Bourbon County Coalition Minutes of March 3

Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition

General Membership Meeting Agenda

March 3, 2021

1. Welcome: Billie Jo welcomed fourteen members representing fifteen agencies to the meeting. She informed members that she is waiting on information from the City of Fort Scott in order to finalize the 2021 family swim pass application. Details will be forwarded as soon as possible.

Following the March 2 Board meeting, it was decided that we would continue to meet through Zoom for April, May, and June, not meet in July, and resume face-to-face meetings at the Scott View Apartments (High Rise) Community Room in August.

2. Member Introductions and Announcements:

• Allen Schelleck, Fort Scott Compassionate Ministries and Salvation Army: Allen is still waiting on the budget for Salvation Army so does not yet know how much assistance will be available through that program. Although he had some trouble securing heaters, he now has heaters and blankets available for those in need; funds for this program were provided by the Fort Scott Community Foundation.
• Elizabeth Schafer, CASA, Next Steps, Feeding Families: Next Steps is on hold due to the pandemic; Feeding Families is serving 300-325 meals each week. Due to the numbers of meals and lack of adequate seating space, it is very likely that Feeding Families will remain a “to-go” meal even after the pandemic is over.
• Cinda Reynolds, American Red Cross: All assistance and trainings through Red Cross are being done virtually. Cinda will be helping with the Iola blood drive next week.
• Patty Simpson, Fort Scott Housing Authority: Patty has a one-bedroom apartment available with no waiting; she will have several others of varying sizes available soon. These are income based rentals subsidized through HUD.
• Alice Leonard, SEK-CAP Head Start: They are especially in need of applications for the home-based programs.
• J.J. Karlinger KVC: They are instituting projects to help foster children throughout the year rather than just at Christmas; for the month of March, they will be doing “Underwearness” where they will collect new underwear, socks, pajamas, etc. If anyone would like to help with this project, or obtain information on fostering, contact J. J. at jkarlinger@kvc.org.
• Christine Abbott, Southeast Kansas Works: Funds are available for job training and assistance. The Pittsburg office is open five days each week; the Fort Scott BWERK office is manned twice each week. Contact Christine at 620-779-3727 for specific office hours and appointments.
• Mandi H-Woods, Healthy Families: She is doing online group activities to educate about healthy eating! She is in the process of starting parent support groups.
• Michele Stevenson, Fort Scott Early Childhood Center, USD 234: Michele works with children from pre-natal through age 6; she does have some openings. She has been able to do home visits with masks and social distancing. She and Star McClellan, Parents as Teachers, were able to do a Family Event Drive Through activity where parents were provided many resources, wonderful freebies, and door prizes.
• Shana McClure, DCF: LIEAP (Low Income Energy Assistance Program) applications continue to be accepted until the last day of March. These can be completed online or applications can be obtained at DCF.
• Andrea Scott, Principal, USD 234 PreSchool: The Four-Year-Old At-Risk program and Kansas PreSchool Pilot program are housed in the preschool building at Fourth and Judson where they serve one hundred children. She also has a classroom at New Generations. Andrea is also working on establishing and maintaining an Early Childhood Committee to help ensure that our preschools and daycares continue to prepare our students for kindergarten.
• Jody Hoener, Healthy Bourbon County: Jody was instrumental in creating Healthy Bourbon County in 2016. This organization has highlighted healthy eating and cultivating habits into our Bourbon County lifestyle with the overall goal of healthier people. Jody can also provide assistance for those persons who own or wish to start a small business.
• Sandra Haggard, RSVP: Sandy needs service ideas for our senior volunteers in Bourbon County. Her grant areas for volunteerism include opioid prevention, food distribution, veterans, blood drives, and K-12 support. Right now, Bourbon County RSVP has volunteers at The Beacon.

3. Program (no programs for Zoom meetings)

4. Open Forum: Dena Kemp was unable to attend today’s meeting; if anyone would like resources, training, or technical assistance surrounding substance use prevention, suicide prevention, or problem gambling, contact Dena.

5. Adjournment: Next General Membership meeting will be April 7, 2021 by Zoom.