Check Out Our Stories of Impact and Success!

Story #1: Our Juvenile Court Intensive Home-Based Program started serving a family of seven several months ago because one of their children had juvenile court involvement. When we meet with the family we meet them where they are. Sometimes this means they are homeless, incarcerated or court ordered for treatment.  The kids range in age from 4-19 and the parents were currently living on a camp ground, in tents and a camper and being homeschooled.  The family had many strengths- something we assess as soon as we meet them because we use those strengths as a starting point to build progress toward their goals.  Dad was working and all children were working on their school work.  Everyone was determined to have a better living situation before this winter. 

Through our Strong Families program we were able to provide food, clothing, school supplies, gift cards for shoes, gas to get to medical appointments and staff chipped in too- getting a spa gift card for mom because five kids can be a lot sometimes and she needed to make time for herself and toys and sports equipment for the children. We were also able to provide job coaching, mental health and moral support and boost their confidence as an employee and a family, so they could successfully complete probation and get a promotion at work.  Our basic need assistance helped the family pay down their credit card bills and improve their credit. We are happy to report they have achieved all that and more.  They have recently been approved for a commercial loan and are looking to buy a home and with interest rates dropping I believe it is their time to find one. We are so proud of this family and the hard work they have done to improve their lives. 

Story #2: We had a child who started with our Head Start preschool program and was very shy, and did not speak English. She began the year looking isolated and unsure of how to interact with the other children. She seemed sad often, and her parents were concerned about her being able to socialize with children and learn English. When we visited with the family, they told us that they wanted their daughter to learn English, while also keep her native language. Between the Head Start center staff, our family engagement partnership and activity support, and the family attending center events,  their child began making making gains and meeting developmental milestones, making friends in class, talking more and learning more English words. She is now a comfortable and confident student!

Story #3: Parent Employment & Education Program (PEEP) and former Head Start mom, Brittney, graduated from the Brown & Clermont Adult Career Campus’ inaugural LPN class this past January. She has also passed her boards and earned her LPN license! She is a mom of four young boys and is excited for her future! Congrats, Brittney!

Story #4: A custodial grandmother who, along with her husband, was raising several of their grandchildren, a circumstance many grandparents have found themselves in with the opioid epidemic, were struggling to make ends meet. Our Family Advocate found Kinship Permanency Incentive funds, which the family qualified for, and it ended up being the perfect amount to make ends meet. 

Story #5: Crystal is a Parent Education and Employment Program (PEEP) client who wanted to rejoin the workforce as an STNA. She approached us with an education plan for her to attend a newly opened program: Nursing Made Easy, LLC. The flexibility of this program allowed Crystal to continue to work & care for her children after school while she took courses.  Two weeks ago, Crystal graduated from the program, and she passed the STNA licensing exam last week.

Story #6: When a Parent Coach first started with a Parent Enrichment family, the family was welcoming twins to the family and due to dad losing his job, they were not prepared. The Parent Coach focused first on basic needs because if basic needs are not met, progress cannot be made in other areas. The Parent Coach was able to connect them with different community resources (e.g., Give Like a Mother, A Caring Place, and Real-Life Family Needs Center) to get the necessities to welcome the twins into the family. The next task at hand was to teach and support important parenting skills including routines, positive parenting practices and healthy communication skills. They were able to adjust to new family dynamics and spend one-on-one time with each child in the household and establish family routines. In addition to that, the parent coach did a deep-dive into self-care due to the family’s chaotic schedule of being in and out of the hospital and having twins. During the course of the Nurturing Parenting program, the family was able to achieve all of their goals and everyone in the family was partaking in self-care routines and having their needs met.