Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc.

2014

JUNE NEWSLETTER

“People Helping People”www.tvoc.org

In This Issue:* CEO News and Notes (Jason Carlson)* Upcoming Events* Policy Council Years of Service Recognition* Tri-Valley Programs Work Together

In This Issue:* Senior Companion Program Celebrates 40 Years* Grandma Delores Says Goodbye Again* Child Progress in Minnesota Head Start (Page 1)* Child Progress in Minnesota Head Start (Page 2)

I would like to start out my contribution to the newsletter this month with an update on our Technology Evaluation. Technology consultants were here in the beginning of June to assess Tri-Valley’s network capabilities, software, hardware, policies, procedures, etc. The consultants were back to deliver the results of their evaluation and recommendations to the Management Team and IT Manager on June 30th. There are several items that we will be working on in the near and intermediate term. One item that will be worked on immediately is to explore migrat-ing to a cloud based productivity and collaboration software suite. The reason for this is many of the other items we expect to end up in our Technology Plan will at least in part be predicated on working in a cloud based environment. The process of evaluating cloud based platforms will

be a large undertaking. If you are asked to participate, please put forth your best effort. We will at some point in the process be looking for input from coworkers in all areas of the corporation.

Francie Mathes from the Minnesota Department of Human Services Office of Economic Development was here in June for a monitoring visit. Francie was here to monitor our Community Services Block Grant, Minnesota Commu-nity Action Grant, Transitional Housing and SNAP Outreach. The visit went great. We have already received our official monitoring letter and there are no findings to report. The letter will be shared with the board in August.

Speaking of the board, June is the reorganization meeting at Tri-Valley. At the meeting the board elected the follow-ing officers for the year: Chair – Linda Neuerburg, Vice Chair – Leroy Vonasek, Treasurer – Nick Nicholas and Clerk: Linda Grinde. If you didn’t pick up on it in the last paragraph the board also decided to skip its July meeting.

I attended several meetings in June that are not normally on my calendar. I attended the second installment of the Performance Management Institute. I also had the opportunity to work on the Polk/Norman/Mahnomen Public Health strategic planning process. That was an interesting morning that gave me great insight to what some of our community partners feel the pressing Public Health issues are. The last out of the ordinary meeting of note was a presentation put on by the FDIC, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Minneapolis Federal Reserve. The topic was the Community Rein-vestment Act. I knew almost nothing about the law prior to the meeting and felt the time spent learning about it very worthwhile. (CEO News and Notes continued on next page)

Migrant and Seasonal Head Start/Early Head Start Policy Council Recognizes Two for

Years of Service

At the June 7, 2014, Migrant and Seasonal Head Start/Early Head Start Policy Council meeting plaques were handed out to two Policy Council members whose terms were up.

Diana Escamilla served on the Policy Council program years 2011/2012, 2012/2013, and 2013/2014 Represent-ing the Rochester center. Her last year on the Policy Council she held the Secretary position.

Cynthia Davila, has served on the Policy Council pro-gram years 2011/2012, 2012/2013, and 2013/2014 rep-resenting the Hendrum center. Cynthia was unable to attend the last Policy Council.

Thank you Diana and Cynthia for your hard work on the Policy Council!

Diana Escamilla

Upcoming July Calendar Items:* July 9-13: Polk County Fair, Fertile* July 16-20: Pennington County Fair, Thief River Falls* July 17-20: Kittson County Fair, Hallock* July 23-27: Marshall County Fair, Warren* July 26: MSHS/MSEHS Policy Council meeting, Fergus Falls* July 30-August 3: Clearwater County Fair, Bagley

Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc. (TVOC) is a community action agency headquartered in Crookston, MN. It is our Mission to provide opportunities to individuals and communities in order to improve the quality of our lives. In existence since 1965, TVOC provides services in 84 counties in Minnesota and Northeast North Dakota. For more information on services offered by TVOC please call 218-281-5832 or 800-584-7020.

Did You Know?...* You can receive more information on Tri-Valley’s programs and services by calling 218-281-5832 or 800-584-7020.

* You can keep up with Tri-Valley news on the TVOC website at www.tvoc.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TVOCInc and on Twitter at @TriValley_TVOC.

* Everyone can receive the Tri-Valley Newsletter. If you know of anyone who would like a copy please have them contact Mitch Bakken at 218-281-5832 or mitch.bakken@tvoc.org.

(CEO News and Notes continued) I would like to remind all readers that Tri-Valley still has an opening for a Low-In-come Sector Representative in Marshall County and a Private Sector Representative in Norman County. If you know of anyone that may be a good fit for either position please let me know.

Tri-Valley Services Work Together to Benefit Volunteers and Those Who Benefit from Them

Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc.’s numerous pro-grams and services serve thousands of individuals in our local communities and throughout Minnesota and even into North Dakota. The programs also work to-gether to ensure their volunteers can get to those who utilize them.

A perfect example of this is the collaboration between Tri-Valley’s Transportation Program and its Senior Pro-grams. Neither Foster Grandparents Renee nor Delores has their driver’s licenses. Grandma Renee has her driv-ers permit and Grandma Delores grew up on the Cana-dian side of Lake of the Woods and used a boat for trans-portation but never a car. T.H.E. Bus picks both Foster Grandmas up and transports them to the schools they volunteer at. “It has been an excellent experience,” says Grandma Renee. “The drivers and dispatchers are very friendly,” she states. “Grandma Delores adds, “They are always here when I need them, the drivers are friendly and there are no problems.” The cohesion between pro-grams like the Transportation Program and Senior Pro-grams not only benefit the volunteers and allows them to continue volunteering, but helps the recipients of the services, like the school aged children who are able to learn from the volunteers lifetime of experience and wisdom. Grandma Renee rides T.H.E. Bus to the Sev-enth Day Adventist School and to St. Bernards. Grand-ma Delores rides T.H.E. Bus to Challenger Elementary School, all in Thief River Falls.

The Foster Grandparent Program is a program that provides opportunities for volunteers to work with one of our most valuable resources – today’s children and youth. By serving in settings that range from classrooms to non-profit day care centers, etc., Foster Grandparents lend their time, skill, and life experiences to assist our children in reaching their potential – academically, be-haviorally, developmentally.

T.H.E. Bus is a curb to curb service and provides pub-lic transportation services to the general public in seven Minnesota counties, Polk, Red Lake, Norman, Marshall, Kittson, Pennington and Clearwater. Buses run through these counties on various days with various destina-tions. Tri-Valley public transit buses are available with no age limits or income guidelines.

Senior Companion Program Celebrates 40 Year Anniversary

In 2014, the Corporation for National & Community Service is celebrating four decades of the Senior Companion Pro-gram. Borne out of a mission to provide meaningful volunteer service oppor-tunities for low-income older persons to help others remain independent, the

program has become a much needed service in a continuum of care for numerous frail individuals. In the process, the service that Senior Companion volunteers provide has brought peace of mind to caregivers and, as research supports, an improved quality of life for the Companions themselves.

It has been said that the strength of our communities is de-termined by how we help our most vulnerable citizens. The service that Senior Companion projects provide positively im-pacts thousands of lives. The friendship and interdependence between the client and the Senior Companion is the bridge that keeps both client and Senior Companion connected to the community, thus making that community stronger.

The Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc. Senior Compan-ion Program has been in existence for 37 years. It began with serving the counties of West Polk, West Marshall, and Nor-man counties. The program now serves 10 counties in North-west Minnesota including all of Polk and Marshall, Norman, Clay, Mahnomen, Red Lake, Roseau, Pennington, LOW, and Kittson.

Since 2006, the Tri-Valley Senior Companion Program has had over 80,000+ volunteer hours, served over 1,500 clients and had over 90 Senior Companion Volunteers. Tri-Valley Senior Companions help clients maintain their independence, reduce their loneliness, access community resources, regain personal confidence, motivation and energy, and help to prevent prema-ture nursing home placement.

Corporation for National & Community Service. (2014). Four Decades of Nurturing Friendship and Independence for Older Americans [Press release].

Grandma Delores says goodbye once again! (Courtesy of the Grygla Eagle Newspaper)

Officially retiring from teaching in 1998, Delores Saul returned back to the Grygla Elementary School, serving as a foster grandparent for the last 15 years. “My kids don’t have children so I was never called ‘grandma’ until I started working as a foster grandparent at the school; I’m really going to miss that,” says Saul, who bid farewell to the students last Thursday, May 15th. The school presented De-lores with an award for her years of service and dedication, and also hosted a root beer float party so the kids could give her a proper goodbye, celebrating with ice cream.

Let’s take you back to the beginning – Grandma Delores graduated from Bagley High School in 1951. She then attended teachers training in East Grand Forks. Five girls from Bagley attended the 9 month training to get their certificate that was required to teach at a country school. Delores said she shared an apartment in Grand Forks with three other girls, paying only $15.00 a month in rent. When the girls attended the teachers training, the 9 month program consisted of 48 credits and cost them each $10.00. A fun fact about this daring group of girls – none of them owned a car while they were in school so they would hitchhike on the weekends back and forth from Grand Forks to Bagley; you definitely couldn’t get away with that today! She may not have put an end to her “official” retirement from the Grygla School - but let’s be glad she put an end to her hitchhiking days. She did mention something about getting a few tattoos back then also…(Ok, ok..I’m only kidding about the tattoo part.)

When Delores finished her teaching program in East Grand Forks, she started teaching in Gully in 1953. She taught first and second grade before moving to Grygla in 1958. The next 11 years were spent as a substitute teacher, almost full-time. Part of the school, the band room area, stood where it stands today. The shower room below was actually the kitchen and cafeteria area and where the current playground is, there were two or three little white school buildings. She also subbed at the country school at Grande Corner, 14 miles east of Grygla.

In 1969, Delores got a full-time teaching job with the Grygla School, being named the head start teacher. She taught until her official retirement in 1998. “I originally wanted to become a home economics teacher but I decided to get married instead of going to school. Once the country schools went away and the public school system was started, I had to go back and get the proper licensure,” stated Delores. She attended various classes at BSU, Crookston and Moorhead State to earn her degree in Elementary Education.

Like mentioned, her official retirement from the head start room in 1998 couldn’t and wouldn’t keep her out of the school; she looked into the Foster Grandparent program. Little did she know, she’d spend the next 15 years being called Grandma Delores and loving every minute of it.

Some of her favorite memories include the little things kids would say to her. “One little boy said, ‘Grandma Delores, you’re break-able!’ And I asked him why…he said ‘because you are very, very old.’ I’m going to miss things like that. The things the little kids say and all of the hugs they have given me over the years are going to be truly missed,” she said.

Delores is 80 years young and will be leaving Grygla this July; she is mov-ing to Warroad to be closer to her son. She has three older sisters that aren’t in the best of health that she’d like to go spend time with, also. “Al-though I’m not feeling good about leaving Grygla, it’s getting a little lone-ly; I’m here all alone and I need to be close to my children,” she added.

Grandma Delores will be missed by many children, along with many teachers. She worked closely with Jean Schulz, who teaches first grade and Greg Monson, who teaches second grade; they are just two of her former head start students.

It will sure be different not seeing Delores around the school next fall; she has been walking those hallways for over 50 years and everyone can agree that she will be missed. Good luck on your next adventure, Grandma De-lores, everyone hopes you’ll come back to visit as often as you can; just maybe don’t hitchhike, ok?

Grandma Delores – established 1999: 1. a kind, sweet and caring woman. 2. One who has a big heart and a warm smile. 3. One who gives great hugs and tells wonderful stories. 4. One who is greatly admired and cherished.

Delores is pictured with a few of her former head start students that now work at the school. Front: Susie Olson, Delores and Tausha Severts. Back: Principal Jamie Lunsetter, Greg Monson and Brady Olson.

This information is available in alternative formats to individuals with disabilities. Contact us at 1-800-584-7020 or by calling the Telecommunication Relay Service at 711 or 1-800-627-3529. Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer/provider. EOE/M/F/D/V