Head Start sends off staff with some laughs

Head Start's Richard Dawson greets a contestant

The SCCAP Head Start Program held its annual end of program year staff retreat Friday at the Genesis Church in Bloomington.

After completing some inservice training and discussion in the morning, it was fun and games for the rest of day.  That gave staff members a happy send-off into summer after a program year in which they’d successfully tackled such challenges as overcoming the loss of a couple of coordinators who had moved away and handling a higher than usual number of snow days. 

“It was really good the way the staff hung in there,” Head State Director Shirley Stumpner said.

Friday’s fun for close to 60 participants featured a Newlywed Game that was won by the “couple” of Family Service Coordinator Monica Miley and Health Coordinator Shelly Powell. Powell cracked up her co-workers by playing the game dressed as Tammy Faye Bakker.

The staff also played Family Feud with the “Real Housewives of Head Start” squared off against the “Fab 5,” and Family Service/Teacher Aide Jason Keller ably portraying Richard Dawson.

Toward the end of the afternoon, the Head Start program recognized the accomplishments and commitment of its staff by giving out various awards, each with its own pin. The winners of the “Beyond the Call Award,” for instance, received a pin with a phone on it for being “dailed in for success.”

Highlights of today’s Weatherization public hearing

Over the next couple of days, we’ll provide reports here on Thursday’s public hearings at the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority to discuss our state’s plans for use of Weatherization and Community Service Block Grant stimulus funds.  

Provided below are some of the highlights of today’s testimony from Indiana Community Action representatives regarding the state’s plan for allocating about $55 million in Weatherization stimulus funds to be used by 30 organizations over the next program year to create jobs, lower monthly heating and electric bills for low-income families, help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and cut carbon emissions.

Just after hearing the comments below in a public hearing, the IHCDA board quickly passed the state plan with few questions and little discussion from the board members. The next step for Indiana’s plan is for it to be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Energy.      

Selected highlights of testimony from Todd Lare, South Central Community Action Program, located in Bloomington, serving Brown, Monroe, Morgan and Owen counties:

“My organization has been granted funding for only 1 of the 4 county region we traditionally serve.  Indeed, we have only been proposed to be awarded $899,373 of the $2,613,105 originally advertised for our region, or 34.4% of what has been requested.  The 24 current sub grantees requested $56,294,639 and were awarded $23,754,250, or 42% of the funding available.  Newly proposed sub grantees requested $61,267,405 and were awarded $31,260,370.50 or 51% of the amount they requested.  Newly proposed sub grantees were awarded 57% of the $55,014,620.50 awarded during this first cycle.  That for just 10 new sub grantees.  The other 24 collectively received less funding than the newly chosen 10 sub grantees.

Two new sub grantees received the largest amount awarded to any sub grantee, new or existing.  The Indiana Builders Association received $20,725,963.50 or 38% of the entire amount awarded.  This award is made to an organization whose annual revenue in 2007 was $1,404,341 according to their 990 tax return.  In 2006, they had gross receipts of $1,264,077 and in 2005 they reported $1,196,835.  So, the decision was made to award the largest amount to an inexperienced provider in these programs, the largest amount totaling 15 times their annual revenue for the year 2007.  This, to an organization whose primary mission is “the education of construction and home building industry by conducting conventions and seminars using resources by members” according to that tax return. 

The second largest new sub grantee, Hoosier Energy, received $5,094,541 or 9% of the funding made available.  This organization is much larger, boasting a 2008 total revenue of $566 million and total assets of $1.2 billion.  While this is remarkable, it seems wild that an organization of this immense size would compete with local nonprofits that have been operating these programs for more than 30 years, yet would have so little staff trained in this process.  It is my understanding that collectively, Hoosier Energy has had 3 staff members trained in DOE weatherization prior to this process. 

In my four-county region, the Indiana Builders Association was awarded Owen County while Hoosier Energy was awarded Morgan and Brown counties.  Title 10, Section 440.15 of the Code of Federal Regulations requires that “The subgrantee’s experience in assisting low-income persons in the area to be served” be used in the approval criteria.  I would question the experience of both entities in providing weatherization services to residents of these counties.  There is no Indiana Builders Association presence in Owen County, as they are served out of the Monroe County office. Our organization does maintain an office in Spencer and has served the area in this program for decades.  In Morgan and Brown counties, while a member of the Hoosier Energy association, a rural electric cooperative maintains a presence in Morgan County and also serves Brown County, I am unaware of any other local presence or connection to the low-income community.  Our organization maintains offices in both Martinsville and Nashville and has operated a variety of low-income programs in this area for more than 40 years.

Finally, the selection criteria found in 10 CFR, Part 440.15 gives clear preference to those who are currently operating weatherization programs.  It states, “In selecting a sub grantee, preference is given to any CAA or other public or nonprofit entity which has, or is currently administering, an effective program under this part or under title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, with program effectiveness evaluated by consideration of factors including, but not necessarily limited to, the following:

• The extent to which the past or current program achieved or is achieving weatherization goals in a timely fashion;
• The quality of work performed by the sub grantee;
• The number, qualifications, and experience of the staff members of the sub grantee; and
• The ability of the sub grantee to secure volunteers, training participants, public service employment workers, and other Federal or State training programs.”

I believe that Indiana’s selection process does not abide by these expectations given the fact that one NEW provider is given more money than most of the other 24 current sub grantees combined.  We attempted to determine the criteria used in scoring the proposals and to obtain a copy of all proposals submitted so that we could testify on them at this hearing.  The public records request was submitted by the Indiana Community Action Association on May 19, 2009.  The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) has responded that additional communications may be received on or before May 29, conveniently one day after this public hearing.  Scoring criteria has been added to the IHCDA website in the last few days, and that had not previously been made available.  With the lack of individual scores, however, this information is useless, other than to show that experience in operating this program was a low consideration.  That is born out by the fact that 4 existing providers received no funding, 3 existing providers received what they asked for and most of the rest received somewhere between 30 and 50% of the funding available and requested.    I would ask the Department of Energy to deeply scrutinize the scoring of these applications and reject this seemingly flawed process.

Two new potential grantees were awarded funding despite the fact that they are non-Indiana companies.  People Working Cooperatively is a Cincinnati, OH based organization with no local ties and experience working in the territory assigned to them while the existing sub grantee was given no funding.  This Ohio Company, a newly proposed sub grantee was given nearly $2 million of stimulus funding meant for Indiana.  The second company, Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation is based in Madison, Wisconsin.  They were given more than $1 million for work in Marion County and the existing sub grantee was given zero funding.  Page 4-3 of the original RFP issued by IHCDA stated that businesses must be incorporated and located in the State of Indiana.  While both are licensed to do business in Indiana, neither is corporately based in Indiana, and are listed as foreign corporations with the Indiana Secretary of State.  While the Wisconsin company does have a physical presence in Indiana, I do not believe that People Working Cooperatively does.  Awarding funding to non-Indiana companies flies in the face of the intended purpose of this funding and does not align with other policies to buy Indiana supported by the administration, especially when existing providers have been provided no funding in areas they have served for years, and are currently serving using regular DOE funding.

One has to assume that existing sub grantees are performing adequately if they were fully funded beginning April 1, 2009 under the non-ARRA DOE grant and were not on a performance improvement plan (PIP) through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.  Our agency was funded during the current DOE grant cycle, closed out the prior DOE funding cycle having spent more than 99% of the funding awarded, and we are not now, nor have we ever been under a PIP for weatherization services.  So, today I am left to draw on the only conclusion left, that this selection process was flawed, deeply political and should be rejected by the Department of Energy regulators upon submission.  This fact can only be born out by the delivery of all relevant records requested under Indiana public access laws and by deep scrutiny by the federal department.

I believe the process followed during the past several months has been much less than transparent and the planning far short of inclusive.  The RFP issued did not detail how proposals would be scored and how existing providers would be given preference, as required by DOE regulations.  Instead of working together to determine the best plan for accomplishing the goals set forth on the national level, we have had to try to guess how to be in the best position to move quickly if selected.  If existing providers were used, we could have been a lot further along in the joint planning process and would have, at the very least, been able to talk through the points I have made during my public testimony. 

Nonetheless, I thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony today and would ask that it be included in its entirety in the public comment forwarded to the Department of Energy for consideration with the Indiana state plan, though I would urge the Department of Energy to reject Indiana’s initial submission due to the problems noted earlier in my presentation.”

Selected highlights of testimony from Larry Kleeman, executive director of Lincoln Hills Development Corporation, a community action agency located in Tell City, serving Crawford, Perry and Spencer counties:

“The proposed plan eliminates Spencer County from our service area. The request for proposal issued by IHCDA allocated funds for Crawford County in the amount of a little over $380,000, Perry County a little bit over $768,000 and Spencer County a little over $380,000. Lincoln Hills Development Corporation has served these three counties as a community action agency since 1965, including Weatherization since 1976. We responded to the request for proposal with a proposal requesting the full amount of $1.5 million allocated for these three counties. We’re included in the proposed state plan with an award of a little over $971,000 to serve Crawford and Perry counties only. . .

Why was Spencer County removed from our service area and awarded to Hoosier Energy? We believe this decision is contrary to Department of Energy regulations and policies for the following reasons: The PRISM results for Spencer County for the period of April 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007 reflect that of the six homes weatherized in which pre- and post-data was gathered, one house saved 29 therms of energy, one house reduced natural gas usage by 35 percent and one house reduced electric usage by 25 percent. Data on the other three homes was difficult to obtain and analyze due to various reasons. However on 50 percent of the homes measured, where the data was sufficient and analyzed, there were savings achieved through weatherization.    

To the best of my knowledge, Hoosier Energy has never Weatherized a home in Spencer County, but if they have, what are the results and was this the basis for awarding Spencer County to Hoosier Energy rather than us?  

Finally, LHDC has served Spencer County continuously for 44 years, including since 1976 in Weatherization. One-third of our local board of directors are residents and represent Spencer County. We have facilities located in Rockport, the county seat, and Dale, while to the best of my knowledge, Hoosier Energy has no local offices in Spencer County. During this past energy assistance season, we served 542 households in Spencer County and of those households, only 98, or 18 percent, were customers of Hoosier Energy. Hoosier Energy does not serve the cities and towns of Chrisney, Dale, Grandview, Rockport and Santa Claus in Spencer County. With such a limited presence in the county, what was the rationale for Indiana Housing to award Spencer County to Hoosier Energy?”  

Selected highlights of testimony from Kathryn Williams, Indiana Community Action Association:

“The Indiana Community Action Association represents the 24 Community Action Agencies that provide services in all 92 Indiana counties.  These services include the Low-Income Weatherization Assistance Program.

All 24 Community Action Agencies have responded to the Request for Proposals for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Weatherization funds. Twenty of the Community Action Agencies were selected for funding.  Forty-four percent of the ARRA funds were allocated in the state plan to Community Action Agencies and 56 percent of the funds were allocated to organizations that are not within the Community Action Agency network. 

The Community Action Agency network within Indiana has operated the Low-Income Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) since its inception.  The Indiana program is held in high regard by the U. S. Department of Energy and by other programs around the country.  Indiana is consistently viewed as the exemplary model by other states wanting to design training programs, look at the value of certification of employee skills, determine the feasibility of conducting PRISM evaluation of homes weatherized, and to employ many other positive aspects of Indiana’s program.  The Community Action network has worked closely with the Indiana agency that has been the funding channel for this program, with a focus on developing and delivering a program of which we all can be proud.

“The U. S. Department of Energy regulations governing the ARRA Weatherization Assistance Program provide guidance to states on priorities to be considered when allocating these funds.  These regulations state that all funding used to conduct weatherization activities must be distributed by states to entities in accordance with the federal WAP statute and regulations governing selection of subgrantees.  These subgrantees must be Community Action Agencies(CAA) or other public or nonprofit entities.  In selecting a subgrantee, preference must be given to any CAA or other public or nonprofit entity which has, or is currently administering, an effective program under this part or under title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 [Community Action Program], with program effectiveness evaluated by consideration of factors including the following:

• The extent to which the past or current program achieved or is achieving weatherization goals in a timely fashion;
• The quality of work performed by the subgrantee;
• The number, qualifications, and experience of the staff members of the subgrantee; and
• The ability of the subgrantee to secure volunteers, training participants, public service employment workers, and other federal or state training programs.

The final selection of each subgrantee must be made on the basis of public comment received during the public hearing and findings regarding:

• The subgrantee’s experience and performance in weatherization or housing renovation activities; 
• The subgrantee’s experience in assisting low-income persons in the area to be served; and
• The subgrantee’s capacity to undertake a timely and effective weatherization program.

The allocation of funds by IHCDA appears to be inconsistent with these regulations which require a preference for Indiana CAAs who already administer an effective and respected weatherization program, and who clearly possess experience performing weatherization activities and assisting low-income persons in the areas to be served. We encourage IHCDA and the U. S. Department of Energy to give this disparity serious scrutiny.”

Testimony for CSBG Stimulus Public Hearing

Here is the testimony Todd Lare has prepared for Thursday morning’s Community Services Block Grant public hearing in Indianapolis.

Testimony provided by: Todd Lare, Executive Director, South Central Community Action Program, Inc.

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2009 

My name is Todd Lare and I serve as Executive Director of South Central Community Action Program, Inc., providing services in Brown, Morgan, Monroe and Owen counties.  We are extremely pleased that Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) was included in the stimulus funding received in Indiana and anxiously await our opportunity to use it to make a difference in the communities we serve.  I appreciate the opportunity to offer comments at today’s public hearing.

Federal guidance with regard to CSBG funds mandated that 99% of funding be passed directly to community action agencies to be used in the same myriad of ways that our normal allocation of CSBG funding is used.  But, allocation methods used, as per the guidance should also be the same as normal.  Section 42 United States Code 9908(b)(8) says that, “any eligible entity in the State that received funding in the previous fiscal year through a [CSBG] grant …  will not have its funding terminated … or reduced below the proportional share of funding the entity received in the previous fiscal year unless, after providing notice and an opportunity for a hearing on the record, the State determines that cause exists for such termination or such reduction, subject to review by the [HHS] Secretary.” 

Testimony for Weatherization Stimulus Public Hearing

Provided below is the testimony that South Central Community Action Program Executive Director Todd Lare has prepared for Thursday morning’s public hearing in Indianapolis. That hearing will be the Weatherization Stimulus Public Hearing #2.

Testimony provided by: Todd Lare, Executive Director, South Central Community Action Program, Inc.

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2009

My name is Todd Lare and I serve as Executive Director of South Central Community Action Program, Inc., providing services in Brown, Morgan, Monroe and Owen counties.  We have served as a sub grantee to the State of Indiana since 1977 for weatherization services.  We are an applicant under the RFP issued by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.  I appreciate the opportunity to offer comments at today’s public hearing.

Public hearing Thursday on Weatherization funding for SCCAP and other organizations

The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority will hold a public hearing this Thursday, May 28, to take comments on the selection and capacity of the subgrantees IHCDA has chosen to implement the state’s Weatherization Assistance Program.

These subgrantees are slated to receive funds created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to stimulate the national economy.

The public hearing will be held at 11 a.m. at the IHCDA office at 30 Meridian Street in Indianapolis.

The South Central Community Action Program is one of the grantees the state has tentatively approved for funding. In the IHCDA state plan that was made public last week, SCCAP was approved to receive $899,373 in stimulus funds to provide weatherization of homes in Monroe County.

SCCAP had applied for a total of $2,613,105 to provide weatherization in Monroe, Brown, Owen and Morgan counties, but the state plan awarded the funding for Brown, Owen and Morgan counties to other organizations.

You can check out the recommended funding level for each applicant by clicking on the following link: state plan

Weatherization is a program that helps low-income families to prepare their homes against the elements. It allows weather stripping, caulking, insulating, repair and replacement of doors, windows and furnaces, etc. to keeps families more comfortable while lowering their heating costs.

If you would like to comment on the state plan, but cannot attend the public hearing, you can e-mail comments to iwx@ihcda.in.gov with subject line: Public Comment.

Getting the word out about Summer Cool

We just sent out a news release this morning about SCCAP’s Summer Cool Program that starts next Monday, June 1.

One thing I added to this release from the post I made on Inside SCCAP last week about the Summer Cool Program is some information about the energy conservation kit that households can receive in addition to assistance with their electric bill.

Once approved for the Summer Cool Program, a member of each household can receive information about how to conserve energy and a conservation kit that contains three compact fluorescent light bulbs and a furnace filter whistle that tells you when your filter is dirty and needs to be changed.

The retail value of the energy conservation kit, which is provided to approved households at no cost, is about $25. Each household can only receive one kit per year, so if you already received one this winter, you can’t get another one this summer.

For more information or an appointment, contact an SCCAP office: Monroe County, 339-3447; Morgan County, 342-1518; Owen County, 829-2279; Brown County, 988-6636.

Herald-Times coverage of SCCAP Head Start

The Herald-Times had a front page story today by reporter Andy Graham about yesterday’s “Moving Up” ceremony and the Head Start program at  the Broadview Adult Education Center.

If you have an online subscription with the H-T, you can read that story by clicking here.

Here’s an excerpt from the story – a quote from Broadview Head Start teacher Ruth Anderson:

“The goal is to help prepare them for lifelong learning, in part by getting their parents and families involved,” she said. “The kids do so much better when parents are engaged, are reading to them on a daily basis, are talking with them about learning. Our parents have really responded.”

The parents of children in Anderson’s class set a goal of 5,000 volunteer hours this school year, and exceeded it by contributing 5,170 hours.

There’s also a gallery of photos taken by H-T photographer Jeremy Hogan at yesterday’s event at Broadview. You don’t need an H-T subscription to access that. Check out that photo gallery by clicking here.  

Head Start families celebrate last day of class

Eleven classes of preschoolers danced, sang and reveled in the applause of their families, teachers and classmates as they celebrated the completion of the Head Start school year Friday.   

In a year-end celebration at the Broadview Adult Education Center, a class demonstrated the social skills and creativity they had developed throughout the school year by acting out a play that they wrote themselves, wearing costumes they designed themselves, with the help of teacher Ruth Anderson.

“They wrote it,” Anderson said. “I just kind of guided it.”

That play brought to life the pretty princesses with pink flowers, roaring dragons, noble knights and even a few zebras that the kids had been talking about in class through much of this school year.  

A crowd of about 50 family members and Head Start staff attended the play, which was named ”Happily Ever After.” One of those family members was Cheryl Frye, the grandmother of princess Izzabelle Caldwell, who will turn four on Saturday. 

“Izzabelle has really learned quite a bit this year at Head Start,” Frye said. “She’s learned letters and writing skills. It’s helped her socially in feeling comfortable with other kids and not clinging to me. She really needed that.”  

At Bryan Park, several classes held last-day celebrations, including a class from the Arlington Head Start center. Those children from the Arlington center wore tie-dye shirts as they belted out a song for their parents and danced to Hannah Montana. 

Then each child stepped forward wearing a multi-colored graduation cap of his or her own design to accept a certificate of completion as their family members and friends cheered.

Although SCCAP’s school year program will now be off until next fall, there are still four year-round Head Start classes that will continue through the summer.

Parents who would like to enroll their children in next fall’s Head Start classes can call 334-8350 for information on how to apply. The program is for income-eligible children who are three to five years old. They must be three by Aug. 1 to be eligible.

SCCAP moving its Owen County office

Owen County households seeking assistance from the South Central Community Action Program will soon find the agency in a new location.

SCCAP is moving its office in Spencer from 751 E. Franklin Street to 145 N. Harrison Street. The new office is located across the street from the WorkOne office.

The final day at the Franklin Street location will be May 27. The office will be closed during the move on Thursday and Friday, May 28 and 29, and then reopen in its new location on Harrison Street on Monday, June 1.

The phone number for the office, 829-2279, will remain the same. Parking for the new office is on the street, with handicap parking next to the building.

SCCAP is moving its office because of the loss of another tenant at its current location, resulting in less space being needed.

“We will continue in our new office to provide the same wide range of services to help low-income people move toward independence,” SCCAP Executive Director Todd Lare said.

SCCAP’s services for low-income people in Owen County include  Affordable Rental Housing, Client Advocacy, Energy Assistance, Family Development, Individual Development Accounts to accumulate savings, Section 8 Housing, Weatherization and Salvation Army assistance.

Last day of class Friday

Friday will be a special day for children, parents and staff involved with Head Start for the South Central Community Action Program.

It will be the last day of class for 11 classes in the Head Start school year program. Seven and a half months after they got started on Sept. 2, they will hold events Friday to celebrate the last day of class and all they accomplished during the school year.

Picnics with the children and their parents will be held at Bryan Park, Olcott Park, Flatwoods Park and Broadview Adult Education Center. At the Broadview picnic and awards ceremonly, the children will put on a short play with princesses and dragons.

Classroom Two at the Lindbergh Head Start site will be one of those holding a celebration at Bryan Park. That class has enjoyed several fun events during the year, including a pet lady who brought dogs, hamsters and rats to the classroom, which the kids loved, and trips to the library and the YMCA.

The final event for Classroom Two will be a ”Moving Up” ceremony, complete with little caps and certificates of completion. The children in that class as they move on to summer will sing a song for their parents with the words, ”Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, one is gold.” 

Classroom Two teacher Genevieve Morris saw her preschool students make obvious growth mentally and physically during the school year, but the progress she may remember most is in their social skills.  

“It’s not always mine, mine, mine now,” she said. “They learned how to take turns and share, and work things out using their words with each other.”

In the 11 school year classes, 207 three- to five-year olds were served at eight locations. They received comprehensive childhood development services, including educational, health, nutritional, social and other services designed to promote school readiness.  With the end of the school year classes, there are still four year-round Head Start classes that will continue throughout the summer.

Provided below is a look at few of the faces and moments from this Head Start school year.

Summer Cool Program starts June 1

Help with summer electric bills is on the way for low-income households in Monroe, Brown, Morgan and Owen counties. 

The Summer Cool Program offered by the South Central Community Action Program will run from June 1 through Aug. 31. It will assist eligible low-income households by providing $50 toward their electric bill.

This summer assistance is part of a broader Energy Assistance Program that also includes help with fuel bills during the winter. For the winter program that just ended, SCCAP assisted 5,209 households, a 15 percent increase from the previous winter.   

All households who received Energy Assistance from SCCAP during the past winter are eligible for the $50 electric credit in the Summer Cool program. All other households must complete an application and have their income verified.

Once approved for the Summer Cool program, a member of each household can also watch a short presentation on how to conserve energy and receive at no cost a conservation kit that contains three compact fluorescent light bulbs and a furnace filter whistle that tells you when your filter is dirty and needs to be changed. The retail value of the energy conservation kit, which is provided to approved households at no cost, is about $25.

In addition, a household where a family member has a severe medical condition may provide written verification from a medical doctor to receive a small window air conditioner. Clients should call the SCCAP office for details about the required documentation to claim this benefit.

SCCAP has provided energy benefits to low-income citizens for 27 years. Last year, 2,116 households received assistance through the Summer Cool Program.

Eligibility for the Summer Cool program is based on the number of people in the household and total household income: 1 person-$15,600, 2-$21,000, 3-$26,400, 4-$31,800, 5-$37,200. For each additional household member beyond five people, add $5,400.    

For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact the SCCAP office in your county: Monroe: 339-3447, Morgan: 342-1518, Owen: 829-2279, Brown: 988-6636.

New Tech students learn about work at SCCAP

Elizabeth Penter (left) and Katie Hayes (center) talk with SCCAP's Christine Combs

New Tech High School students Katie Hayes and Elizabeth Penter spent most of their school day Wednesday shadowing South Central Community Action Program Family Development Coordinator Christine Combs on her job.

Hayes and Penter came to SCCAP because both are interested in a possible career in social services after college. They received a tour of the SCCAP Bloomington office and got answers to a series of questions about why people work in social services.

They learned that Combs works with clients to set goals and formulate steps to achieve those goals, and connects clients with local resources to make that possible.

They also got a chance to talk with one of Combs’ clients. That client had agreed in advance to talk with the students.

Hayes said she learned Wednesday that it isn’t always easy, but the benefits of working at an organization like SCCAP are clear.

“In the end, it’s helping other people that makes your day worthwhile,” she said.

Nominate your local heroes

With the celebration of National Community Action Month in May, there are a couple of national award competititions for which you may want to nominate local people.  

One of these is the Sargent Shriver Achievement Award, which was established by the Community Action Partnership in 1995 to recognize and honor achievements by individuals who, with the assistance of a Community Action Agency, have changed their lives and achieved independence. To be eligible for this award, individuals must also have contributed to improving their community through advocacy, volunteerism, public service or some other vehicle.

The other competition is the Jayne Thomas Grassroots Volunteer Recognition Award, established by the Community Action Partnership in 1988 to acknowledge exemplary achievements in support of Community Action. To be eligible, individuals must be a volunteer for a Community Action Agency, have made a significant and outstanding contribution toward accomplishing the promise of Community Action and be devoted to changing people’s lives.

The Community Action Partnership will provide a complimentary hotel room and convention registration to the winners of both competitions so they can be honored during the Awards Gala at the 2009 Community Action Partnership Convention on Sept. 3  in Philadelphia.

Nominations are due by July 6. For more information, contact me at doug@sccap.monroe.in.us

Young gardeners sow promising crop

Maeve Flaherty, 6, and her mom, Lan, prepare the soil where tomatoes and potatoes will be planted.

Cian Flaherty, 4, pitches in on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon as Parent Involvement Coordinator Bethany Terry helps supervise

Head Start participants at SCCAP are not only learning about eating their vegetables this spring, they’re also planting them.

The young gardeners, with help from parents and Head Start staff, have put in beans, broccoli, carrots, kale, lettuce, potatoes and tomatoes at the Crestmont community garden, where several local organizations have plots.

Two Head Start classes, Rooms 3 and 4, have worked on the garden that they planted early this month, as have other children and families in smaller groups.

The produce from the gardens will be sent home to families and used in classes as part of the preschoolers’ nutrition education.

Not surprising, perhaps, is that one of the kids’ favorite parts of gardening so far is pulling out giant worms from the compost pile that’s been built from leftover scraps of Head Start meals and snacks.

 But the favorite vegetable in this second year of having a Head Start garden is a surprise.  

“The kids love kale,” Parent Involvement Coordinator Bethany Terry said. “They request kale every day.”

Tips for getting your kids to eat a healthy diet

Parents need to provide healthy foods at regular meal and snack times, and it’s up to their children to decide how much and which of those foods to eat.

That was the message from Allison Oeding, a dietician with the Monroe County Women, Infants and Children Clinic, who made a presentation Monday night to the Head Start Council of Involved Families.

 Here are some of Oeding’s tips to help parents and other caregivers in getting their children to eat healthy foods:

• Provide healthy meals and snacks at regular intervals, two to three hours apart on the following schedule: breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, dinner and maybe another evening snack. Stick to this schedule and do not offer additional snacks or food at other times, even if your child doesn’t eat what’s been given at the previous meal or snack.
• If your children don’t eat what you give them, just wait until the next meal or snack in a couple of hours. They will learn to like the foods that you are introducing to them, even if they’re not eating them right away. And they won’t starve if they don’t eat at a particular meal. If they’re really hungry, they’ll eat what you give them, or they’ll eat well at their next meal or snack. Unless they’re having problems with their weight, let them eat as much as they want - or none - of each food you are providing. 
• Eat at the table with no distractions like TV.
• Make sure you are offering several portions of healthy foods like fruit and vegetables every day. An example of a good snack might be something like yogurt and peaches.  
• It’s okay for children to sometimes eat unhealthy foods, like fries or sweets, in moderation as part of their overall healthy diet. But treat sweets like a regular food, not something special. Don’t use them as a reward for good behavior.
• Try new foods. Even if they’re not accepted at first, you’ve accomplished something just by introducing a new food and having them see it and maybe smell it or taste it. Sometimes you will have to offer that food many times before they’ll eat it. Don’t force them to eat anything.  
• Model healthy eating. If you show your children that you enjoy eating healthy foods and trying new foods, it will help them learn to do that themselves.

We thank Allison for providing a lively, interesting presentation on a topic that’s important for every family with children.

Winter energy assistance wraps up

The South Central Community Action Program served 5,207 households with its winter Energy Assistance Program that just ended.

This program provides help with heating bills to eligible low-income families. It also offers assistance with the purchase of bulk fuel to heat homes and crisis assistance to families who are in danger of utility disconnection or have no fuel.

The 2008-09 figure of 5,209 households who received assistance marks a 15 percent increase from the previous winter when SCCAP served 4,546 households. Of the 5,209, 1,508 were elderly and 1,287 had a head of household who is disabled.

This winter, we served 2,252 households in Monroe County, 1,471 in Morgan County, 987 in Owen County and 499 in Brown County through the Energy Assistance Program.

Clients can sign up for SCCAP’s Summer Cool Program starting on June 1. That program assists eligible low-income households by providing $50 toward their electric bill.

Last year, 2,116 households received assistance through the Summer Cool Program.

Next winter’s Energy Assistance Program will begin in October. If you have any low-income friends or family that may be eligible for this program, please help us by letting them know that assistance with heating costs is available through SCCAP.

Auction Saturday to fight hunger

One of the things we’ll do at Inside SCCAP is let you know about various events intended to benefit people in poverty and the organizations who serve them.

This is late notice with this blog just being born today, but there’s an event tomorrow, Saturday, May 16, to raise money to help those in hunger in Monroe County.

The Community Kitchen will hold its annual Palette to Palate auction of art and various entertainment packages tomorrow evening at The Fields in Bloomington. Tickets will be available at the door. For more information, click here.

And if you have information about other events we can help tell people about, please leave a comment here or drop me an e-mail at doug@sccap.monroe.in.us.

Welcome

Thanks for visiting us at Inside SCCAP.

This new blog will keep you up to date on the latest happenings at the South Central Community Action Program that serves low-income citizens in Monroe, Morgan, Brown and Owen counties.

It will also discuss current issues related to people in poverty and share news of various local events and services that impact low-income people.

The blog will be written primarily by Doug Wilson, the new director of communications at SCCAP. I am looking forward to meeting people here who are interested in SCCAP and the clients it serves, and I encourage you to share your thoughts and questions about any of the information that’s posted here.

Coming soon . . .

Under construction. Please visit us again.