Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition Minutes of June 6  

Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition

 Minutes of June 6

 

 

1.  Welcome: Twenty-four members representing thirteen agencies attended the meeting held at the Scottview Apartments Conference Room.

 

 

1.  Member Introductions and Announcements:

• Jenny Layes – HBCAT Community Health Worker- Shared of resource share and and event to come.
• Rhonda Dewitte-Sparkwheel

-First Missionary Baptist Church of Uniontown Food Pantry.

 

• Rachel Eden-Sparkwheel Student Support Coordinator at FSHS.
• Shelby Moore-Families Together-Flyers were provided explaining the services provided by FAST.
• Ashley Reeder-SEKMCH
• Stephanie Breckenridge – Family Strong Social Worker – Always accepting referrals.
• Christine Abbott-SE Kansas Works-Promoting Job Fair June 24th at the Ellis Center with a flyer. Resources are available for youth wanting to work on employment.  Fort Scott office space inside the HBCAT office.
• Michelle Stevenson – FS Early Childhood Program – Fully funded by the Early Childhood Block Grant. She has 2-3 spots available.  She attended the BBCO Baby Shower, which provided safe sleep for families.
• Star Culp-Parents As Teachers through Greenbush- They have been able to add more spots throughout the program. There are no necessary qualifications, but must have a child prenatal-6. PAT has an open position for an additional parent educator.
• Janelle Tate – ECBG – Transitions Coordinator of ECBG. Along with Kelli Mengarelli, Michelle Stevenson, and Samantha James, our program was fully funded by the Early Childhood Block Grant.  Planning a recruitment event along with other non-profit organizations to promote resources to families.

Mentioned update from Jenni Simhiser’s Path of Ease Association announcement about the new van awarded by grant funding.

• Kelli Mengarelli-FRC ECBG-
• Samantha James-FRC ECBG-
• Jalaine Davis – Core Community – Informational meeting about Core Community coming up in the fall. Great program for volunteer opportunities.
• Tori Riebel-SEK MCHD-Shared about the BBCO Baby Shower SEK MCHD hosted, with many more to come in other surrounding communities.
• Lauren Klinksick- Angels Care Home Health -Flyers were available for the Angels Fall Prevention Program, and a coverage map. One of the many therapies offered is physical therapy, and assisting those in home health care.
• Dave Gillen – Beacon – Help clients with food twice a month. Help with other personal items.  A limited number of taxi passes and gas vouchers are available.  The Beacon is open  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.  Clients must live in Bourbon County, and qualifications must match DCF.  The Beacon served 340 families last month..  Other items they have helped with include hygiene items, laundry and dish soap, taxi passes, rent, and utilities.
• Patty Simpson – Fort Scott Housing Authority – FSHA has 190 income-based apartments. She shared that there would be some available housing authority apartments soon.

Patty introduced Guests from High Rise Group-Martha and Lynn.  Shared about how the program they are a part of wanted to see how they can help others by monetary donation.

• Rhonda Hoener-Sparkwheel-Post Secondary Success Coach -Works with ages 18-25 years old who have ever been enrolled in Sparkwheel in the southern region.
• Lacey McCarley-Head Start Teacher-Accepting applications for fall center-based preschool.
• Janice Durbin- Head Start SEK CAP – Home-Based Teacher – Always accepting applications. Flyers were available for distribution.  Attended the BBCO Baby Shower.
• Larry Jump-SEKCAP-Area Liaison
• Theresa Amershek – Safe House Children’s Director- Currently seeking a part-time residential staff member to work evenings and weekends at the shelter.
• Ana Salas – Safe House Crisis Center –
• Heather Shepherd CHCSEK/USD 234 Community Health Worker-
• Lora Wilson-CHC/SEK
• Dee Dee LeFever – Greenbush Community Liaison – Accepting applications for Parents As Teachers through Greenbush.

 

 

 

1.  Program: 

 

Rhonda Dewitt presented to our group about her Church’s Free Food Pantry.  She and some of her congregation members who attend the First Missionary Baptist Church in Uniontown have organized a pantry that is for those in need 24 hours a day.  She listed the multiple ways they are helping the community, such as Outreach Programs, Food Pantry, Commodities, Emergency Night Stay, Celebrate Recovery, and GriefShare.  She mentioned having breakfast foods available for summer grab and go for kids, and they have a way to have cold items as well.  She has great community support, even mentioning the Ruritan Club.  To help Rhonda out they are always accepting donations of snacks.

 

Rhonda also presented to us about her position as the Sparkwheel Student Support Coordinator K-12 in the Uniontown School District.  She mentioned her caseload is usually around 60 students.  She said she gets to do all the things the administration and teachers want to do, but there is sometimes not enough time to do so by bridging gaps.  There are many ways she can assist students, whether it be assisting in getting homework done to meet academic goals, making sure students’ needs are met to prevent truancy, or helping support parent and school relationships.  With her help, students have access to food, clothes, and hygiene products if needed.  Hoping she can help someone have a better day than yesterday.

 

There are also ways others in the school district are supported universally, such as a grade school monthly award.  This program serves students who aren’t on her caseload.  She has all staff recognizing positive behavior by passing out recognition cards so they are rewarded, and hopefully the behaviors modelled are repeated.  Students can exchange the cards for prizes.  They also hand out goodie bags to all.  Other events Sparkwheel has hosted include  Fun Night, as well as a mock interview and career fair.

 

She introduced the Sparkwheel staff who were present.

 

Rhonda Hoener’s position through Sparkwheel is a Post Secondary Success Coach serving 9 high schools, including Garden City and Dodge City.  She stated that anyone who had been enrolled in Sparkwheel would qualify for her program as long as they were in the 18-25 age range.  By contacting the Juniors and Seniors each year to see if this program would benefit them after graduation, she is able to help her clients by setting goals that will, over time, improve their lives.  Sometimes these goals change due to a crisis occurring.  She is able to support them through the crisis by being able to teach them life skills that will help them be more self-sufficient.  Some are facing homelessness, or losing jobs due to illness, with her help, she is able to help them navigate some pretty tough challenges.

 

There are also college campus-based programs that work with colleges such as PSU, and they are hoping to branch out more soon.  This program serves all students, not just Sparkwheel graduates.

 

Rachel Eden, the Student Support Coordinator for Sparkwheel at Fort Scott High School, shared about building relationships with staff and students.  Working on academics, life skills, and connecting students with resources.  Assisting with FASFA to help with future planning.  She mentioned we have a Student Support Coordinator at the Fort Scott Middle School as well, her name is Winter Moore.

 

1.  Open Forum:  Nothing further came before the membership.

 

 

1.  Adjournment:  The next General Membership meeting will be August 6, 2025.