Newsletter Archives - Page 22 of 44

Community Action Transportation Services (CATS)

Kerri Taylor, Transportation Director

February 2023 Newsletter

I am happy again to report that CKCATS trip capacity continues to increase! We are still able to provide all of our services, despite the shortage of staff. Our Drivers in all counties work and communicate together to help one another with completing trips.

Our FY23 Compliance Reviews with the Office of Transportation and Lincoln Trail Area Development District both came back without any findings. Thanks to all those who helped in pulling information together for these reviews!

There is still a shortage of the transit and buses that CKCATS uses for transporting, but we did receive word that CKCATS would be eligible to receive four of the five 12×2 vehicles that we requested from the FY23 grant applications. According to OTD, there were fifty 12×2 vehicles available and they were able to divvy out the vehicles appropriately to ensure that each Agency would receive a portion of the available vehicles. We are expecting these vehicles to arrive within the next few months.

We now have 3 billboard signs promoting Intercity travel. 1 billboard is on the Marion/Washington county line and 2 are in Hardinsburg. We hope that this advertisement brings an increase of Intercity trips.

I attended the Kentucky Public Transit Authority (KPTA) Conference, along with several CKCATS employees and Executive Director, Hal Goode. This conference was held November 14-16 in Lexington, KY. This is an excellent conference to receive valuable information about public transportation and a great way to network.

CKCATS will be holding its annual Coordination Meeting on Feb. 15^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.

I am excited to announce the new staff positions that have been added to CKCATS! Tasha Hull is the new Grant & Compliance Manager. This is a new position to CKCATS. Tasha will be reviewing and completing grant applications each year, as well as researching new grants that may be available to CKCATS. She will also assist in Compliance Reviews for all programs as well as making sure CKCATS remains in compliance with all federal and state regulations. Edward Murray has also taken on a new position at CKCATS as the Maintenance Manager. Edward Murray will be responsible for the maintenance of the fleet as well as the maintenance of the facilities in all counties. Edward Murray comes to us with years of experience in vehicle and building maintenance as well as DOT inspection experience. With the increase in trips and the volume of daily calls to the current Fleet Manager, Daryl Hardin, I added another Fleet Manager to help manage the 5 counties. William Clements, along with Daryl Hardin, will be responsible for overseeing the drivers, handling scheduling and driver issues, reviewing and completing the mileage report, and reviewing driver manifest and timesheets. We welcome each of them to the team!

With that being said, CKCATS has a wonderful and dedicated group of staff! Thanks to the staff for working diligently to keep up with the increases of trips and for showing up to get the job done even in inclement weather!

If you or anyone you know would like to join the staff at CKCATS please go to careers@ckcac.org to apply. CKCATS is hiring for full-time and part-time drivers in Marion, Larue, Nelson, Breckinridge and Grayson counties.

Kerri Taylor

Transportation Director

Goode News – JANUARY 2023

Hal Goode, Executive Director

Are you making a resolution in the new year? Warning: More than half of all resolutions fail, but this year, they don’t have to be yours. Here’s how to identify the right resolution to improve your life, create a plan on how to reach it, and become part of the small group of people that successfully achieve their goal.

Pick the Right Resolution

You’ll give yourself your best shot at success if you set a goal that’s doable — and meaningful too.

You have a realistic plan for achieving your resolution.

Your goals should be smart — and SMART. That’s an acronym from 1981 for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. It may work for management, but it can also work in setting your resolutions, too.

Specific. Your resolution should be clear. “Making a concrete goal is important rather than just vaguely saying ‘I want to lose weight.’ You want to have a goal: How much weight do you want to lose and at what time interval?”

Measurable. This may seem obvious if your goal is a fitness or weight loss related one, but it’s also important if you’re trying to cut back on something, too. Logging progress into a journal or making notes on your phone or in an app designed to help you track behaviors can reinforce the progress, no matter what your resolution may be.

Achievable. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have big stretch goals. But trying to take too big a step too fast can leave you frustrated or affect other areas of your life to the point that your resolution takes over your life — and both you and your friends and family fail.

Relevant. Is this a goal that really matters to you, and are you making it for the right reasons? If you do it out of the sense of self-hate or remorse or a strong passion in that moment, it doesn’t usually last long.

Time-bound. Like “achievable,” the timeline toward reaching your goal should be realistic, too. That means giving yourself enough time to do it with lots of smaller intermediate goals set up along the way. Focus on these small wins so you can make gradual progress.

Happy New Year and here’s to a prosperous 2023. I know it will be a busy one for our team. More to come…. much more……..

…

Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)

Ellen Leake, CSBG Director

This is the busiest time of year for the Community Services Staff. We completed the Subsidy Component for LIHEAP in December, collaborated with other service organizations in our communities for a successful Christmas Program, and began the LIHEAP Crisis Program earlier this month.

LIHEAP SUBSIDY In our eight county services area, we assisted 3281 families with home heating assistance in the amount of $416,371.00 this program began on October 10, 2022 with the pre-registration, and ran through December 16, 2022. The program proceeded smoothly, with few problems, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated staff members. We, in the Central Office, continue to work to pay all of the vendors and balance the program.

County	Benefit Amount	Families Served
Breckinridge	$55,511.00	440
Grayson	$81,570.00	627
Hardin	$68,658.00	573
Larue	$ 29,101.00	220
Marion	$ 61,559.00	491
Meade	$ 39,004.00	297
Nelson	$ 40,092.00	339
Washington Central Office	$36,698.00 $4,178.00	264 30

LIHEAP Crisis began on January 9, 2023.

We are in the process of completing the annual Needs Assessment Survey Process. An email link has been sent to the Board of Directors for their input. Please select a board member. This survey information will be entered into a database for accurate compilation. The results of the Needs Assessment Survey will determine the work plan for the next program year. The information will also be available to other programs and to the community.

Wintercare, Winterhelp, Warmhearts – These Programs are available to families for utility assistance. These funds are donated by utility customers as they pay their utility bill, and sometimes matched by the utility company in local areas.

Thank you to all the staff members who work so hard to balance all of these different programs and assist those in need. Their amazing efforts are greatly appreciated in our communities. We have a great team!

Kentucky Works Program

Tommy Wheatley, Kentucky Works Director

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, and 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.

Covid-19 continues to have a significant impact on both of our programs. The state of emergency that the state of Kentucky had implemented with a “Good Cause Exemption” where clients are not required to participate in the programs was lifted on July 1^st, however there were no sanctions being levied for non-participation until December 2022 so participation is still low.

· We currently have 24 clients that are employed in the K-TAP Program, and 6 clients that are at a site gaining work experience. The referrals have picked up with the state of emergency ending and sanctions now being implemented for non-compliance. Our Employment Specialists continue to follow up with each of these clients and track the hours they are working. We served 67 clients in the K-Tap program for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 which more than doubles the number we served in the last quarter, and is 41 more than we served for all of the last fiscal year.

· 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 1060 referrals for the SNAP program during the last fiscal year.

· We continue to stay in touch with employers and if we do get referrals, we match the client’s skills with the employer needs to have a good match. We call new employers each week and keep a current job listing for each county we serve.

· We continue to see an impact with Covid on our Work Experience Program sites as some of them are still unable to accept our referrals. We have 124 sites in our 17 counties that we send our clients and as of now, 67 are open and/or willing to accept referrals due to Covid-19. Staff visited these sites in October to update paperwork and check to see if they were needing workers and are currently in the process of checking again.

· Our staff continues to stay in touch to discuss all relative matters in the program. We have staff meetings every other month. We are now conducting our staff meetings in person.

· We continue to offer a wage subsidy program where if an employer hires one of our K-TAP clients they will be reimbursed for a portion of their wages during the first six month of employment.

Goode News – DECEMBER 2022

Hal Goode, Executive Director

Have you ever made someone’s day and seen their face light up? Some of the most important Christmas gifts can’t be wrapped—like giving of your time and helping fill someone’s heart with joy. Here’s a list of creative and simple ways to spread the true spirit of Christmas and share the warmth you have at home with others. These random acts of kindness may take just minutes to do, but the memory of helping others will stay with you (and those you help) for so much longer. Here’s 29, go……

Bake a pie and bring it to your neighbor. A classic apple pie or seasonal Hot Chocolate Pie is sure to brighten anyone’s day.
Buy a coffee for the person behind you in line. What could be better than a surprise of free caffeine?
Donate to a toy drive. The holidays can be an especially hard time for struggling families.
Surprise your spouse by scraping the snow off their car in the morning. These acts of kindness don’t need to be big. A simple act that shows you care (and gives your spouse a few extra minutes in the warm house) is just as meaningful.
Donate extra winter clothes, hats and mittens to a local shelter.
Make a batch of holiday treats and bring them to the office. Treats that travel well, that’s a good place to start.
Send a postcard to sick children in the hospital. You can send mail to Cards for Hospitalized Kids. This organization sends cards to children who are fighting serious illnesses in hospitals in the U.S. Your kind words could help make a child’s holiday very special.
Find opportunities to give compliments. Compliments are free and take no time to deliver!
Sing an employee’s praises to a manager or on a comment card. Did an employee help make your experience better? A little recognition goes a long way.
Put sticky notes with positive messages in public places.
Sing Christmas Carols, play board games, or just visit with senior citizens at a nursing home.
Offer to babysit for new parents. Give the gift of time and take care of their little ones so the new parents can enjoy a date night or take care of holiday shopping.
Purchase extra dog or cat food and drop it off at an animal shelter. While you’re picking up food for Fido, buy an extra bag for those animals who are waiting for their forever homes this season.
Help corral stray carts in a store parking lot while you’re out shopping for gifts. Those cart-return guys have their work cut out for them!
Donate clean, new socks and underwear to a local shelter.
Offer to take someone’s group photo. It’s the holidays and many people are out celebrating together or sightseeing. See a group that’s struggling to get everyone in one selfie? Lend a hand.
Donate coloring books and boxes of crayons to the pediatric wing of a local hospital.
Give a hot drink to the person ringing the Salvation Army bell. Show those volunteers some love as they collect donations.
Hide a few dollars around the Dollar Store.
Invite someone you suspect will be alone to join your holiday celebrations. The holidays can be a lonely time for those with family far away. Give someone an opportunity to make memories with you and your family.
Tape cash or a gift card on a random gas pump.
Pay the overdue fees for 5 people at the library. We’re all guilty of hanging onto a book a few days too long, right? Surprise someone with a $0 balance this year.
Volunteer at a crisis nursery.
Shovel your neighbor’s front walkway.
Serve meals at a local Senior Center, homeless shelter or soup kitchen. And consider signing up for a shift in January or February, after the holiday volunteer rush is over.
When you’re in line at the grocery store, buy a gift card and hand it to the person checking out behind you. If you want to be more anonymous, give the gift card to the cashier and ask them to give it to someone in line who needs it.
Pick up trash in a local park. Spend half an hour picking up debris in your favorite local spot and leave the park better than when you found it.
Write a letter to a soldier who’s deployed. Operation Gratitude sends care packages, including letters, to soldiers who are deployed. Letters are accepted year-round. And if you need packing supplies for your military care package, the United States Postal Service offers a free Military Care Kit, including boxes that say “America Supports You.”
Participate in a blood drive. Visit the American Red Cross to find a blood drive nearest you and help give the gift of life.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. More to come…………much more…………