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FSS Program Updates

Other FSS February 2015 happenings…

  • The New Albany Housing Authority Family Self-Sufficiency was honored to be asked to participate in the Jobs for Americas Graduates Regional Career Development Conference. This is the 2nd year we have been asked to participate as judges. Several of the youth that were in attendance live in our neighborhoods.
  • The staff of the FSS did a site visit to a new FREE clinic in Jeffersonville. The “Hope Care Clinic” is a family planning center where the community has access to birth control, pregnancy testing and can receive counseling and treatment for many health issues. This will be an excellent referral for our families to utilize.
  • The staff and maintenance has been preparing and meeting with staff of the “Center for Women and Families.” The office at 209 Erni will be a satellite location for the staff of CFW. In partnership, we will be able to collaborate more closely with families housed here after leaving their facility. We will now have wrap-around and counseling right here on-site. We plan on developing meetings and workshops this summer to educate families about intimate partner violence and sexual assault.
  • Amanda attended the Prevent Child Abuse meeting and is working to bring information to our residents. April starts Prevent Child Abuse Awareness month so be prepared to hear about upcoming events.
  • On February 25th Tara Appel-Newton attended the Human Services Association of Southern Indiana (HSASI) monthly meeting; she holds the position of President.
  • The Women’s Foundation of Southern Indiana held the on-going, monthly ‘Mentor Meeting’ where we have paired FSS clients with a professional mentor from the community. This is a 6 month long commitment and is going very well. We have had tremendous success in developing solid foundations for change.
  • The FSS department held a big Valentine’s Day Sweetheart Dance in partnership with the City of New Albany Parks Department. We had a live band, desserts, prizes and tons of smiles. Everyone had a great, uplifting time. Kathy Wilkerson from the Parks Dept. paid for the band and we had Commissioner Toni Powers, staff from Life Span and even several FSS participants chip in and help out.
  • We held a Family Self-Sufficiency Orientation to sign up new families and had a surprisingly good turnout despite some of the bad weather we’ve been having.
  • The February mandatory meeting was all about getting information out about Habitat for Humanity. This was a very popular meeting and we had almost 50 residents attend. Applications were filled out and our FSS clients learned about the Habitat program. Many feel this is a great option for their families to build a house. So far we have had 2 FSS families to build homes with the Habitat for Humanity program.
  • FSS interviewed 2 Interns (one from Ivy Tech and another from IUS) with the hopes of having them start working here in our office. These interns would assist with general office duties while learning specific tasks that will enhance their chosen field of study. The IVY Tech intern, Cindy Schultz was screened and approved by Karen Goodwell and Tony Toran, and is currently working part-time in the FSS office.
  • Amanda and Lisa attended the Leadership Southern Indiana Breakfast Series at IUS. The meeting format was a panel discussion highlighting ‘Millennial Leadership’ with emerging community leaders. This breakfast meeting was attended by both professionals in our community and youth leadership students from area schools.
  • FSS staff toured Transformation Network site and learned more about their job training and job placement programs. We hope to send more clients their way as another opportunity for growth.
  • Cora Huffines and Lisa are winding down and hosted several meetings to wrap up an application for the ‘Drug Free Communities’ grant. If we are awarded this 5 year grant the City of New Albany will have Alcohol and Drug prevention funding to enhance, strengthen and develop strategies to keep our youth off drugs, alcohol and tobacco.