Community Action Solutions
May 2001
Howard Hendrick to be Spring Conference speaker
Howard H. Hendrick, Director of the Oklahoma Department of
Human Services, is scheduled to speak at the closing breakfast of
the OKACAA Spring Conference that is scheduled for May 23-25 in
Oklahoma City.
Hendrick leads the largest agency in Oklahoma state
government with a staff of more than 8,000 and a budget of $1.3
billion. More than 30 state and federal human services programs
are administered by the agency.
The Spring Conference will be held at the Biltmore
Hotel, located at I-40 & Meridian.
The conference opens Wednesday afternoon with a
series of roundtable discussions for planners, county
coordinators, human resources staffs, and those agencies with fee
for services programs.
Five different program tracks are planned for
Thursday for weatherization staff, human resources staff, Head
Start directors and staff and county coordinators. A picnic at the
zoo opens the conference.
Head
Start center gets safety retrofit
With the sixth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing
looming last month, Head Start was recognized for its commitment
to safety of children during ceremonies at the Dana Brown Cooper
Head Start center in Midwest City.
During a safety retrofit of the center, more than
150 shatter resistant light bulbs were donated by GE Lighting to
replace the existing bulbs at the facility.
In addition, security window film, which holds
shattered glass in place in cases of natural or manmade disasters
was donated by Madico and installed by Enpro.
Other safety retrofits performed included bolting
shelves and bookcases to walls and installing safety latches on
drawers and cabinets.
During the event, Gov. Frank Keating announced a
joint initiative between GE’s Employers Reinsurance Corporation
and Protecting People First Foundation to promote safety from
flying glass.
The center is named in honor of the woman who
operated the Murrah building’s day care center at the time of
the bombing. Dana Brown Cooper and her son Christopher died in the
attack.
Upcoming Meetings
May 2-4 - NCAF
Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.
May 23 -
OKACAA
Board of Directors, Head Start Association, and OWHAC meetings.
Contact: 405-524-4124.
May 23-25 - OKACAA Spring
Conference at the Biltmore Hotel in Oklahoma City. Contact:
405-524-4124.
Delta
participates in community service program
Delta Community Action Foundation has contracted with the
Department of Corrections to provide for community service work in
Garvin and McClain Counties under the Oklahoma Community
Sentencing Act.
“The program provides an alternative to jail for
some people convicted of crimes,” explained Pat Harlan, who
supervises the program for Delta. The court determines how much
community service must be performed.
Delta has put those offenders assigned to the
program to work providing lawn maintenance in the housing program,
changing oil and cleaning vehicles for the transit system, and
helping out with the nutrition program.
“We get a lot of good labor from this program,”
Harlan added. Delta receives $1 per hour per person for
supervising those assigned to the program.
Harlan estimates two-thirds of those assigned to
the program have been convicted of drug offenses. The offenders
typically must also attend substance abuse and anger management
counseling while performing the community service.
Social Services Coordinator D. Brown said Delta
also makes other services available to the offenders such as job
referrals, clothes, and assistance with utility or rent payments.
“Our services are available to help get them into
the mainstream of society,” Brown said.
The program is coordinated by a Community
Sentencing System Planning Council of which Delta is a member.
Harlan said up to five offenders are normally
providing community services through Delta at a time.
New
Head Start center opens in Oklahoma City
After months of planning
and remodeling, Oklahoma City’s newest Head Start center at 1532
W. Hefner Rd. opened its doors last month to over a hundred
children from low-income families.
Operated by the Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City
and Oklahoma/Canadian Counties, the Head Start center is providing
child development programs for youngsters ages three to five.
Aggie Webb, Director, said the center has 13 staff members
conducting morning and afternoon sessions in three classrooms.
Webb moved to the new site from a Head Start center at Northwest
10th
and Meridian in December to oversee the conversion of the former
day care center.
Filled with pint-sized tables and chairs, the classrooms
feature walls covered with large, colorful cutouts of cartoon
characters and children engaged in different activities.
The classrooms are divided into different activity areas.
One corner is a music center stocked with rhythm instruments from
different cultures. An art center complete with a wide range of
brushes, scissors, beads, stamps, buttons and other supplies is
located in another part of the room. Computers are found in each
of the classrooms.
Waffle blocks and puzzles help the children develop skills
in working with their hands. A dress-up area helps acquaint
children with community helpers such as fire fighters, doctors,
and letter carriers.
On the floor is a brightly colored rug with pictures of
animals, shapes, and other objects labeled in both English and
Spanish.
In a kitchen featuring commercial quality
equipment, the food service staff prepares meals and snacks for
the children.
COCAA
holds open house for new Early Head Start center
Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency (COCAA) has opened
its Early Head Start program in a new building in Stillwater.
Paul McSpadden, Head Start Senior Team Leader,
Region VI, Dallas, was among the dignitaries attending an open
house last month.
The Stillwater Early Head Start Center has been a
community partnership project even prior to moving to the new
building. The partnership includes the Stillwater Neighborhood
Nursery and the Tiny Tots teen parent alternative school
collaboration.
The 3,600 square-foot building will provide six
classrooms for 48 children from birth to three years of age.
Little
Dixie converting abandoned hotel into senior housing
Little Dixie Community Action Agency, acting as a Community
Housing Development Organization in partnership with Southridge
Apartments, Inc., is remodeling the Rouleau Hotel in Idabel to
make it functional as a senior citizen/handicapped, low-income
apartment complex.
The 28,000 square foot, three-story building had
been vacant for several years. Little Dixie acquired the deed to
the property in 1996.
Upon completion the renovated hotel will provide 20
one-bedroom apartments with an elevator, laundry, and storage
areas. The project will be owned and operated by a newly formed
partnership named Rouleau House Limited Partnership.
The Idabel Main Street organization and the city
government are lending support to the project. Sidewalks around
the hotel are being reconstructed to make them handicapped
accessible.
The rehabilitation project is estimated to cost
$1.96 million. The project’s completion date is Sept. 30, 2001.
At one point in 1998, the building faced demolition
after vandals repeatedly broke in and started fires. However,
Little Dixie was able to head off the demolition after investing
more than $60,000 of Enterprise Community funds and non-federal
funds to replace the roof and secure the building until the
rehabilitation project could begin.
The building was constructed of heavy wood with
brick veneer exterior in 1916 and is located in downtown Idabel.
The building functioned as the Rouleau House Hotel for more than
40 years.
Low-interest mortgage money in Lawton
A $14 million mortgage revenue bond issued by the Comanche
County Home Finance Trust Authority recently will give qualifying
home buyers access to low-interest mortgage financing and down
payment and closing costs assistance, The
Lawton Constitution
reports.
Odell Gunter, Executive Director, Great Plains
Improvement Foundation, said at the press conference, “We work
with clients from beginning to end to make the dream of home
ownership a reality. The people of Comanche County have a great
opportunity to become homeowners.”
The Lawton Constitution reported low to
moderate-income homebuyers will be eligible for mortgage loans at
a fixed rate of 6.96 percent for 30-year terms with a down payment
and closing costs assistance grant equal to 4 percent of the loan
amount.
HUD awards funds
Two Oklahoma Community Action Agencies have been approved
for U.S. Housing and Urban Development funding awards to provide
counseling services, according to an announcement in the Apr. 11 Federal
Register.
Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and
Oklahoma/Canadian Counties was awarded $13,085 and Community
Development Support Association was awarded $10,199.
Programs
encourage saving
Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and
Oklahoma/Canadian Counties is encouraging low-income families to
save for long-term goals through two programs that will match
money saved.
Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) were
developed with the belief that the way to escape poverty is begin
saving and accumulating assets.
The federal Matched Savings Plan encourages
individuals to save to purchase a first home, to start or expand a
business or continue their education by matching each dollar of
their earned income two dollars.
The program will match a maximum of $2,000 saved by
the individual. With the program kicking in a $4,000 match,
participants could have up to $6,000 to make a down payment on a
first home, Twyla Gable, IDA Coordinator, explained. The account
must be opened with a minimum deposit of $50.
The Community Action Agency is partnering with
MidFirst Bank of Oklahoma City who is providing the match money.
The bank is also waiving service fees for the accounts of
participants.
Oklahoma City only has 34 slots for this program
that Gable expects to fill by mid-May. The program is targeting
residents in the Enterprise Community -- an 18.5 square mile
economically disadvantaged area in Oklahoma City.
Participants must be currently employed, have at
least one child living in the house on a full-time basis, and have
a household income equal to or less than 200% of the Federal
Poverty Guidelines or qualify to receive an earned income tax
credit for the 2000 tax year.
Before being accepted into the program, potential
participants must attend three two-hour money management classes,
Gable said.
The program is being funded by the Assets for
Independence Act, Gable said.
A second program -- titled HOPE for Helping
Oklahomans Prosper and Excel -- is funded by the Oklahoma
Department of Human Services and provides matching money ranging
from 50 cents to $1 for each dollar saved.
Like the Matched Savings Plan, money saved up to
$2,000 will be matched on a sliding scale if it is used for one of
the approved purposes.
The HOPE program has 135 slots earmarked for
Oklahoma and Canadian Counties. This program is targeting current
and former recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
funds, Gable said.
Bank of Oklahoma will hold the accounts and has
agreed to waive their service fees. Ten dollars is required to
open this account.
Participants in the HOPE program must also attend
quarterly two-hour money management classes conducted by Oklahoma
State University Extension.
She expects to work with the clients on a long-term
basis as they save to purchase a home that is the most commonly
stated reason for participating in the programs.
Gable joined the Community Action staff last
November after working for a financial company in Edmond. She has
a degree in sociology.
Smotherman recognized as
minority business advocate
Chandra Smotherman, Economic Development Coordinator for
Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma/Canadian
Counties, has been named the U.S. Small Business
Administration’s Oklahoma Minority Small Business Advocate of
the Year.
Growing
Hispanic population provides challenges
A growing Hispanic population in the three counties served
by Delta Community Action Foundation is providing increasing
challenges, said Tina Figueroa, Special Needs Coordinator.
About 90 of the 275 children in the Delta Head
Start program are Hispanic.
“Some children start school not knowing a word of
English,” Figueroa said.
There are high concentrations of Hispanic people in
the Purcell, Pauls Valley and Duncan areas because of agricultural
and factory work, she explained.
Delta currently has five bilingual staff members.
Four are located in Head Start centers.
Outside of Head Start, Figueroa estimated she
worked with about 20 clients each month.
One example was a woman who had a water line break
under the house she rented. She spoke no English and had no way to
communicate with her landlord or the city about the problem.
Figueroa explained the problem to the city and
landlord and arranged to get the water turned off until repairs
could be made. Delta also provided assistance in paying the high
water bill that resulted from the break.
The lady was referred to an “English as a Second
Language” class sponsored by the Purcell Public Library and held
in a local Catholic church.
In another case, Figueroa was called in when Delta
was contacted by a mother with a two-year-old child whose teeth
were rotten to the gums. The mother had SoonerCare, but no way to
communicate with the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to explain the
problem in taking her child to a doctor in Yukon because she did
not speak English.
Figueroa explained the problem and was able to get
a doctor assigned in Purcell. Within a week, the rotten teeth had
been removed and the child’s gums are no longer bleeding.
One of the growing problems, Figueroa explained, is
that many Hispanic families don’t have legal status which
disqualifies them from some programs.
“That provides a unique challenge. They have
needs, but can’t go through normal channels,” she said.
It’s very time consuming to look for
unconventional sources because some programs are closed to these
families, she said.
Delta works with schools and other agencies to
overcome the barriers.
“The agency really supports these families,”
she said.
Figueroa provided a wide range of help for the Head
Start program. She, and other bilingual specialists,
translated the newsletter for families into Spanish. She
attended parent meetings to translate and make sure parents that
do not speak English can voice their opinions and have a vote.
She worked with teachers that do not speak Spanish
to make sure they know a few basic phrases a child might use to
explain he is hungry, or hurts, or needs to go to the bathroom.
She also translated for the police department and
DHS.
She recalled one lady who called needing help in
filling out a form for SoonerCare. Another person in the community
had said she would help, but wanted $50. Figueroa did it without
charge.
Figueroa said she became acquainted with Community
Action when as a mother of four young children, she was referred
by DHS after being turned down for food stamps because her income
was $11 over the limit.
Two of her children were accepted into the Head
Start program in Norman. Because her oldest children spoke no
English when they began Head Start, she volunteered to work in the
class.
She later worked as a disability aide at Action
(now Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency) and later became a
teacher.
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