From left, Stephanie Steward-Young of National City Bank; Gerald Arnott, Housing Program Director at the Ohio Department of Develoment, Rural Development; Tony Hemminger, ODOD, Rural Development’s Findlay office; Tony Camilleri, Fremont Federal Credit Union; Duane George, ODOD Findlay office; Charlene Watkins of WSOS; ODOD Director Randy Hunt; Chuck Wright, WSOS; Chris Spillmire, ODOD Findlay office; and Krista Underwood, WSOS boardmember, show off the Best Practice award plaque.

Agencies (OACAA) on February 3 presented a Best Practice award to WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc., in recognition of its work with downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers.

“We are proud of this award especially because of the partnerships we have developed,” said WSOS President/CEO Neil McCabe. “It’s really an honor to be working with those in the community who can help us make a difference.”

The Best Practices Award recognizes and honors proven innovative and effective programs, projects, processes, procedures or strategies that member community action agencies have participated in to serve its communities. It is a collaboration of OACAA and the John Glenn Institute for Public Policy and Public Service of The Ohio State University.

WSOS is a member of OACAA, and submitted the project for consideration.

Participating in the award ceremony were WSOS partners from the Fremont Federal Credit Union, National City Bank, and USDA Rural Development. Representatives from partners Key-Wendt Realty and Realty One of Port Clinton were unable to attend the ceremony.

WSOS earned the award because it made an effort to include Realtors and lenders in its attempts to reach middle-income families who were seeking to buy their first homes. Meetings and informational sessions were conducted with these two groups in an effort to get the information to Realtors and lenders who are on the front lines of selling homes.

By educating these two groups on how WSOS can help them serve the homebuyers who come to them, the program was able to serve more residents in its service area.

The WSOS Housing and Energy department hosted about 60 participants representing about 41 organizations from around the state at the annual training of the Ohio Department of Development, Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE).

Housing & Energy, which operates the Home Weatherization Assistance Program (HWAP), receives funding from OEE. The department relocated in October 2005 to the Barney Quilter Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp in Green Springs.

This meeting is the first time the state has brought its training sessions to this area, and WSOS Housing and Energy Director Chuck Wright hopes it is not the last time.

The Head Start program at WSOS Community Action Commission Inc. currently is awaiting final results of its 2006 biennium Program Review Instrument Systems for Monitoring (PRISM). However, comments from reviewers give program officials hope that the results will be good.

“All the comments were positive, but we still don’t know what the official results will be,” said Family Development Director Jacquie Wells. “We are hopeful that all is well. Our staff worked really hard to make sure we have a good outcome, so I hope their efforts are rewarded.”

In the last PRISM of 2003, reviewers were complimentary, singling out the efforts to improve family literacy for special mention. Family Fun Nights were listed as a strength of the program.

The review was based on more than 670 federal regulations, and was revised since the 2003 PRISM. A team of 12 reviewers from the federal offices were sent to examine the operations at WSOS. Results are not expected for another 60 days.

WSOS has operated Head Start since 1967. It receives funds from the federal Head Start program as well as the state’s Head Start, now called the Early Leaning Initiative (ELI) in Ohio.

In addition, it contracts with 13 public school districts in the four-county area to provide preschool services to some children.

In recent years, childcare has been added to the child development services that the agency provides to the community. Childcare services are provided at WSOS centers, in community childcare centers as well as with in-home providers.

In 2004, WSOS began serving infants and toddlers as well as pregnant women, thanks to an Early Head Start grant. That program was reviewed recently in Fall 2005.

Currently, infant and toddler care is provided at the Fostoria Child Development Center, Jordan Family Develoment Center in Bowling Green, the Oak Harbor Child Develoment Center, and the Stricker Family Development Center in Fremont.

In February, new President/CEO Neil McCabe re-organized the agency’s Leadership Team and created two teams from the one group.

“In the interest of more effective management, I have made a slight change in how WSOS’s Leadership group operates,” McCabe wrote in a memo to employees and board members.

The group was divided into the Management Team and the Development Team.

The management team is charged with focusing on operational maanagement activities while the development team is charged with seeking out and bringing to the organization new initiatives.

Two staff members who previously did not serve on the leadership team were added to the Management Team. They are Hortensia Clevenger and Ragan Claypool.

The Sandusky County Department of Job and Family Services recently awarded WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc. a $65,701 contract to provide assistance with job training and job placement to 26 adults seeking training or re-training.

Applications for the program will be accepted until March 31.

The primary goal of the program, called the Occupation, Vocation and Skills On-the-Job Training Initiative, is to enhance employment opportunities for eligible adults and dislocated workers in the skilled workforce. Program participants will work with a job developer and a family advocate who will assist them with their career decisions.

The goal of the program is to provide assistance to 18 dislocated workers who have been displaced from their jobs, and 8 other adults who meet the income guidelines of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA).

Employers, who are willing to participate in the program and provide job training to the participants are also needed to participate in the program. Employers who participate in the program will be reimbursed up to 50 percent of a participant’s wages. The length of the job training contract with the employer depends on several factors to be determined by employer and WSOS.

WSOS provides childcare for infants and toddlers at four locations within its four-county service area.

Families can find care for their young children at the Oak Harbor Child Development Center for Oak Harbor/Port Clinton area, in Fostoria area at its Fostoria Child Development Center, the Bowling Green area at the Jordan Family Development Center and the Fremont area at the Stricker Family Development Center.

This program is made possible by an Early Head Start grant. It provides assistance to income-eligible families with children birth to three years old. However these families must be either working and/or attending school.

Currently, there are 40 children enrolled at these four sites in this program. Children enrolled in this program receive all meals, diapers and snacks free of charge to the families.

However, the service is also available, at some locations, for a full fee to families who can pay the full charge.

Early Head Start also participates in the Special Quest program that provides added assistance to families of children birth to three years old who have a disability. This program provides training and support for the families as well as strengthens the relationships between the families and other local agencies that provides assistance to them.

Editor’s note: This column appears in each issue of this newsletter. Next issue will feature the New Directions Summer/After School Program.

Seniors Program is currently accepting nominations for its 2006 Senior Hall of Fame induction.

Up to 12 Sandusky County senior citizens will be honored at the induction ceremony which is conducted as part of Senior Day at the American Legion hall in May. Each inductee is presented with a plaque and their names are inscribed on a larger plaque that’s displayed at the senior center at the Fort Stephenson building in Fremont. Nomination forms are available at each senior center in the county. Deadline for nominations is March 15.

WSOS Accounting Department hosted auditors from the auditing firm Wifli of Wisconsin for one week in February as the firm audited the finances of WSOS for fiscal year 2005. The group is expected to return in March for another week.

WSOS again partnered with the Fremont Branch of the NAACP to sponsor the local organization’s annual scholarship fund raiser dinner. Dr. Alvin Jackson, was the guest speaker. In the past, the fundraiser has garnered up to $3,000 for the scholarship fund.

The Oak Harbor Child Development Center received a donation recently from the Port Clinton VFW to assist with the cost of putting up a fence at the center’s playground. Thank you VFW!

Ben Kenny, economic development coordinator, was elected in January to serve on the advisory committee of the Toledo Metropolitan Association for the Council Of Governments (TMACOG). Ben represents the non-profit sector of the committee.

The New Directions Summer/After School program has relocated to the first floor of the Brady building, 219 S. Front St. Fremont. WSOS no longer works out of the building on Hayes Avenue. The Housing department is now located at the Quilter CCC camp in Green Springs.

NADINE THOMPSON

Full name: Nadine Thompson

Address: Lindsey, Ohio

Family: Husband George; sons AJ, a college freshman; and Jon, a high school senior: daughter Catherine, a high school sophomore; and family pets, Sparky, a German Shephard, and cats Samantha and Racer.

Occupation: Administrave Assistant in the Community Development department, the position she was hired into three and a half years ago.

Favorite part of the job: Nadine said, “All of it. That’s the great part about my job. There’s always something different. The people in the Community Development Department are great. We’re a pretty close-knit group and that makes any job enjoyable.”

Goals: Nadine said doing her absolute best every day is her goal. She aims to work hard, and continue to learn and grow in every aspect of life.

Interests/Hobbies: Quite simply, her interest is Family time. She said she devotes all of her free time to her family. She thoroughly enjoys supporting her children in their sports activities. When people ask her why she doesn’t take time for herself, she replies that her children are her life, so that’s why it’s important for her to spend time with them.