Category: Newsletter

It’s Training Time! Director, Shirley Buckman, attended the annual training in Frankfort for the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Now it’s time to train all of the Family Child Care Providers and Directors of each Unaffiliated Center. Trainings are planned for Somerset, Lebanon, Elizabethtown, and Frankfort. Each participant will receive 3 hours of state approved training. The Cooperative Extension Offices will help with all of the trainings except Somerset. They will discuss how to plan meals using less processed food.

Kathy Stinson and Michelle Scott participated in the School Readiness Fair at the Larue County Library. The children were thrilled with the whirly helicopters they made and the color game. Kathy Stinson has worked with children since 1970, operating her Family Child Care, that is licensed for 12 children in Buffalo. She has touched many young lives and is now keeping grandchildren of children she kept years ago. You can feel the love when you walk into her home! Michelle Scott operates a Family Child Care for 12 children in Mt. Sherman. Children are treated to food grown in her garden and to a lot of tender loving care. Michelle now serves as a trainer for this area.

There are now 24 Unaffiliated Centers sponsored by the agency and 30 Family Child Care programs. They will be busy in the coming month after training updating all of the enrollment forms and income applications.

Lawncene Flowers has been helping with the program under the Senior Community Service Employment Program. She has been a wonderful example and is always willing to work hard to keep the program moving. The fern outside the office door has also appreciated her love and care!

With fall approaching I am excited about some upcoming events in the CKCAC area.   The first ever Senior Appreciation day will be held on September 20th from 10 am to 1 pm at the Larue County Senior Citizens Center. This will be a good time to introduce those who have not been to our center to our staff, learn more about our weatherization program, meet the CATS drivers and discover how easy it is to have transportation in the area. There will also be bingo and we will be giving away door prizes.   For more information, call the Larue County Senior Citizens Center at 270-358-4235.

Coming up on Saturday, September 14th is the annual St. Catharine Farm Appreciation Day at St. Catharine Farm. The event will be from 10am to 3pm and it benefits the Central KY Community Action Head Start. Some of the attractions will be hayrides, a display of antique tractors, children’s activities, local honey and beef for sale, vendors with handmade crafts, and the Central Kentucky Community Action Head Start will be available with information about the Head Start Program.  There will also be door prizes that include a Holland Grill valued at $850 and a 50 lb. box of St. Catharine Farm beef. The drawing for door prizes will be at 1pm and you must be present to win.  St. Catharine Farm will be cooking hamburgers, hot dogs and fries, which will be available for purchase. Please contact our Central Office at 270-692-2136, if you have any questions about this event.

If you can, make plans to attend one of these events to find out more about Central Kentucky Community Action. More to come……..much more.

Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) currently oversees 117 volunteers in Hardin and Nelson Counties. Since January 2019, RSVP volunteers donated 12,768.81 hours for the betterment of their communities. The current per hour value of a volunteer hour, determined by the independent sector, is $25.43. Nelson and Hardin Counties received $324,690 worth of FREE employment services from our volunteers.

Volunteering can be an incredibly rewarding experience – that’s why so many people do it. It’s a great way to help others and share your life experiences and wisdom -plus you can always learn something new.

Volunteering through RSVP has additional benefits geared specifically toward the participants. For example, a newly retired person might have a hard time leaving the nine-to-five working world. It can be difficult to be constantly on the move, and then suddenly shift to getting up at 7 a.m. only to have no place to go. Becoming an RSVP volunteer can help with that adjustment by providing you with volunteer work and help ease that transition. However, it is not just for the newly retired.

If you’ve been retired for a while, but you’re starting to get tired of your new routine, being an RSVP volunteer can help ease you back into being active. Call Cathy for details at (270) 307-0238.

The Congregate Meals Program (CMP) is having another busy month.  Thelma Thompson, previous coordinator at the Washington County Senior Center, retired in June.  Thelma served our program and the agency for many years and we wish her well in her retirement. CMP hired Gloria Graves as the new coordinator in Washington County. Gloria has done an excellent job so far and we are thrilled that she joined our team.

Tim Speakman, previous coordinator at the Larue County Senior Center, retired in July. Sabrina Whelan is the new coordinator and CMP is excited to have her on board. We have full confidence that she will be able to build the center up and we are excited to watch it excel.

CMP is currently planning a community day in Larue County, so stay tuned for dates and times for this event. We are partnering up with CSBG, Weatherization, CKCATS and local officials for a fun filled day at the Larue County Senior Center. We are planning to do events like this at the senior centers in all counties.

September is national Senior Citizen Centers Month. Please check your local papers and senior centers for exciting events happening in your area.

We were able to distribute snack boxes to all participants again this year.  The snack boxes contained five shelf stable meals and the participants were very appreciative of them.

In FY 18/19, CMP served 35,744 meals to 618 unduplicated participants. We provided 2,490 bingocize sessions to 201 unduplicated participants and 5,851 nutrition education sessions to 416 unduplicated participants. 

The Corporation for National and Community Service has awarded the Senior Companion Program (SCP) $220,529. SCP is so pleased to be able to continue providing such a valuable service for another year.  We will be operating in the second year of a three-year grant cycle.  Our financial and progress reports were due by July 30 in e-grants.

A special thanks to our county governments for their sincere generosity in supporting SCP.  Breckinridge County contributed $2,500, Hardin County contributed $500, Marion County contributed $5,000, Nelson County Contributed $1,500, and Washington County contributed $5,400 in in-kind by donating office space, as well as an additional $500 in cash.  We appreciate all their help and certainly couldn’t do it without them.

SCP held its annual Volunteer Recognition Banquet on Thursday, June 6 at My Old Kentucky Home State Park. It was definitely a success and all of the volunteers were so appreciative for all their awards and tokens of appreciation. We truly appreciate everyone that contributed in helping to make this day so special.  The SCP is so blessed to have the volunteers that we do to make our program the best it can be.

In closing out the fiscal year, the Senior Companion Program provided over 46,000 hours of in-home services to clients across a six-county service area.  Just over 100 clients were provided services by 44 SCP volunteers.  We are so happy to report these numbers, as we spent all of our federal dollars allocated for stipends.

The CKCATS office renovation began July 24, 2019.  The concrete floor is poured and the Isaac Tatum Construction Company is beginning to frame the walls. The entire project is expected to take about three months and will cost around $240,000.

CKCATS Transportation just finished an amazing year for FY 19. This is the most productive year to date. CKCATS has a carryover budget of $450,000-$475,000 for FY 20.  That is $125,000 more than last year.

The numbers for CKCATS Senior trips were 12,066 with 1,282 seniors served. Intercity trips totaled 2,214, Veteran trips were 1,635 and 70,000 Medicaid & General Public trips were logged. We traveled over 1,764,000 miles during the 2018/2019 FY. 

During FY 19, CKCATS received eight new buses, a new phone system, a new parking lot at the Central Office and a $250,000 renovation for the Central Office in Lebanon. The office renovation is currently under way and we hope it will be finished by late fall.

While FY19 was very successful, we look forward to the new FY 20. CKCATS is set to receive three new replacement low-floor mini vans and three expansion SUV’S in the amount of $214,497 in 5339 funding.  CKCATS will also receive 5339 funding for office furniture and 16 camera systems in the amount of $37,850. We will also receiving 5310 grant funds for three replacement vehicles in the amount of $146,385. 

CKCATS has scheduled our annual Training Day on Aug 10, 2019 at the Nelson County CATS Office. This is a mandatory training for all employees that includes Defensive Driving, Bloodborne Pathogen and Drug /Alcohol training. 

Why a Simulation? Recently, our team at Central Kentucky Community Action held a Poverty Simulation at the New Haven Elementary School in New Haven. Poverty is a reality for many individuals and families. Unless you’ve experienced poverty, it’s difficult to truly understand. The Community Action Poverty Simulation bridges the gap from misconception to understanding.   The Poverty Simulation is an interactive immersion experience and sensitizes community participants to the realities of poverty.  

What happens during a Simulation?  One part is: The Experience.  Meet Ann Aber. Like many people in poverty, Ann faces the daily struggle to keep a roof over her head and her children fed. Ann is just one person of the 26 families that take part in the Poverty Simulation.  During the Poverty Simulation, you will take on the identity of someone like Ann and you will work together with your family to live a month in poverty.

Recently, at a Lincoln Trail Area Development District Meeting, someone that went through the program said “This simulation gave me a whole new perspective, a greater appreciation for the choices those in poverty make.”

This is just one of the programs CKCAC will continue. As always thanks for your support and please contact one of our offices if you need anything.   More to come…much more…

What’s up with the Kentucky Works Program (KWP)? A new contract is what! In late May, KWP was approached by the Cabinet to take over the SNAP (food stamp) Employment & Training Program. Based on our experience with the KTAP Job Training Program and the successes over the years, it was decided that this would be a perfect fit for KWP. Services began on 7/1/19 and although there are many hiccups, as is usually the case with start-ups, this is an exciting time for the KWP staff.

Staff will work with the SNAP participants, first by assessing their current situation and then helping them to develop a plan to reach their employment goals. Some will have to start with basic soft skills training, some will need to obtain their GED and others might just need someone in their corner to help them land that much needed job.

The goal of this program is like many of the other programs ran by CKCAC—to help our participants set goals, reach them and to become self-sufficient. When this is accomplished, they will no longer need to rely on public assistance.

The Work Plan and Budget has been approved and signed for Community Services Block Grant for the new program year.  The program priority is EMPLOYMENT. This was determined by the most recent Needs Assessment

The CSBG Staff has been busy closing out one Program Year and beginning a new one.  Staff members have worked diligently to enter all services that had been provided into the computer.  We followed up on many clients so that we could also report the outcome of our efforts through ROMA.  

We now have 170 individual gardens and 2 community gardens that are planted and flourishing with the recent rains.

The Youth Programs carried out in the counties have been very exciting. We want to provide opportunities for children who may not have them otherwise.  40 kids and their families have pool passes to swim and 22 attended 4 H and Salvation Army Camps.

Central Kentucky Community Action’s (CKCAC) Weatherization Program is in full swing and performing services in our 8 county service area. The Weatherization Program finished out the 2018/2019 contract year with 37 completed homes receiving services. We have closed out both Technical Field and Compliance monitoring reports from KHC and received excellent reviews. The Weatherization Program received both DOE and LIHEAP contracts for the 2019/2020 year. CKCAC has 35 clients on the waiting list to receive services as of July 1^st 2019. We are still fully staffed with an in-house crew and are still utilizing contractors to perform HVAC, electrical work, as well as, weatherization that we have to perform to the dwellings receiving services.

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

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.