Visit www.cacehr.org 3rd Quarter 2013

Erie County Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Success = 15,026 meals at 13 sites!

CACEHR opened our Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) on June 10th with 9 sites operating. We partnered with the City of Sandusky Recreation sites at Foxborough & Huron Parks (photos at right) and it was a great success. Then on June 24th, Ebenezer Baptist opened as a SFSP site for three days a week. The Boys & Girls Club opened on June 17th, and Sandusky High School Summer Safari opened on July 29th. Ohio’s Governor Kasich also signed an Executive Order to provide kid-friendly, shelf-stable weekend meals for children attending the SFSP sites to take home. This $1 million investment provided 600,000 weekend meals (about 60,000 each week) for 10 weeks this summer in Ohio. CACEHR participated and provided a Weekend Backpack Program that began on June 14th and provided 4,560 meals!

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SFSP PARTNERS! We had 13 sites with 12 in Sandusky and 1 in Willard:

Center for Cultural Awareness; City of Sandusky Recreation Department (4 sites); Ebenezer Baptist Church; Boys & Girls Club (2 sites); YMCA; John Fennell School of the Prophets;

Hope Center (Willard); and , Sandusky City Schools ( 2 sites).

Other community partners included the Sandusky Fire Department, the Sandusky Police Department and the Second Baptist Church who volunteered to deliver our meals. Thank you very much for your willingness to help.

CACEHR’s Continuing Pathways To Excellence Provides for a New Low Income Advisory Group

CACEHR is continuing our process of creating excellence in our communities and workplaces through agency-wide practices. CACEHR’s Board Development Committee has formally designated a new community-based external advisory group to stay abreast of the low income population’s issues and concerns in Erie, Huron & Richland Counties. Once CACEHR Trustees complete their recruitment, they will seat and train the member-

CACEHR Board of Trustees DENNIS BAKER

PERVIS D. BROWN, JR.

HEATHER CARMAN

JACOB COY

LOWELL ETZLER

JOHN EVANS

JOHN JACOBS

SHERRI JONES

PASTOR LEE KENT

EMMA MOORE

CHRISTINA RAFTERY

SARA REBMAN

JERRY SHOEMAKER

HAROLD SHASKY

VICKI SLAUGHTER

MARY L. STEWART

ANN STODDARD

ROBERT WESTERFIELD

Janice W. Warner, CCAP.

Message from the President / CEO:

This will be the last CACEHR Newline for 2013. This has been a year with more valleys than peaks; but through it all with sequestration and a partial government shutdown, we were able to stay true to the mission of the agency:

“To promote self-sufficiency and improve the quality of life of those in need”. Many families are facing challenging situations because of the tumultuous economy. And with the holiday season approaching, we must be mindful of our mental stability. The holi-day season often brings unwelcomed guests – stress and depression. Staff at the Mayo Clinic offers 10 steps to help minimize stress so that we may enjoy the holiday season:

Acknowledge your feelings – It’s OK to feel sadness or cry to express your feel-ings.

Reach out - Volunteering your time to help others is a good way to lift your spirits. Be realistic – The holidays don’t have to be perfect; you may have to change traditions or

rituals as families change. Set aside differences – Try to accept family and friends as they are. Be understanding.

Stick to a budget – Before you go shopping for food or gifts, decide how much money you can afford to spend.

Plan ahead – Set aside specific days for shopping, baking, visiting friends and other activities. Learn to say No – Saying yes when you should say no can leave you feeling resentful and over-

whelmed. Don’t abandon healthy habits – Don’t let the holidays be a free-for-all. Overindulgence only adds to

your stress and guilt. Continue to get plenty of sleep and physical activity. Take a breather – Make some time for yourself; at least 15 minutes alone per day.

Seek professional help if you need it – Despite your best efforts, you may find yourself feeling sad or anxious, unable to sleep, irritable and hopeless. If these feeling last for a while, talk to your doctor or a mental health professional.

I encourage all of us to take steps to prevent the stress and depression that can occur during the holiday season. With a little planning and some positive thinking, we can find peace during the holidays. From the Board of Trustees, parents and staff, we would like to wish all of you a blessed holiday season!

ship of this Advisory Group. The Low Income Advisory Group will also begin to report directly to the Board. “Implementing this Pathways To Excellence with this new Advisory Group is effective because it augments the voice of the low income community about poverty issues which are at the heart of our work,” said Janice W. Warner, CCAP, and President/CEO of CACEHR.

HEAD START HAPPENINGS!

Winter Crisis Program Starts November 1! The Winter Crisis Program (WCP) provides financial assistance to low-income households

that are threatened with disconnection of their heating source; have already had service disconnected; need to establish new service or pay to transfer service; or have 25% or less of the fuel capacity in their tank. The WCP

program year runs from November 1 to March 31.

1-866-861-6360

Interactive, Toll-Free

Multi-Lingual help!

Please call the automated bi-lingual appointment hotline to: 1) review the eligibility requirements [Eligible applicant’s total household income must be at or below 175% of the 2013 Federal Poverty guidelines]; 2) get a list of the documentation that you must bring; and 3) set your appointment.

CACEHR HEAD START NOW ENROLLING FOR 2013/2014 3 TO 5 YEARS OLD

10% OF ENROLLMENT FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES INCOME DETERMINES ELIGIBILITY

FULL DAY MONDAY thru FRIDAY (must meet specific qualifications) PART DAY MONDAY thru THURSDAY

SERVING ERIE AND HURON COUNTIES For more information call:

SANDUSKY 419-625-2218/2214 or 621-3966 NORWALK 419-663-2623 or 668-9823 WILLARD 419-933-3080 or 935-6481

CACEHR HEAD START AHORA INSCRIBIENDO PARA EL 2013/2014 EDADES DE 3 - 5 ANOS

Las ganancias determinan si son elegibles TODO EL DIA:LUNES-VIERNES(para calificar hay requisitos especificos)

MEDIODIA: LUNES-JUEVES SIRVIENDO A LOS CONDADOS DE ERIE Y HURON

PARA MAS INFORMACION LLAME SANDUSKY 419-625-2218/2214 O 621-3966

NORWALK 419-663-2623 O 668-9823 WILLARD 419-933-3080 O 935-6481

COMMUNITY ACTION COMMISSION OF ERIE, HURON & RICHLAND COUNTIES, INC. 908 Seavers Way Sandusky, OH 44870-4659

CACEHR’s Richland County’s Fatherhood Program Is Expanding!

CACEHR Richland County began facilitating a Father’s Matters Program at Richland County in 2011. This program helps fathers get the skills they need to be involved in their children’s lives through National Fatherhood Initiative’s 24/7 Dad™ program. Groups of dad’s go through a 12-session workshop that will give them the parenting, relationship, and communication skills they need to be involved, responsible, and committed fathers.

CACEHR expanded the program into Richland County’s Correction Facility in August, and this program operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays for incarcerated fathers. CACEHR staff Katrece Lee and Jessika Smith, Social Services Specialist with work with these fathers. Also, WSOS Community Action Agency provided sub-grant funds to CACEHR to expand the Fatherhood program into Erie and Huron Counties. Anny Sterling, Special Projects Supervisor, will facilitate the new programming in Erie and Huron Countries.

Richland County Correctional Institution Fathers Matter program participants made thank you cards for the new Fathers Matter program (Left - Right: Katrece Lee, Jennifer Jennette and Tana Ginn).