to welcome CCC’s New In-Home Worker Amanda Westfall who has been in Early Education for over 10 years and has a passion in teaching autonomy. Amanda brings personal and professional experience to CCC and is ready to start improving lives.

Parent Engagement Meeting Program has been making follow up calls for Marion County Elementary schools in the past month.

Trail of Hope Regional Network is attending Community baby showers in Marion, Washington, Hardin, and Meade counties.

Trail of Hope Regional Networks Build A Bed program has been extremely busy getting over 20 beds to families. We would love to have the Nelson and Marion ATC school build more beds in the fall if the lumber cost is more sufficient. A big thanks to St. Vincent de Paul for making mattresses available for these families.

Wow!! Cakes 4 Kids volunteers have been busy the past month. CCC has delivered 12 cakes to our families.

Trail of Hope Regional Network met in person May 18^th for the first time in two years!! We covered major topics and are excited to meet again in September.

September 14th CCC will start meeting at Hardin County Extension Office in Elizabethtown at 10 AM.

Head Start & CCC Programs

CKCAC’s Head Start and Community Collaboration for Children (CCC) programs joined forces this past April to raise awareness during Child Abuse Awareness month. Their combined activities throughout the month of April enabled Head Start’s Nichole Burchell and Melissa Garrett to present Kentucky State Trooper Houk with a $3,000 check for the Trooper Teddy Program.

The Trooper Teddy Program enables Troopers to provide the stuffed animals to children during traumatic experiences such as a car crash, child or sexual abuse cases and also distribute to terminally ill children.

A special thanks to our Head Start and CCC programs for helping to raise Child Abuse Awareness throughout our communities. Awareness is the first step towards prevention.

Ann Pickerrell, Head Start Readiness Manager

The Springfield  and Lebanon Head Starts held ribbon cuttings with support from our communities and parents. Community members explored the new centers, playgrounds, and classrooms. The teachers were excited to show off their classrooms and talk about the exciting projects they have planned.

The CKYHS/EHS employees strengthened their collaboration and problem-solving skills at the end of year Professional Development Day. It is imperative to continuously build on skills that will support employees providing high quality services to children and families. Central Kentucky Head Start and Early Head Start invests in their employees which would include completing their Child Development Associates credential, attending university courses and with continuous professional development opportunities.

Ann Pickerrell, Head Start Readiness Manager

The employees worked hard this school year providing services to our children and families. The program collects School Readiness data based on 5 developmental domains: Approaches to Learning, Social Emotional, Language and Literacy, Cognition, and Physical Development. Based on observations and assessments the program not only met their annual School Readiness Goals but exceeded them. 

Stephanie Harrison, Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Manager

CKYHS Head Start engages families of our Head Start students through monthly parent meetings and activities in each of our centers. Parent meetings were held monthly in each of our centers. Special events such as “Boo Hoo/Yahoo Breakfast,” “Night at the Museum,” and “Blast Off to Kindergarten” were held in our centers. This past school year CKYHS collaborated with parents and community partners to host eighty parent meetings and forty-three special events or activities!!

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Hal B. Goode, Executive Director

Central Kentucky Community Action’s Head Start has a Blessing Box at the Lebanon Head Start! Lauren Ferriell (CSBG employee) had an idea and her brother, Brandon Willett, made it a reality. This Blessings Box is located at the Lebanon Head Start Center at 1081 Corporate Drive where their mother, Amy Nally, is the Center Manager. 

What is a community blessing box?

A Blessing Box is a small, often homemade box where people leave donated goods for others to pick up anonymously. Located in a prominent area, citizens are filling them with items that will help those in need – everything from non-perishable food to toiletries.

What are good items to put in a blessing box?

These are the items most commonly donated and used to stock the Blessing Box:

• Canned food with ring-pulls
• Socks
• Mittens
• Hand warmers
• Crackers
• Toilet paper
• Non-perishable foods
• Bottled water

 What are good non-perishable foods?Best Non-Perishable Foods:

• Dried and canned beans. With a long shelf life and high nutrient content, dried and canned beans are smart non-perishable food choices.
• Nut butters
• Dried fruits and vegetables
• Canned fish and poultry
• Nuts and seeds
• Grains
• Canned vegetables and fruits
• Jerky

Thanks Lauren & Brandon…….. Helping fight hunger in our community is a family affair.

Tancy Morris, CMP Director

Congregate Meal program is going strong. We continue to serve our senior citizens hot nutritious meals daily. They have the option to dine in at their local Senior Center or drive thru to pick up their lunch. The drive thru option is serving the most clients currently, however we do have several clients utilizing the dine-in option. From July 1, 2021 – April 30, 2022, we have served 48,775 meals to 689 participants.

In March we began meeting back in person at the Meade County Library once a month to distribute meal vouchers to those residents. For April we distributed 688 vouchers to 86 participants and for May we distributed 760 vouchers to 95 participants. Each client receives 8 vouchers each month to be used at the Home Plate restaurant in Brandenburg.

All Senior Centers will be closed Friday May 27th and Monday May 30th in observance of Memorial Day.

Courtney Campbell, SCP Director

The Senior Companion Program is so happy to be back to in-person volunteering! In-services were held in the months of March and April, and May’s is in the works. Everyone was excited to see each other after in-home services had been suspended for over two years due to COVID-19.

As of April 14, 2022, AmeriCorps announced all volunteers in SCP will receive a raise on their hourly stipend amount from $3.00 an hour to $3.15 an hour. This will go into effect July 1, 2022.

Two Lead Volunteer positions have been filled, leaving only one vacancy for that role which is in the Breckinridge County serving area. Leader positions receive an extra $50 a month for their roles and responsibilities which include, but are not limited to: the recruitment of new volunteers; assisting with fundraising and in-kind efforts; explaining the duties and benefits of volunteering in the program to potential volunteers; signing on new clients; informing the public about the services that the Senior Companion Program offers; and, working closely with the program director to ensure the program operates to its fullest potential. There have also been several new clients that have been taken on by our volunteers. We have had several Seniors reach out who are possibly interested in joining to be a volunteer, so I am hopeful that we can start bringing aboard some more volunteers in the near future!

Melissa Bland, RSVP Director

Ms. Betty Bryant started working as a Volunteer for the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP) at the Griffin Manor Senior Center in Elizabethtown in October 2020.

Betty helps Ida Kyle, the Senior Center Coordinator, plate the food and serve to the seniors 3 days a week. She often refers to herself as “the bread lady” as she places the bread in sandwich bags.

Betty was born and raised in Wilmington North Carolina but has lived in Kentucky for the last 40 years. Betty has two sons, 9 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.

She worked at the Fort Knox Hospital as a desk clerk for 17 years and was also caregiver for a friend in her home for one year.

Betty enjoys genealogy, crocheting and embroidering. She volunteers as she loves people and likes to get of the house every day.

Betty’s positive attitude is contagious, and she is a joy to be around! Feel free to stop by the Senior Center to meet Betty and the other seniors!

If you would like to become a volunteer like Betty please contact Melissa Bland at 270-737-1059 or RSVP.Director@ckcac.org.

Kerri Taylor, CKCATS Director

It has been a busy year for CKCATS so far. Since January 1, CKCATS’ trip capacity continues to remain over 90%. From January 1 through April 30th, CKCATS vehicles traveled 529,611 miles in 104 days!

The 5310, 5311, and 5339 Grants were submitted by the April 1 deadline. OTD has contacted all agencies about the shortage of 12X2 and 8×2 vehicles requested in Bid#8 and Bid#9. OTD is predicting that the larger vehicles will not be available for at least another 42 months and asking agencies to consider low floor mini vans, which are more readily available. CKCATS plans to request 2 low floor mini vans for each county, along with rehab funding to maintain our current fleet.

OTD announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to apply for approximately $372 million in federal fiscal year 2022 competitive Section 5339(b) grant funding for transit Bus and Bus Facilities. The purpose of the Buses and Bus Facilities Program is to assist in the financing of buses and bus facilities capital projects, including replacing, rehabilitating, purchasing, or leasing buses or related equipment, and rehabilitating, purchasing, constructing, or leasing bus-related facilities. CKCATS requested funding to purchase expansion vehicles for a Pilot Program that will take individuals to and from work. We hope to break the transportation barrier that some face in gaining employment and remaining employed. We also requested funding to rehabilitate some of our parking lots where we park our fleet.

CKCATS attended the voucher handout for seniors in Meade County. We had a CATS vehicle on site and handed out brochures to seniors to promote and gain more senior participation with IIIB Transportation in that area.

CKCATS has hired a few new part-time and full-time drivers in Marion, Larue, and Breckinridge Counties but we are always looking for more. If you or anyone you know is interested in driving for CATS either full-time or part-time, please go to careers@ckcac.org to apply.