Newsletter                                       Spring 2016
BRINGING IN SPRING
WITH NEW AGENCY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Pictured:  Paul Rosson, Executive Director, South Central Human Resource Agency

As we welcome the coming of spring with its fresh rains, budding trees, blooms, and longer days, we also welcome South Central Human Resource Agency's new Executive Director, Paul Rosson.

Paul comes to SCHRA from the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration and was a former Mayor of Lawrence County, TN.  He also teaches classes at Martin Methodist College and the University of North Alabama from time to time.  Paul lives in Loretto, TN and is married with two children. 

Please join TACA in welcoming Paul to the Community Action Network! 

Family Home Ready for Spring!
Ms. L's first home in Elizabethton, TN

There is no doubt Ms. L (not her real name) is excited about spring!  It's the opportunity for the twenty-eight year old mother to landscape her first home, which she purchased in September 2015, through the Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency Individual Development Account (IDA) Program.  

The IDA Program is provided through the Asset for Independence Act of 1998 (AFIA).  IDAs are matched savings accounts that help people with modest means to save towards the purchase of a lifelong asset, such as a home.  Program participants are required to complete both a financial literacy course and a homebuyer's course.  Ms. L completed both courses.  

Ms. L acquired the knowledge in financial literacy classes to help her develop a spending plan in order to save for her new home and to help her to continue to save in the future.  She was given information on how to access and read a credit report, repair credit problems, improve her credit score, develop a spending plan (including a savings plan and banking issues), recognize predatory lenders, guard against identity theft, understand insurance options and retirement planning, and to manage various financial situations.  


Metro Action Launches First Agency Talk Show, MAC TV

In this episode of MAC TV, Dr. Cynthia Croom, Executive Director of Metro Action Commission interviews Commissioner Dr. Raquel Hatter Tennessee Department of Human Services
In this episode of MAC TV, Dr. Cynthia Croom, Executive Director of Metro Action Commission interviews Commissioner Dr. Raquel Hatter, Tennessee Department of Human Services.

The Metropolitan Action Commission and Metro 3 Television have partnered to launch the agency's first season of MAC TV.

MAC TV is a television talk show that features the work the agency does as well as work done by their partners to eliminate poverty in Nashville and Davidson County.  The first show began airing on Metro Government's cable access channel in late March.  The shows are also accessible via the city's YouTube Channel under the Metro Action Playlist and on the agency's webpage.

The first season, hosted by the agency's Executive Director, 
Dr. Cynthia Croom, has an informal talk show format and is designed to allow viewers to understand the various programs of the agency as well as the partnerships within the city that helps them eliminate the barriers of poverty for low income families.

MAC TV is the first talk show formatted project that Metro 3 has produced.  Metro 3 provides video for local Comcast TV Channel 3 which is available to Comcast customers and airs 24 hours each day, 7 days each week.  

Each new show airs on Mondays at 8:00 pm CST and replays on Fridays at 8:00 pm CST on Comcast Channel 3.  To view online, visit the agency's website at Nashville.gov/mac or the MetroGovNashville YouTube Channel.

Recordings for season two are scheduled to begin in mid-April.

New Workshop Series "Springs" Forth
      

Chattanooga Youth & Family Development is excited to announce a
new series of workshops designed to help customers develop their "self-sufficiency toolkit."  Each workshop focuses on a particular tool or skill necessary for a family to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency, providing education and resources as well as expert guidance from trained professionals.  

Energy Savings Workshop
In partnership with local nonprofit green/spaces and the Empower Chattanooga Initiative, Energy Savings workshops are offered to Hamilton County residents who wish to gain knowledge about ways they can reduce their household energy usage.  Participants in the workshops learn valuable free and low-cost tips and techniques designed to help homeowners and renters control their home energy costs.  "The overwhelming majority of our agency's customers are seeking energy assistance, sometimes more than once per year," said Rachel Howard, Social Services Director.  "By partnering with green/spaces and providing education about how to reduce their energy costs, we hope to help families to reduce their utility bills as well as their need for energy assistance." Workshops are held monthly.

Financial Literacy Workshop
Using the Your Money, Your Goals curriculum from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Financial Literacy workshops provide participants with education about various financial products, the benefits of saving money, creating and working with family budgets, and avoiding financial pitfalls such as payday loans and other predatory lending practices.  Participants participate in interactive exercises and activities to learn how managing their money is key to self-sufficiency.  Workshops are held twice monthly.  

My Next STEP Career Development Workshop
Led by Dr. David Banks, and offered in partnership with Youth and Family Development's Career Development Division, the My Next STEP  Career Development workshop prepares job seekers for entering, re-entering, or advancing in the workforce.  Participants learn about interviewing skills, dressing for success, appropriate workplace behavior, resume writing, job searching, completing job applications, and pursuing excellence in all aspects of life.  "The goal of "My Next Step is to ensure that those who complete the class are not only confident, but competent," says Dr. Banks.  "Beyond writing resumes and learning interviewing skills, we want participants to have the confidence to pursue the job they want, and the competence to obtain the job and maintain it."  My Next STEP is offered weekly.

Knoxville CAC "Springs Green"
With Green Light Award of Excellence
      
Pictured:  CAC Executive Director, Barbara Kelly, presenting the award to the CAC Board, and CAC staff responsible for environmentally sustainable improvments to low-income communities are recognized for their good work.  
Congratulations to the Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee who recently was awarded the 2015 Green Light Award of Excellence!  The award, given by the local branch of the U.S. Green Building Council, USGBC, celebrates Knoxville area organizations that demonstrate leadership in advancing sustainability.  

"We're so committed to sustainability and to making sure low- and moderate-income communities realize the benefits to improving energy efficiency and the environment," says CAC Executive Director Barbara Kelly.  "We're thrilled to have the Green Building Council recognize the importance of doing this."

CAC is being recognized for its lead role in a number of projects, including the Knoxville Extreme Energy Makeover (KEEM) and Lead Safe & Healthy Homes programs  CAC administers both of these programs in partnership with the City of Knoxville and has helped hundreds of local families make their homes healthier and more energy-efficient.  

CAC also organized the local AmeriCorps in 1994 - making it one of the longest-running, largest AmeriCorps programs in the state. CAC AmeriCorps members and staff manage various City projects, ranging from educating neighborhoods about disaster preparedness, to maintaining greenways, to developing programs to make the city more environmentally aware.  In addition, CAC promotes food security and sustainable agriculture through its operation of Beardsley Urban Community Farm.

"CAC helps people and changes lives, and the Green Light Award recognizes how CAC's mission also makes Knoxville a more livable and sustainable community for thousands of families," says Erin Gill, Director of the City of Knoxville's Office of Sustainability.  "This award celebrates the many ways that CAC leads our city in advancing sustainability principles such as energy efficiency, local food, and environmental stewardship and action," says Glenn Richters, who chairs the USGBC East Tennessee branch and sits on the state board.  TACA congratulates CAC!


      
OMG RNG
Is Here!!


OMG (oh my gosh), RNG (ROMA Next Generation) is here! During the next meeting of the TACA Outcome Advisors, group members will further discuss components of RNG. BTW (by the way), the TACA Outcome Advisors is a group of primarily CSBG (Community Service Block Grant) Program Directors and Managers, with the mission to work to provide guidance, planning, support and innovation to the statewide Community Action Network toward achieving individual, family, community and agency level outcomes.  
So what is RNG?  RNG focuses on integrating information on the people served, services and strategies provided, and outcomes achieved by eligible entities.  At the community level, RNG connects outcomes and strategies and facilitates analysis of these elements to improve impact in the communities in which CAAs are working.  At the individual and family level, RNG connects outcomes, services and participants to facilitate robust analysis.  

RNG is a system for continuous quality improvement of CSBG services, strategies and outcomes.  ROMA Next Generation represents a new level that will move CSBG forward and strengthen Community Action over the next 5 - 10 years.
  

UPCOMING EVENTS

May 9 - 10, 2016
Outcome Advisors'
Meeting
Quarterly Meeting

May 10 - 11, 2016
TACA Board
Meeting
Quarterly Meeting

May 16 - 20, 2016
National Head Start Conference

June 22 - 24, 2016
CAPLAW National Training Conference





   
  

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