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 August 2012 ENews
http://www.uwaykpt.org
Where is the Hope?
--A Message from the UWGK Director

 

Dear Friends,

"Heaven in the Real World," by Steven Curtis Chapman, is one of my favorite songs.  In a despairing tone, Chapman's impassioned voice asks, "Where is the hope?"  He continues by answering his own question with these powerful words: "The hope that each of us have is not in whom governs us, or what laws are passed, or what great things we do as a nation.  Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people."

As we've had headlines in our own community this week of areas devastated by floods and other tragedies, sometimes it's hard to still believe in good, to still hope.  Sometimes in my life, it's the big things that cause me to want to lose hope, like the unexpected loss of a friend's child.  At other times it's smaller things, like my daughter's favorite church camp outside Johnson City being washed away in  Sunday night's floods, or my son's recent injury at football practice.  But in the big things and small, we grasp onto hope.

I'm reminded that we as leaders and United Way donors, we provide hope every day to friends, neighbors, and fellow community members.  We provide children a safe place to go, we provide shelter in the floods, we provide meals to the elderly each day and many more examples.  Every day across our community, over two thousand individuals are touched by the hope you provide by being a donor to United Way.

How fitting is it then this year's campaign theme is "Give Hope a Hand."  Please join us, and tell others,  as our United Way of Greater Kingsport campaign approaches in opening your hearts to those in our own community who are in need.  Your caring hearts will leave a lasting impact, one that reaches far and wide creating and sustaining hope.

Living United, 
Danelle Glasscock
Executive Director 
United Way of Greater Kingsport    

UWGK Vision Councils Work to Positively Impact our Community   

UWGK's goal is to create long-lasting changes by addressing the underlying causes of community-wide problems.  Our motto, Living United, means that we are all part of this change.  It takes everyone in the community working together to create a brighter future.

  

To that end, member agency staff persons and volunteers from various professions are serving on four Vision Councils.  These councils focus their efforts in four main areas:   

  • Helping Children and Youth Succeed
  • Supporting Aging with Choices
  • Promoting Self-Sufficiency
  • Ensuring Safety and Stability

The Vision Councils have studied our community in order to identify and understand pressing community-wide needs, what service providers are available to meet those needs, and what gaps in services exist.  Effectively addressing these needs requires collaboration, networking, and information sharing among Vision Councils and community organizations, school systems, local and state governments, for-profit and not-for-profit groups, religious organizations, youth-led clubs, and many more entities.  

 

Recently, the Supporting Aging with Choices Vision Council brought over two years of work to a culmination.  This council understood how perplexing and oftentimes overwhelming it can be to seniors, caregivers, and community members to identify resources and providers for aging-related issues.

 

So, the council researched whether or not our community had a website that provided comprehensive information on information categories, such as housing and long-term care, quality of life, health and wellness, basic needs, safe living, and health providers.  They found this type of website, offering all the aforementioned information categories, did not exist for Greater Kingsport. 

 

This moved the Aging with Choices Vision Council to perform even more research, seeking input from community members through a survey and focus groups and looking at best-in-class website examples.  They listened to the voices within our community and found excellent website models.    

  

The council is working diligently to bring their concept to the development stage.  Efforts are underway to build an operational structure that includes site development, ongoing maintenance, and a marketing plan.  Collaborative partnerships are being formed with organizations, such as AARP and First Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability.   

 

The goal--to have a single, electronic source for reliable, aging-related information accessible 24/7 by seniors, caregivers, community members, and even those friends and relatives living outside our local area--is expected to be realized in early 2013.  

  

For more information on how to join the Aging with Choices Vision Council, or UWGK's Community Impact work, please contact Kandy Childress by email (kchildress@uwaykpt.org), or by phone 378-3409, ext. 16.  Click here for Kandy's Email

     

 

UWGK Member Agency News. . .
  • Friends in Need--a regionally supported clinic in its 17th year of service offering quality, affordable primary health and dental care to the working uninsured--announced on Thursday, August 2, it had received a BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation Matching Grant for $300,000To date, Friends in Need has received matching grant donations from United Way of Greater Kingsport, Eastman Chemical Company, Eastman Credit Union, and Holston Medical Group totaling approximately $100,000.  Check out the Friends in Need Website.  
  • CASA for Kids, Inc. has a new home.  CASA recently moved to its first-owned space, the former Cumberland Marketing office at 310 Shelby Street, less than a block from the Justice Center, where juvenile court hearings in Kingsport take place.  CASA's mission is to provide professionally trained court appointed special advocates to represent the best interests of allegedly abused/neglected children who come to the attention of the juvenile courts, expediting safety and permanency for them.  Check out the CASA Website.  
 
Harvest of Hope Community Garden Feeds the Hungry

Harvest of Hope Community Garden, which sprouted from the UWGK's Safety and Stability Council, has a clear mission:  Help feed our friends and neighbors.  Working with community members and partners (First Presbyterian Church, AARP, the City of Kingsport, and the Master Gardens of Northeast Tennessee), the garden is achieving its goal of combating hunger. 

Over 170 pounds of potatoes, 25 pounds of tomatoes, and numerous other vegetables have been shared with local food pantries and kitchens, such as Kitchen of Hope, Hunger First, Salvation Army, St. Paul's Food Pantry, Meals on Wheels, and individuals in need. For more information on the garden, contact Jennifer Janus, a UWGK community volunteer.  Her email address is jennifer.janus@gmail.com.
  Send Jennifer an Email.

  Click Here for Harvest of Hope Community Garden Blog

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • UWGK New Volunteer/New Vision Council Member Training scheduled for August 16 from 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. at the UWGK Conference Room.  Register by email  
  • UWGK Community Campaign Kick-Off Event scheduled for September 13 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at the V.O. Dobbins Douglass Room.   Guest speaker, Kimberly Bradley, director of Logistics and Training for Crosspoint International Ministries, recently climbed Mt. Killmanjaro to raise awareness about human trafficking.  Kimberly says, "You don't have to climb a mountain to make a difference in your community. . .We are united when we give hope a hand." 



  Small Miracles

 Agency Spotlight: Small Miracles  

 

Small Miracles Pairs Horses and Humans to Create a Journey of Learning and Self-Discovery 

In July of 1995, Mary Smith, a RN with the support of her family, started a pilot program centered around enhancing the physical, emotional, social, and cognitive growth of individuals with special needs through equine-assisted activities.   

 

The response from the community was overwhelmingly positive and before long there was a waiting list of 35 students.  Mary officially opened the doors of Small Miracles in January 1996 in Church Hill, TN.  Just three years later, Small Miracles moved to their Rock Springs Road location.    

 

Small Miracles serves over 75 students today on 11 acres of quiet, country land by providing activities that promote:

 

  • Physical Improvements: Increased balance, trunk control, find and gross motor movements, coordination, flexibility, and muscle strength.
  • Emotional Stability: Improved self-image, confidence, self-esteem, and independence.
  • Social Interaction: Gained ability to work with others, increased cooperation, teamwork, and responsibility.
  • Cognitive Improvement:  Increased attention span, motivation,vocabulary, and concentration.  

As a member of PATH, formerly known as the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, PATH is a membership organization that fosters safe, professional, ethical, and therapeutic equine activities through education, communication, standards, and research for people with and without disabilities.  All of the instructors at Small Miracles have been trained and certified by PATH and have completed all of the requirements for becoming a registered therapeutic instructor. 

 

The UWGK supports Small Miracles mission by funding scholarship programs centered on:

 

  • Therapeutic Equine-Assisted Activities (TEAA) for persons with disabilities aimed at improved physical, emotional, and cognitive growth.
  • Equine-Assisted Learning for Positive Youth Development (EAL-PYD) focused on enhancing the emotional, social, and educational development of at-risk youth through therapeutic equine-assisted activities.
  • Equine Services for Heroes Program centered around providing equestrian-assisted therapy to veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.     
Small Miracles is primarily a volunteer-led organization who needs individual volunteers for therapy programs as well as special events, fund raising, and barn and office work. Volunteer training is provided on the Saturday before each session begins. 

Interested individuals are encouraged to contact Gwen Keeling, executive director, Small Miracles Therapeutic Equestrian Center, at (423) 349-1111, or by emailing smiracles@chartertn.net.  The facility is located at 1026 Rock Springs Road, Kingsport, TN  37664.   

 

 


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Parents and Caregivers Speak Out on Tennessee Public School Experiences


United Ways of Tennessee conducted a survey during the summer of 2012, asking parents and caregivers with children in public school during the academic year 2011/2012 to assess:
  • Parents' impressions of recent changes at their children's schools.
  • How welcome parents feel in their children's schools (and why).
  • What supports parents need to become more engaged in the academic lives of their children.
  • Other major impressions and issues regarding education that are top-of-mind with parents.
The intent was not to evaluate the performance of schools, school systems, or teachers, but rather to take a "temperature read" on parents' perceptions and to identify issues of importance to them and ways they can be better supported and engaged.

United Ways of Tennessee are encouraging leaders at the local and state level to use this report to inform ongoing efforts at reform and parental outreach and engagement.  United Ways and community partners are also using this information to shape outreach efforts to inform and assist parents in supporting their children's academic success.

The full survey results (including survey methodology and findings) can be found on the UWGK website: uwaykpt.org.

Click Here for UWGK WEBSITE
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