Category: Newsletter

Kerri Taylor, Director

CKCATS has had a very busy but exciting year thus far! Our trip capacity continues to climb as our Drivers work diligently and expeditiously to keep up with the number of trips pouring in! Although our trip capacity has increased, we have been able to continue to provide all of our offered services: Medicaid, Intercity, Senior, Veteran, and General Public trips.

We are still waiting to hear back from OTD about funds that we will be awarded through the FY23 5339 and 5311 Grant applications that were submitted. Due to the shortage and predicted wait time for 12×2 and 8×2 larger vehicles, we did request a total of $405,760 in rehab funding in the 5339 Grant to maintain the fleet that we currently have.

We received great news last month that CKCATS was awarded $851,329 through the Competitive Section 5339(b) that we applied for! Some funding will be used to purchase 10 Expansion Vehicles to start a Pilot Program that will take individuals to and from work. Some funding will be used to rehabilitate some of our parking lots where we park our fleet. Part of this funding will also be used to enhance the technology in CKCATS. We will be updating all cameras in our vehicles to obtain live view, going paperless by providing drivers smart tablets to log and record trips, and doing a major update on our scheduling software system.

CKCATS participated in the Loretto Street Fair. We had a CATS vehicle on site and handed out our brochures and Intercity rack cards. CKCATS also participated in the Senior Celebration Day held in Marion County on June 29^th. We handed out brochures and goodie bags to the seniors and donated a gift basket for a door prize. The Seniors had a great time at the celebration and CKCATS felt fortunate to be in attendance.

You may have recently seen me or my staff in some of your counties. Last month the office staff and I dedicated a week to visit the counties to promote CATS and our services and gain more participation in our Intercity program. We visited many sites in each county and were able to talk to individuals and answer questions about our services. We booked 2 Intercity trips during our visits to the counties! If anyone you know has any questions about CATS services and our Intercity Program or would like a visit from CATS to answer questions or receive some of our brochures, please feel free to contact me at 270-692-2136 or kerri.taylor@ckcac.org.

CKCATS continues to hire drivers in all counties. 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.

Martha ‘Jewell’ Bartley, Head Start Quality Assurance Manager

Hal Goode, Executive Director
SEPTEMBER 2022

Central Kentucky Community Action’s WEATHERIZATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM is taking Applications to assist homeowners and/or renters with energy-saving improvements!

Would you like to save money on utilities? Did you know that Community Action’s Weatherization services help save families $283 per year on average in energy costs? Reducing energy costs can help you afford food, medicine, and other necessities. 

Through our Weatherization Assistance Program, Central Kentucky Community Action works to reduce energy waste and assure the health and safety of each client we serve. Trained technicians can help qualifying low-income families improve the overall energy efficiency of their homes, saving money and enhancing the quality of life for residents

It’s a simple process…… Questions contact David Lindsey, Weatherization Director or Barbara Garrett, Weatherization Manager at 270-692-2136 #602 or your local Community Action Center to apply for Weatherization Assistance today!  Those contacts are below:

BRECKINRIDGE COUNTY
189 Ball Park Road
Hardinsburg, KY 40143
(270) 756-6813

GRAYSON COUNTY
118 William Thomason Byway
Leitchfield, KY 42754
(270) 259-3500

HARDIN COUNTY
233 Ring Road, Suite 100
Elizabethtown, KY 42701
(270) 234-5845
OR (270) 234-5853

LARUE COUNTY
112 N. Walters Avenue
Hodgenville, KY 42748
(270) 358-3937

MARION COUNTY
332 Hood Avenue
PO Box 830
Lebanon, KY 40033
(270) 692-6411

MEADE COUNTY
496 E. Broadway
Brandenburg, KY 40108
(270) 422-2545

NELSON COUNTY
219 E. Muir Avenue
Bardstown, KY 40004
(502) 348-9596

WASHINGTON COUNTY
206 Main Cross Street
Springfield, KY 40069
(859) 336-0909

More to come………much more……….

Cathy Sparrow, Director

The goal of the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Program (CACFP) is to improve the health and nutrition of children and adults in the program while promoting the development of good eating habits through nutrition education. The CACFP meal patterns helps to ensure children and adults receive wholesome and nutritious meals. The meal patterns focus on providing a variety of nutrient-dense foods such as whole grain, vegetables, fruits, and fat-free and low-fat milk, while reducing added sugars and fat.

The Child and Adult Care Food Program provides assistance to At-Home Daycares and Daycare Centers through Central Kentucky Community Action. Currently we serve 25 Daycare Centers and 23 At-Home Centers. Three unannounced monitor reviews per year are conducted at each site. All sights receive annual training for staff as well as the monitor reviews. Some of the annual training was completed on-line this year due to COVID in the Daycare Centers.

If you are a Family Child Care Home or Unaffiliated Center that would like to participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program please call the Director Cathy Sparrow at 270-699-0896.

Ronda Bertrand, Director

CCC In-Home services have been busy with new referrals. Ashley and Amanda are trying hard to keep the waiting list down. 

I would like to welcome CCC’s New Parent Engagement Meeting facilitator/In-Home Worker Joseph Carter from Tompkinsville, KY. Joseph served 4 years in the Army Infantry and continues to serve for the National Guard. Joseph completed his bachelor’s degree in Psychology at WKU in 2019 and continues to pursue his Master’s in Social Work through UK. Joseph has a wife, Kristie and 11-year-old bonus daughter, Rori. Joseph and his family reside in Marion County. Joseph’s goal is to help those in need.

Parent Engagement Meeting Program for Marion County Elementary schools is ready to start the school year 2022-23. We are working on expanding into other counties.

Trail of Hope Regional Networks Build-A-Bed program has been extremely busy already making sure 11 children have a bed. We are working on sponsorships to purchase bed frames, mattresses, bedding, and pillows. If you are interested in being a network member please reach out to Ronda Bertrand, CCC Network Coordinator at 270-692-7553.

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

October 1 we will be putting out Toys for Tots boxes in Nelson County.
November 16th CCC Trail of Hope Regional Meeting at Hardin County Extension Office in Elizabethtown at 10 AM.

Hal Goode, Executive Director
AUGUST 2022

The below is from the Facebook page of Michaela Ballard Grundy of Lebanon.

It takes a village to raise a child. In our case, it took a village to save our child. These men and women each played a vital role in saving our daughter’s life. Monday morning, while on our way to daycare with my two children, our two year old, Miles, started to choke on a tic tac. I immediately stopped the car, took her from her car seat, and began basic choking first aid. Two women, Ellen B Leake and Judith Moffitt who work for Central Kentucky Community Action Council had already stopped to help and dialed 911 while several members of the community came to my aid. David Alan Mattingly was able to call Jay and stood by my side to help.

Within three minutes the Lebanon police, Marion County EMS and members of the fire department had reached the scene and taken over. It was EMS director, Brian Smith, who took Miles from me and was able to dislodge the tic tac and open her airway.

In three minutes my daughter’s life flashed before my eyes. In three minutes this community came together and saved my daughter’s life. In three minutes our lives changed forever.

We cannot express in words how grateful we are for our emergency responders. We know the outcome could have been different if not for the proactive members of our community.

We will spend every day thanking God for this community, our family, and our daughter.

It does take a community as we know at CKCAC. Thanks to Judith & Ellen for assisting at the scene to what is truly a miracle. More to come……………much more………..  

Tancy Morris, Congregate Meals Director

Congregate Meals continues to serve meals in person and drive thru. From July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022, we have served 58,487 meals to 755 unduplicated clients. I have included a break down below:

• Bardstown- 15,297 meals to 205 clients
• Bradfordsville – 350 meals to 19 clients
• Grayson – 4,043 meals to 66 clients
• Griffin Manor – 6,362 meals to 62 clients
• Breckinridge – 4,924 meals to 59 clients
• Larue – 4,567 meals to 57 clients
• Loretto – 62 meals to 10 clients
• New Haven – 458 meals to 11 clients
• Radcliff – 2,688 meals to 44 clients
• Washington – 5,816 meals to 44 clients

In July of 2022 we served 443 unduplicated clients 5,768 meals.

From July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022, 6,118 vouchers were used to redeem meals at Home Plate in Brandenburg by 229 unduplicated participants.

This program continues to grow. In July we distributed 1192 vouchers to 147 participants. We meet at the library in Brandenburg on the last Thursday of every month to distribute vouchers.

Gloria Graves at the Washington County Senior Center has retired. Thank you, Gloria, for your service to Central Kentucky Community Action Council and the Washington County Senior Center. We wish you the very best!

Courtney Campbell, SCP Director

The Senior Companion Program just closed out our fiscal year June 30, 2022. SCP volunteers have served 25,533.45 hours over the last year.

Our program is actively looking for anyone who loves to help serve others and meets the standard requirements. Volunteers do receive a tax-free stipend, along with mileage and meal reimbursement.

The Senior Appreciation Luncheon will be held in October this year in honor of our volunteers who dedicate their time to not only our program, but to those that they serve.