United Way
United Way
of DeKalb County
Issue: 27
January 2017
Impact DeKalb Newsletter
Give
Advocate
Volunteer
In This Issue
Mark your calendars!

January 25th (2:30 - 4:00pm): Mandatory Agency Meeting at Community Foundation

February 23rd (6:00 - 8:00pm):
Volunteer Celebration at
Rieke Park Lodge

Please see the following save the dates for events coming in later months!
Volunteer Celebration

United: We Made a Difference!
Please join us for our annual Volunteer Celebration
Thursday, February 23rd from 
6-8pm at the Rieke Park Lodge. 
1800 N. Indiana Ave. in Auburn.
Power of the Purse
 
The plans for the 2017 Power of the Purse are underway and t his year's event will take place Friday, April 21st. Save the date! More details coming next month. 
Day of Caring


We have set the date for our annual Day of Caring event! It will be happening Friday, June 23rd. More details regarding project and volunteer applications to come in the following months. 

January 28th: #YarnBombAuburn Installation 
Cookies, Cocoa, & Community
at Jeremiah's after

February 3rd: FIRST FRIDAY
 Shop. Sip. Taste. Play.
downtown from 5-8pm
The Olive Twist will be hosting a cooking class this evening. Please visit theolivetwist.com to reserve your seat.

February 4th: Upstairs Downtown
Contact the Eckhart Public Library for tickets  to see what's upstairs in the historic buildings downtown

February 11th: Ice Sculptures
Head to the new plaza to see ice sculptures sponsored by local agencies and businesses  

February 18th: #YarnBombAuburn
Tour the yarn bomb projects, meet with the artists,
and vote for your favorite

February 25th: Take it off Party!
Celebration and fundraiser
for ADAC and finale of 
"We <3 Auburn" Month

2-1-1 Information and Referral Service

Check out our videos!
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Agency Spotlight: Children First Center

Children First is a community collaboration dedicated to helping families and children grow and develop to their fullest potential through available resources, referrals, education, and proactive programming. As part of their commitment to the communities they serve, Children First actively partners with local organizations to fulfill the mission of staying family focused and family driven. 
Together, they are "helping children become all they can possibly be."

What Happens at Children First?

All families want the best for their children but don't always possess the skills they need to appropriately parent.  When families are overwhelmed, parenting becomes even more challenging.  Clients face daily stressors caused by factors such as lack of employment, drug/alcohol addiction, lack of parenting skills, lack of knowledge of developmental milestones, unrealistic expectations for their children, low self-esteem, or a history of being abused as a child.  Children First's program services provide thoughtful, carefully individualized services for these struggling families.  Most of these services are conducted in home or in convenient local settings at no-cost for family participation.

Professional, highly trained staff use a variety of teaching strategies to effectively engage parents.  Parenting education is done by role modeling appropriate parenting skills, incorporating activities that foster healthy parent-child interaction, and tracking growth and development of the children.  Community links are shared with families to help encourage independence and build self-confidence.  Together, the combined strategies continue to reduce child maltreatment and improve outcomes for children and their families.

Volunteer Spotlight:

Melissa is a 37 year old woman recovering from addiction. She is thankful for the Serenity House program, as well as Women's Leadership Council (WLC) for helping her get her life back on track and where she needs to be for her children and family, as well as her community. 

Melissa has been in the Serenity House program for eight months. She still attends AA and NA meetings every single day as well as regularly communicates with her sponsor and shares her story with others. "I have chores around the house that I do every day as well. Now I am senior house resident and I have a few extra tasks that are required of me to do, like paperwork and make sure that the other girls do what's required of them." She shared.

She has played an integral role in United Way's WLC events.  She says, "I think that the WLC and the Serenity House events are very helpful to me and the rest of the girls at the house because it shows us that we can become part of our community again and shows us some leadership skills."

"The events that I have participated in have shown me that I can be compassionate and enjoy having good times with others while being sober. I have really liked the events and I really enjoyed the parade; I loved walking alongside the bison and passing out bubbles to all the little kids."

"I am currently 8 months sober.  I have started to rebuild family life with my children and parents.  Once I leave Serenity House I will be getting a place of my own.  At that point, I will start the process of getting my children back with me full time.  As each new day comes I look forward to the new adventures I will face in this life sober."
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Free FAFSA Assistance to
Northeast Indiana Residents


Several Northeast Indiana organizations are partnering with the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership's Big Goal Collaborative to offer free support to students and families in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Filling out the FAFSA, a government form that streamlines the college financial aid process, is a must to qualify for assistance, scholarships and other sources of funding that reduce the burdens of student loans. The deadline to submit the FAFSA is March 10.

This free FAFSA support will be offered at various locations in Allen County and DeKalb County from January through March.

Trained personnel from K-12 and regional higher education institutions will be volunteering their time to support this initiative. The goal of this program is to help increase the number of students in Northeast Indiana completing the FAFSA, which will connect more individuals to post-secondary opportunities and help the region meet its Big Goal of 60 percent post-secondary credential and degree attainment by 2025.

Rotary's Annual Dessert Duel

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