December Newsletter 2020

Categories: Weekly Blogs

1 day ago

Lindsay DeCell-Community Partner/Board Member HighlightThis week we would like to highlight Lindsay and the SEVCA Head Start program. Thank you Lindsay for all of your work with the program and on the SSHP Board. What is your position and work with SEVCA? I am the family partner at the Pine Street Preschool, which is a part of the SEVCA Windsor County Head Start Preschool program, located here in Springfield. My role is to provide the families we serve with resources and support that meets the family needs, along with parenting training and goal setting. I help support the families with any educational needs for the parent or children and I create family engagement activities. Who is served through the program? Head Start is a federally funded preschool program for children ages 3-5 years old, they have to turn 3 by Sept. 1 of the program year. Head Start is a comprehensive program offering services in childcare, health, nutrition, and parent involvement to children and families. The program is free for families income eligible, we offer childcare in some of our programs. How did you begin working with SEVCA and Head Start? I started working in 2011 at the SEVCA Goodbye Store and had just started working on my associates degree in human services at CCV. As I progressed in my educational journey it went hand and hand with my work. I transitioned into a family service position with SEVCA, offering housing assistance and crisis fuel. Then I found out about an opening as a family partner, around the same time my child graduated from the Head Start program. I had 3 children go through the program and fell in love with everything they offer. I’ve been in this position as the family partner since September of 2015. How has the pandemic impacted your work? Normally we have an open door policy for all of our families, so normally families can come in to share a meal with their child, we do monthly parent meetings, family engagement activities, we have volunteers come in and do activities with the kids. We are very transparent and want them to be as involved with their children's education as possible, but because of COVID we’ve had to get creative on how we do things. We can no longer have the parents or caregivers enter the center. We’ve had a pick up and drop off zone, we’ve had teachers complete visits and parent teacher conferences via video chat. I’ve had to create a virtual platform to talk with families to do monthly parent meetings, for family engage activities we’ve had to do take home kits. We created a remote learning platform, so that children who aren’t able to attend, still can be a part of the program. We send them educational materials each week, we upload the circles and activities to the seesaw program. We’ve had to be very creative on how to reach families in their situation. How do you see your work with SEVCA connect with your work on the SSHP Board? Part of my job is to collaborate with as many community partners as I can, and being on the board gives me the opportunity to not just partner with SSHP, but also to help make a difference in the communities we serve. I am a big cheerleader for your program, I can refer families and understand all of the ins and outs of the program. How can the community support your work? I think right now, recruitment is huge, normally we’re out in the community meeting with community partners and families face to face. This year has been different, we need more referrals from partnering agencies for families who could potentially qualify for our program. Our program is holistic, it is about the whole family’s needs and there's a lot of families that could benefit from the program. If community agencies help share information about the program we can expand access. ... See MoreSee Less

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Springfield Supported Housing Program

1 day ago

“This pandemic has given us the opportunity to create something different going forward in the future that maybe works better for society,” Gray Rand said. “I think it’s forcing us to address the issues that we were ignoring for so long.”www.necn.com/news/local/we-need-affordable-housing-vt-advocates-want-federal-funds-spent-on-build... ... See MoreSee Less

‘We Need Affordable Housing:' Vt. Advocates Want Federal Funds Spent on Building Homes

www.necn.com

Advocates for affordable housing believe a huge infusion of federal money to the states will allow Vermont to achieve a long-elusive goal of making sure more people have permanent and secure homes. Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont, wants to spend roughly a quarter billion dollars from his state’s share ...

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Springfield Supported Housing Program

2 days ago

Thank you Springfield Food Co-op for supporting our agency as their Change for Change recipient during the month of January and all shoppers who donated during January! Your support makes our work possible. ... See MoreSee Less

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Springfield Supported Housing Program

2 days ago

"Vermont has a chance to dramatically reduce homelessness in the state, and an important part of that is making sure that there are enough affordable homes. This HOME funding is part of our chance to build those homes and provide safe, secure and affordable housing for Vermonters in need.”mountaintimes.info/leahy-sanders-welch-announce-11-million-for-housing-construction-in-vermont/ ... See MoreSee Less

Leahy, Sanders, Welch announce $11 million for housing construction in Vermont - The Mountain Times

mountaintimes.info

Funding from the American Rescue Plan is in addition to the state’s annual award of $3.4 million Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) announced Monday, April 12, that Vermont has received more than [...] Read More

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Springfield Supported Housing Program

5 days ago

Check out HUD's statistics of national funding for people experiencing homelessness.www.usich.gov/homelessness-statistics/ct/ ... See MoreSee Less

Homeless in HUD Announces Billion in HOME Funding to Increase Affordable Housing To Address Homelessness Statistics 2018. Homeless Estimation by State | US Interagency Council on Homelessness

www.usich.gov

Find out homeless population statistics for the state of HUD Announces $5 Billion in HOME Funding to Increase Affordable Housing To Address Homelessness, get the data on families, veterans, chronic and youth...

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