Category: Newsletter

Happy New Year! Our CKCAC Team is ready for the many projects and challenges that 2020 has in store for our agency. Please join me in welcoming Melissa Bland. Melissa will be joining our Community Action family as our Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Director.

Melissa lives in the Elizabethtown area and comes to Central KY Community Action Council (CKCAC) from Gates Corporation; where she worked for 27 years. Melissa has a bachelors degree in General Studies, with an emphasis in business. Melissa began her role on January 2nd and can be reached at her new office in Griffon Manor, in Elizabethtown.

The RSVP Program provides funding to Central KY Community Action Council for the dual purpose of engaging persons 55 and older in volunteer services to meet critical community needs and to provide a high quality experience that will enrich the lives of volunteers.

As always, we appreciate your support and would be more than happy to assist you in any way we can. More to come……much more.

The Community Collaboration for Children Program has been working diligently with 6 families. We have been assisting caregivers by connecting them with the Community Action’s CSBG offices so that they may apply for the LIHEAP Program, Christmas Assistance, as well as other services offered. We are also working on parenting goals, self-sufficiency skills and home safety with the families we serve.

The Lincoln Trail Regional Network has started having subcommittee meetings to make decisions on April’s Child Abuse Awareness Month and other child abuse prevention programs. The committee has been looking at media outlets and how we can use these tools to educate individuals on abuse and neglect in our area. This is very important as Kentucky leads the nation in highest abuse and neglect cases.

The Regional Network hosted a Poverty Simulation on October 30^th at the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College for all CCC and Regional Network staff and parents in the state of Kentucky. Poverty is a reality for many individuals and families, however unless you’ve experienced poverty, it’s difficult to truly understand. The Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) bridges that gap from misconception to understanding. CAPS is an interactive immersion experience. It sensitizes community participants to the realities of poverty. CAPS is not a game. It is based on real Community Action clients and their lives. During the simulation, a participant is given a role to play, live in a month in poverty and experience low-income families’ lives. The goal of CAPS is to shift the paradigm about poverty away from being seen as a personal failure and toward the understanding of poverty as structural, a failure of society.

A new center in Boyle County, Christ The Head Child Care, started on the Unaffiliated Centers Program in November. A Family Child Care in Hardin County, Shawna Baldwin’s, starts in December.

There are now 23 Unaffiliated Centers sponsored by the agency and 32 Family Child Care programs. Each of them works hard to make good nutrition a priority for their program. Many have revamped their menus after training to provide less processed foods, while still serving food the children will eat.

All Family Child Care Providers and Unaffiliated Centers have received 3 hours of training to fulfill the annual requirement for training. There were 75 participants at the five trainings. As soon as training was completed, all new enrollment/income applications had to be approved for the new fiscal year. There were over a 1000 applications to approve. It has been very time consuming, with regular monitoring and food reports to be approved.

Central KY Community Action Council Head Start hired Health and Wellness Coach, Katie Brockman. She is incorporating health and wellness into the classrooms and works with children, parents, staff and families. The goal is to change the way our families look at health and wellness. Katie is getting the kids moving and having them spread positive energy every night when they go home. She works with the staff and families on how to incorporate exercise at all skill levels and she is innovating the way our program looks at exercising. We are very thankful to have Katie on our team.

It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. For most people the holiday season is about spending time with family and loved ones, giving and receiving gifts and sitting down for a big family meal complete with all the fixings. But for many others, the holidays can feel more like a time of heightened stress.  Many low-income people are not connected to family or their community. If they do have social connections, they may isolate themselves because they can’t afford to give gifts or prepare food to share. It can be even more difficult to get enough to eat when there is an increased demand at food banks during the holiday season.   When you add kids to the mix, shame and isolation can take hold.

Low-income parents often put themselves last in order to shield their kids from poverty, and the parents’ health and well-being suffers for it.  Some parents may even skip meals or prescription medications to save up enough money to buy their child a special present. But the stress of poverty can affect children.  They know mama has gone without, they know papa’s working hard or is stressing. Because of this, children in poverty are more likely to be too embarrassed to reveal what they secretly wish for because they feel guilty for taking away from their family’s limited resources.

When it comes to having the tough conversations with kids about poverty, parents should always keep an open dialogue with kids and remain honest.  It is suggested to act as a filter and to only allow a tiny bit of information to pass through when children are young, and explain more to them as they grow older.   For example, when children are still very young, keep things simple by explaining that mommy and daddy have a budget and that they’re able to spend a certain amount on their gift. When they’re older, begin teaching them more about bills, expenses and the importance of giving back to those who are less fortunate.

Parents set the tone for how the family views their financial situation and the holiday season.   Kids really do look to their parents for their attitude. One way to set a more positive tone is by redefining what the holiday season means to you. It doesn’t need to be about gifts. It’s the Salvation Army ringing the bell, it’s the highest charity donation time, it’s when we put gifts for the homeless under the Christmas tree and it is all about the idea of community.  As parents we could emphasize other parts of the holiday season that remind us of the goodness of humanity.

Merry Christmas to you and here’s to wishing you a prosperous 2020.  More to come……much more.

Thanksgiving has always been looked at as our big November holiday, but did you know that National Gratitude Month is observed in November? Gratitude is more than simply saying “thank you.”  Gratitude is the amazing power to have the ability to shift us from focusing on the negative, to appreciating what is positive in our lives. Practicing daily gratitude gives us a deeper connection to ourselves, the world around us and to our Creator.  Everything in our lives has the ability to improve when we are grateful. Research has shown that gratitude can enhance our moods, decrease stress and drastically improve our overall level of health and well-being. On average, grateful people tend to have fewer stress-related illnesses and experience less depression and lower blood pressure. They are also more physically fit, happier, more satisfying personal and professional relationships and will be better liked. Grateful kids are even more likely to get A’s in school.

If everyone practiced daily gratitude, we could change ourselves and the planet for the better.  Everyone would be much happier.  Love would grow and hate would decrease. The world would know true peace.  It’s a great time for me to thank all of those who work for our clients here at Central Kentucky Community Action Council and our Board of Directors, who volunteer countless hours for our organization.   Thank you all for making CKCAC better. 

So, what are you waiting for? Give gratitude a try!  You’ll be happy you did.   More to come……..much more.

On October 25th, over 700 military retirees, their families and surviving spouses from across the region attended the Fort Knox Retiree Appreciation Day. This event featured more than 60 booths, offering information from numerous organizations, including Hardin County RSVP Stations, the Fort Knox American Red Cross and Hosparus Health/Thrift Store. The Fort Knox Red Cross table performed blood pressure screenings.

RSVP’s current federal grant requires 3.1 Veterans & Families Served and 3.1 other focus areas, including active duty military, families, veterans, retirees, etc. As the nominated Kentucky Volunteer for the Fort Knox Soldier for Life Retiree Council, RSVP Director, Cathy Williamson, has served on the planning committee for several years.

CKCATS Transportation office renovation is scheduled to be finished in late November, 2019. The CKCATS current office will be renovated as well. The new office will have 5 offices and 2 ADA compliant bathrooms on the first floor. The second floor will consist of a conference room for meetings and training, 2 office spaces and a lot of storage. This renovation was funded by a 5339 grant and will be considered a FTA building when finished.

CKCATS just received four 2019 low floor mini vans. 3 mini vans were funded by a 5339 grant and 1 mini van was funded with 5310 funds. CKCATS currently has 73 vehicles, with 87% being wheelchair accessible.

CKCATS ordered 2, 12X2 buses, which should arrive in March 2020. CKCATS also received 3 SUVS on Bid #8 and are hoping to order those in December, 2019.

The Congregate Meals Program (CMP) had it’s very first Senior Community Day at the Larue County Senior Citizen Center and it was a huge success! There was a big turn out and everyone seemed to have a great time. The seniors participated in a cake walk, won door prizes and enjoyed some free food. CMP plans to have more of these events in the other counties we serve.

Open enrollment started on October 1st, 2019 for the State Health Insurance Program (SHIP). SHIP provides assistance with access in public and private benefits. Medicare, Medicaid, private and other public programs can be confusing to the average community member. SHIP volunteer counselors are here to provide one-on-one assistance. Counselors can assist in comparing supplemental insurances, understanding policies, and applying for assistance. Information and assistance in filling out prescription drug discount program applications is also available. SHIP counselors will be at your local senior centers during November providing assistance.

CMP has served 10,384 meals to 433 unduplicated participants from July 1, 2019-September 30, 2019. CMP has provided 1,414 nutrition education sessions to 281 unduplicated participants from July 1st, 2019-September 30th, 2019. CMP has provided 893 Bingocize sessions to 159 unduplicated participants from July 1st, 2019-September 30th, 2019.

During the Senior Companion Program’s (SCP) October In-Service, our guest speakers were with the CSBG department within Central KY Community Action. CSBG Director, Ellen Leake and her staff, did a wonderful job presenting about LIHEAP. The CSBG staff come and speak to the senior in the program every year when enrollment begins. This is to promote awareness of the program and the wonderful services they provide.

The SCP also had their Thanksgiving and Christmas In-Service. During this meeting, each volunteer received a goodie bag, a $25 gift card to Wal-Mart and a meal voucher for Mordecai’s or Golden Corral.

The SCP will be accepting applications for Volunteer Leadership Positions in the six counties that we serve. All active volunteers, currently serving in the program, are eligible to apply. Leader Volunteer Positions receive an extra $50 a month for their roles and responsibilities. These responsibilities consist of the recruitment of new volunteers, assisting with fundraising and in-kind efforts, explaining the duties and benefits of volunteering to potential volunteers, signing new clients, informing the public about our services and working closely with the program director to ensure that the program operates to it’s fullest potential.