Newsletter Archives - Page 39 of 41

Hats Off to the Class of 2019

There have been many exciting activities and events throughout all our Head Start and Early Head Start Centers in 2019. On Thursday, May 2, 2019, our Loretto Head Start participated in a Community Clean Up Day. In all, 39 children and 10 adults worked diligently to gather trash and debris from essential community locations. The children and adults helped to clean their school, the Loretto Daycare, the Loretto Community Center, the Loretto City Ball Park, the St. Francis Activity Center and the Loretto City Hall. The children worked while learning about Community Service and how vital it is to play a part in keeping your community safe and clean. It was a wonderful day where the children had hand on experience in making a difference for their community.

Other family activities and events include Family Game Night at our Meade Center, building and ribbon cutting of the Little Free Library at our Larue Center, kindergarten field trips with those children who will be transitioning into kindergarten, reading and sing along from local attorneys at our St. Catharine Center and participation in a “flower shop” at our Stithon Center! Our Head Start centers pride themselves on being innovative and are always finding new learning activities for their children.

Also, as we are wrapping up the 2018/2019 school year, all six counties have been hosting and participating in Field Day and Graduations. The teachers have truly gone above and beyond with their events hosted for families and friends at their centers. It has been a special time around Head Start, as we hear the little feet walk across the stage and grab their diplomas to seeing the smiles of parents, friends and family, knowing their children have the school readiness skills to embark on their new kindergarten adventures. We throw our hats off to the graduating Head Start classes of 2019!

Build a Bed Reveal

Regional Network: CKCAC’s Regional Network began a Build A Bed Program in Marion and Washington Counties. We have collaborated with the Marion County Area Technology Center and the woodoworking class agreed to build the beds. The Family Fellowship Prayer Center provided us with our first $1,000 donation to start the program. We also made connections with each of our lumber companies in both of counties; Parkview Home Center, Lebanon Lumber and Loretto Lumber. All three companies have made donations, deliveries and have made this project possible. We are so grateful for their commitment to this program.

We held a Build A Bed Reveal on May 30^th at the Marion County Library. A bed was available for viewing and we were able to show appreciation to our partners and students. We have made 5 beds so far and are continuing the program as long as there is a need in our communities. We also want to recognize Flanagan’s Appliance Store, for providing us discounted mattresses and also the Loretto Mother House whose donation made it possible to purchase bedding.

In-Home Services: We deliver quality In-Home services to our families and provide professional coaching and support. Right now, we are aiding families in increasing positive parenting and discipline skills, obtaining housing, improving household cleanliness, increasing budgeting skills, financial management, building positive relationships with schools and most importantly providing a positive support for families. We are striving to connect families to available community resources and support that may be beneficial to the family.

We are currently serving 11 families and we have many more on our waiting list. Those on our waiting list have been offered a Family Planning Meeting. The meetings are a resource used to bring the targeted family and appropriate community partners together in order to brainstorm and create an action plan that will best aid the family. The meetings have been a huge success and are beneficial to the families involved.

CKCATS Begins Renovations

CKCATS processed and delivered the 5310, 5311 and 5339 grants to the Office of Transportation Delivery in Frankfort on March 29. All grants were due on April 1 for the 2019/2020 FY. These grants provide operating funds for our day-to-day operations and capital funds to purchase vehicles.

Our Central Office renovation began in March. Our new office space will house five new offices and two ADA-compliant bathrooms. There will also be a conference room and storage area on the second floor. Additionally, the current office will be renovated to house four offices, new bathrooms and a large work and break area for our drivers. We are very excited about this large project. It’s estimated to take about four months to finish. The project is possible with the 5339b grant funding.

CKCATS has just applied for a new Lo No Grant (5339c) that promotes vehicles with low or no emissions along with hybrid vehicles. CKCATS is requesting a portion of the $85 million grant to purchase hybrid vehicles for each county. CKCATS has received a letter of support from the New Pioneers for a Sustainable Future group in Springfield for the grant. We are also asking our County Judges for letters of support.

The Fulton County Transit Authority conducted a safety simulator training session on March 30 at the Nelson County CATS Office. Utilizing funds from RTAP, thirty drivers received this additional safety training and the remaining 35 employees will receive the training in the fall. It’s a great opportunity for our drivers to be more safety conscious.

Spring View Hospital, in Lebanon, recently placed a bus wrap promoting the hospital’s ER on one of our buses. There has been a lot of attention on the bus and other businesses have inquired about promoting their own businesses. This is a new venture that CKCATS has undertaken with the help of our Executive Director, Hal B. Goode.