The action team met at Washington County Connections on Thursday, May 11.
Margo Ebersole of the Rural Communities Resource Center and Washington County Connections and Jamie Baker of Washington County Connections provided materials for 2022 benefits. Energy Outreach Colorado benefited her $47,915.15 to 123 households. Gas ticket, $1,563.90. Utilities other than Energy Outreach Colorado, $5,197.63. Rental Subsidy, $12,835.31. and a hotel/shelter, $963.11.
In her report, Baker said she was busy every day and reiterated that she loved her job and the people she was able to help. They are working on a new budget for his CDOT and he is one of the few local programs for CDOT. She added that she hopes CDOT will expand throughout the northeast corner.
The Mobile Pantry is well underway and the next one is scheduled for Monday, May 22nd at 9am at the Event Center. Mobile Pantry is held on the 4th Monday of each month and is open to anyone in need of food. SNAP benefits have shrunk significantly, and Baker said he hopes to get a subsidy to fill the food bank. We are also working on recertifying SNAP benefits.
Ebersole said he finished all his dental checkups for the year, adding that he was able to pass every school in Washington and Yuma County twice this year. The Akron Resource Fair will take place on Tuesday, July 11th from 3-6pm, location TBD. Other resource fairs are also held in Yuma, Ray, and Jaws. If you would like to set up a booth and join the community, please contact Ebersole.
We will continue to support car seats in cooperation with CDOT. Babysitting training classes will be held in Akron and Yuma this summer. Trisha Harman has been hired as Regional Relations Manager for the Colorado Housing Finance Agency (CHFA) and has expressed interest in making a presentation at a future Action Team meeting.
Finally, Baker said the WCC and RCRC held a fundraiser for the Loteria Tournament in Yuma earlier this month. She said the first event had a huge turnout and she hopes it will continue.
Cecilia Estrada of Centennial BOCES said the summer school will be held in York. A binational teacher from Mexico will come and teach the children their native Spanish and other things. 100th Anniversary BOCES continues to provide school supplies to children in the program. The graduation ceremony for the children in the program has just happened and has ended successfully. Estrada continues to recruit migrant education programs, working with families new to the area and families working in agriculture, she said.
Lone Star Superintendent and Principal Mike Bowers said a graduation ceremony was held last weekend and 10 students received their diplomas. They set up a new kindergarten class each year, and since there is no preschool program, it is always unknown how many students there will be. School funding is going to be a little better this year.
Bowers said it is working on several grants, one of which is a security grant. Overall security is an urgent issue, and the grant will help introduce an entirely new security system.
“There is a lot of federal funding for security measures, so the subsidy will be between $350,000 and $400,000,” Bowers said.
A big project Bowers is working on for the next few years is the Lone Star community center. Building new schools is nearly impossible given the number of taxpayers in the district, and he’s not going to ask the people there for more money. Mr. Bowers has been discussing the community center with commissioners and said the county may be willing to provide some kind of in-kind assistance to the community center. His goal for the community center is to have daycares, annexes, additional gyms, community his cabinets, and more. Not only are community centers eligible for various grants, but they serve so many different communities.
“We have a lot of big ideas, but we can’t wait to see what happens,” concludes Bowers.
Karina Valenzuela, a program assistant at the Early Childhood Council in Yuma and Kit Carson Counties, Washington, said she’s doing a lot of training now and helping out at the office. They want to introduce “love and logic” into the three communities she serves.
Maribel Vasquez of the Early Childhood Council of Yuma and Kit Carson Counties, Washington, spoke about the Toddler Wellness Fair. The Akron Fair will be held on Saturday, June 24th from 9am to 3pm at the Akron Head Start. Other locations include Yuma and Burlington. Children aged 0-5 are encouraged to book an appointment at the fair, which offers free child check-ups, vaccines, health education and door prizes. For more information or to book, please call Vazquez at (970) 360-9099.
The action team will be on summer vacation and will resume meetings in September.
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