2011: State of Children

Oklahoma ranked

43rd

for overall child well-being.

Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2011 Kids Count Data book is out, Oklahoma's children face worsening indicators of well-being:

 

Laura & Kayleigh: Girl Power Members

Photographers Kayleigh and Laura Talk about their experience with the Girl Power PhotoVoice Project

With the Girl Power PhotoVoice exhibit fast approaching, the girls involved are growing more excited to share with the community their Visions of Health. As we sat down with Girl Power members Kayleigh (9th grade) and Laura (8th grade) to talk about their experience with the project, it was then that we quickly realized that these young ladies have been completely empowered by their involvement with PhotoVoice.

“I think PhotoVoice really taught these girls a new way to tell their story,” said Jessica Hutchinson, Neighborhood Centers Program Director. “Instead of using social media or texting they learned how to use photography.

“Each week we met and shared our pictures with the other 10 girls,” said Laura. “We would talk about pictures together but we were allowed to be ourselves because each picture meant something different to everyone.”

Not only did the project give the girls a social outlet with positive adult influences but it also allowed them to learn more about themselves and gave them a voice.

“I hope to someday work in public service for a career and do what Jessica does,” said Kayleigh. “I mean, you see things like world hunger and it doesn’t seem like anyone is doing anything- I want to do something.”

And she will be this Friday, not only will Kayleigh and Laura talk at the event but they will be honored with ten of their peers by Mayor Cindy Rosenthal during the exhibit.

We hope you will join us this Friday, August 26th from 5-7p.m. at the University of Oklahoma Zarrow Hall.

More information about PhotoVoice»

The University of Oklahoma

Zarrow Hall Community Room

700 Elm Ave. |  Norman, OK

A second exhibit will be on September 9th, 6-10 p.m.:

Studio 360

109 N. Crawford  |  Norman, OK

In conjunction with the Norman Art Council's 2nd Friday Art Circuit.

For more information about PhotoVoice Project or Exhibit please contact Stacy Hawthorne at shawthorne@ccfinorman.org or call (405) 364-1420.

Photovoice support and contributions received from:
University of Oklahoma School of Medicine-Tulsa, Knee Center for Strong Families, Krystyn Bramlett, Gigi’s Cupcakes, Irving Middle School, Norman Arts Council, Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, Paul Mitchell Hair Salon, Chris Porter, and Sonic Drive In.

The Center for Children & Families, Inc. and the University of Oklahoma School of Social Work invite you and your friends to attend remarkable, multi-media photography exhibits:

www.ccfinorman.org/photovoice

PhotoVoice: Visions of Health

What happens when you take eleven of Norman's middle school girls, teach them photography, ask them about 'health,' and then give them free rein to shoot?

---

- You're Invited! -

Girl Power PhotoVoice Project

On May 6, 2011, nearly a dozen middle school girls served by the Center’s Neighborhood Centers program shuffled into the cafeteria at Irving Middle School to begin the Girl Power PhotoVoice Project. A project in collaboration with the University of Oklahoma's Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work and the Center for Children and Families, gave the girls cameras and a mission to document their lives and their community’s health over the next six weeks.

PhotoVoice allows young people to express themselves with originality and enthusiasm. The girls walked through their lives, homes and streets behind the lens of a camera and each week they came together, viewed their photographs and voiced what their photographs exposed about their health and their community.

The project provided hands-on opportunities for the girls to practice life skills such as action research, photography, writing, marketing, and activism. It gives young people, whose voices are often ignored, a hands-on experience with making a difference in their community.

With the Girl Power PhotoVoice project, the girls hope to provide their communities with a valuable perspective on its problems and resources, both healthy and unhealthy. Their photographs and narratives may open the eyes of adults to problems and resources they see every day but tend to ignore.

More information about PhotoVoice»

The University of Oklahoma
Zarrow Hall Community Room

700 Elm Ave. |  Norman, OK
August 26, 2011, 5-8 p.m.*

*Forum/Ethics Panel 7-8 p.m.Continuing Education Units available.

Click here for more information on the CEU’s and a schedule of events for the evening.


Studio 360
109 N. Crawford |  Norman, OK
September, 9 2011, 6-10 p.m. 
In Conjunction with the Norman Arts Council's 2nd Friday Art Circuit.

Admission is free, donations accepted. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information about PhotoVoice Project or Exhibit please contact Stacy Hawthorne at shawthorne@ccfinorman.org or call (405) 364-1420.

Brain Hero

We are digging this video.  

Are you a brain hero?

 

Much of the work we do at the Center is to promote stronger relationships and positive development during the early years of life for brighter futures. 

This video is a great visual display of why the solution to complex social problems is within early childhood experiences.

Calling ALL Caring Adults

We need YOUR help!
Our Neighborhood Centers Summer Youth Enrichment Program is underway and ready start to this Monday! We have the kids enrolled, the activities planned, the staff rested, the vans gassed and ready to take the kiddos on lots of adventures but we seem to be missing something ... Volunteers!   

If you or someone you know can dedicate one morning or afternoon per week for at least 4 weeks this summer, we would be set for another successful summer youth program!

So, tell your friends, babysitter, neighbors, paper boy, coaches, or even your co-workers that we are looking for several community members to step forward and make a difference in the coming weeks for the 100 plus children and youth in our program! We are especially seeking help on Fridays from 12:30-4:00 for pool outings, which is a win-win situation- sun, fun and slides! Plus, it's a great resume builder for recent high school graduates and college students! 

  

To answer the call, please contact:
Christi at cmackey@ccfinorman.org  or call (405) 364-1420,

Background checks are required for all volunteers, who must be 18 years or older!

Visit www.ccfinorman.org/get-involved for more information!

Outstanding Service to Children Award

CCFI's Fran Roberson recognized for over 25 years of dedication to children in our community

The Norman Children's Right Commission Award for Outstanding Service to Children is presented to individuals or organizations in Norman who have shown outstanding effort, achievement and/or leadership in the service of children. This year our very own Clinical Director, Fran Roberson, LCSW, LMFT, was selected by the Commission and honored at the Norman City Council meeting on April 26th.

Fran has been a dynamic leader for the last 26 years both within the organization and the community and has significantly contributed to services that address child abuse and neglect. Her years of hard work and dedication to serve the community in the capacity she does today make her worthy of this honor. Fran truly is a role model to advocates of and service providers for children and families across the state.

Congrats Fran! We are so proud of you!!

---

Letter of Recommendation

 from Denilyn Jordan, LCSW: 

Dear Commissioners,

I am honored to call your attention to an outstanding advocate for and service provider to children, Fran Roberson.  She has improved the lives of children in this community for 26 years.  Her contributions include: program initiation, program development, training of students, advocating in the court system and other organizations serving children, and educating and nurturing professionals new to the field.

Fran Roberson was instrumental in visioning and forming the collaborative effort that resulted in the creation of the Mary Abbott House and the Child Abuse Response Team.  She recognized the need to reduce the stress for children being interviewed concerning possible victimization by child abuse.  She convened representatives from the concerned entities including:  law enforcement officers, Child Welfare workers, mental health counselors, medical professionals, and juvenile court representatives.  With Fran’s guidance the group developed a plan with the Mary Abbott House as the product.  In addition to the streamlining of the investigative process, the collaboration encouraged the team addressing child abuse issues to develop a better productive working relationship

Observing the needs of children experiencing trauma due to child abuse, Fran Roberson sought to educate the staff at the Center for Children and Families to better serve this population.  She recognized the innovative work being done by Dr. Bruce Perry, a Neuro-Psychiatrist and trauma expert.  She sought funding and invited Dr. Perry to come to Norman to train the CCFI staff as well as other professionals in the community.  She then initiated within the Center for Children and Families a Trauma Focused Services.  The program offers intensive services to traumatized children and their families and has served close to 40 families since 2007.

Fran Roberson was the Director of the Parent’s Assistance Program at CCFI for 16 years.  She built the program from offering one group a week to offering 5 adult group and 8 children’s groups each week.  The groups addressed the healing needs of families experiencing abuse and neglect.  Whether the issues were addiction, neglect, lack of skills for infant care or lack of parenting skills, the groups were tailored for the parents.  The children were seen in simultaneous therapeutic play groups fostering their healing.  Fran developed the curriculum and trained the group leaders.

Fran has served as the Clinical Director at CCFI since 2001.  In this role she has trained professionals, volunteers and students.  She has been instrumental in the visioning and growth of every program including, Parents Assistance, Teenage Parenting, Divorce Visitation Arbitration and Neighborhood Centers.  She supervises the directors of these programs and as an inspirational leader has helped them develop caring programs responsive to the needs of the children and parents they serve.

Fran’s caring and dedications have served as a model to the CCFI staff for 26 years.  She has been a dynamic leader both within CCFI and in the community.  But these words do not capture the profound compassion Fran has for children and families.  In addition to her many accomplishment, her legacy will include creating an agency environment with the belief by all staff that children and families deserve to be safe, respected and offered opportunities to grow.

Respectfully submitted,

Denilyn Jordan LCSW

Children’s Program Director, Retired

Behind the Scenes

 "It's been nearly 8 years since the name Center for Children and Families, Inc. was first mentioned to us. We were initially approached about making a video for a fundraising luncheon. CCFI was using a new fundraising model and the video was a cornerstone of this new approach. Always up for a new creative opportunity, we said "sure, we'll help" and thus opened the door for a wonderful relationship and opened our eyes to some real and sobering realities.

It would be impossible to help tell the story of CCFI without getting to know the staff and the people they serve intimately. Over the years we have gotten to know and love the people who make CCFI wonderful. These people have demonstrated amazing levels of compassion and commitment to healing and preventing the hurts that so many children and families experience in our community.

We've also heard stories that have brought us to tears and inspired us to action beyond our work on the video. We've helped revitalize the play therapy rooms and served as table captains at the luncheon and done what we can to be ambassadors for CCFI and its amazing mission.

It would also be impossible to tell the CCFI story without featuring children in the videos we've created. To fill those roles, we turned to our own kids and the kids of our friends. It's not easy to see a child that you love on the big screen accompanied by statistics of the tragedies that other children actually experience. It brings home the reality that real kids are suffering in horrible ways right here in our community. Those kids deserve to grow up like our kids: safe, nurtured and loved. How could we not give what we can to make that a reality?

Working with CCFI is life-changing for us. It inspires us to be better parents ourselves, it motivates us to take action and it makes us proud that we've partnered with such a worthwhile organization."


-Krystyn Bramlett and Leslie Wiggins Christopher
Bramlett and Associates Multimedia


A Very Special Place, produced by Bramlett and Associates Multimedia:

Community spirit on the block

‘I Love My Neighborhood’ block party expected to be biggest yet

2010 Block Party

The 11th annual block party, hosted by the Center for Children & Families, Inc. (CCFI) Neighborhood Centers program, will take place this Saturday from noon to 2 p.m., rain or shine, on Peters Street- in and around Trinity Baptist Church’s parking lot.  

“This free community event has been a decade long tradition,” said CCFI Senior Program Specialist, Jessica Hutchinson. “Having support from the community is important for Norman’s youth and every year we host the event we see more and more people coming to celebrate and create neighborhood connections.” 

Involvement for the block party is at an all-time high with more than 35 local businesses and organizations participating and hosting activities and booths for all ages. Kids will be able to bounce from moonwalks to slides, make crafts, have their faces painted, enjoy free food, treats, and live music from the Katie Tracy Band.  The Wilson Elementary and Trinity Baptist Childrens’ Choir will also perform. There will also be an opportunity to win more than a dozen gift certificates and other prizes.


This event is free and open to all residents, for more information go to www.ccfinorman.org/blockparty or call (405) 364-1420.

'I Love My Neighborhood' block party made possible by:
CCFI’s Neighborhood Centers Program, Wilson Elementary School, Trinity Baptist Church, Norman Regional Hospital, Tinker Federal Credit Union, Moore Norman Technology Center, Journey Church, Chick-fil-A of Norman, Sonic on Alameda, Maggie Moo’s, Hiland Dairy, Sonder Music & Art, Pink Elephant Café, Downtown Fitness, Forward Foods, Native Roots Market, YMCA of Cleveland County, Rainbow Feet, Success by Six, Norman Emergency Services, Wilson Elementary Parent Teacher Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cleveland County, IBC, Norman Parks and Recreation Department, Johnson Controls, Norman Exchange Club, and other community friends.

Katie Fitzgerald gets to see program's impact on families

 Article from the Norman Transcript- Although most don’t realize it at the time, some of the abused and neglected children who walk through the welcoming doors at Norman’s Center for Children and Families Inc. already have a connection with center director Katie Fitzgerald.

Katie at Hands & Hearts Luncheon

As a 7-year-old growing up in Michigan, Fitzgerald was molested at a girlfriend’s house by the friend’s father. She knew at the time that something was very wrong but didn’t know how to verbalize her feelings.

“I was crying and upset and my mom asked me all the right questions and I still couldn’t tell her,” Fitzgerald recalls. “Children can’t easily talk about what happens to them.”

Through play therapy, counseling and other services, the healing can begin. “I know that there’s a place for kids here. I didn’t have that,” says Fitzgerald, director for nearly 18 months.

She shared her story publicly at last year’s CCFI fundraising luncheon. Only through dialogue and education will we understand abuse and neglect can happen in all families. Later on, Fitzgerald and her friends discovered there were several victims. Even as close friends, they didn’t confide in each other.

“We just need to get more comfortable talking about it,” she said.

An Oklahoman for about six years, Fitzgerald came to the center, founded in 1969 as Juvenile Services Inc., after working at OU’s Women in Leadership program and for the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. In Michigan, she worked for the Kellogg Foundation and with the United Way. Much of her work focused on vulnerable youth and families.

“But everything I’ve ever done never felt complete until I came here. I can see kids and families here that we are having an impact on,” she said. “It’s an incredible opportunity for me.”

Emily and Pam Clinton, Katie.

She manages about 25 full and part-time employees and a $1.2 million budget. Funding comes from state agency contracts, individual and corporate donor partners and Norman’s United Way campaign.

Programs, besides healing child abuse and neglect, include support and education for parents, divorce visitation arbitration, parents assistance, teen parenting, neighborhood centers and an emergency diaper and formula closet. Last year, they handed out 32,000 diapers.

The Neighborhood Centers program cares for and provides safe, after school, evening and weekend activities for about 50 kids a day at Longfellow and Irving Middle Schools and Kennedy and Wilson elementaries. They’ll host an “I love my neighborhood” block party at Wilson from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday.

CCFI, along with Bethesda Alternative and Mary Abbott Children’s House, will mark April as child abuse prevention month with a variety of activities. Fitzgerald encourages people to attend the Children Front & Center Tours at the 7,500-square-foot center, located in the former Veterans Center complex on the Griffin Hospital campus, to see the mission in action. Tour dates and opportunities can be found here.

They’ll host legislators for a tour this week. Lawmakers will be making funding decisions that impact all who work with families and children. The numbers of investigated cases of abuse are down significantly but only due to a policy shift by the Department of Human Services.

Cleveland County claimed about 350 of the state’s 12,000 plus confirmed cases of abuse and neglect last year. A budget cutting proposal to close the health department’s office of child abuse prevention troubles Fitzgerald. In rough economic times, family stress tends to increase. Rural areas don’t always have safe places like CCFI, Bethesda or Abbott House.

“All around the state, these kids and their families need so much. We’re able to do what we can but further reducing these services right now is not the answer,” Fitzgerald said. “In most communities, there literally is nothing else for them.”

The Blue Ribbon

A Symbol of Awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month

During April you may see people wearing a looped blue ribbon or a blue ribbon pin in observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month, and you may wonder what the significance of the blue ribbon is. In fact, there is deep meaning behind what has become a nationally recognized symbol for child abuse prevention.

In the spring of 1989, a grandmother named Bonnie Finney took a stand against child abuse in Norfolk, Va. She tied a blue ribbon on the antenna of her minivan in remembrance of her late grandson and as a signal to her community that child abuse was a devastating social plague.

Her grandson, Michael Wayne "Bubba" Dickenson, and his siblings had lived in an at-risk, abusive home environment. Despite Finney's efforts to intervene on behalf of her grandchildren, the boyfriend of the children's mother murdered 3-year-old Bubba. His body was found, bound, beaten, and bruised, in a weighted toolbox at the bottom of a canal.

Finney said she was thinking about all the bruises she had seen on her grandchildren and decided to tie a blue ribbon on her van. She said she intended to never forget the battered, bruised bodies of her grandchildren and used the color blue as a reminder to fight for protection of children.

Finney's personal campaign to raise public awareness was joined by a Norfolk parent assistance program and a local radio station. Soon, stores, businesses, schools, churches, civic organizations, and social service agencies were participating in the campaign and thousands of blue ribbons were displayed in the name of child abuse prevention. The spirit of her blue ribbon grew and inspired a statewide community-based effort to prevent child abuse in every town, every community and every city and county.

Click here to see CCFI's Blue Ribbon for Kids Photo Album

Since then, Bonnie Finney's simple act of education and remembrance has inspired a nationwide movement and led states throughout the country to participate in the campaign by designating the month of April each year Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Promote healthy children and strong families in our community and wear a blue ribbon or build a blue ribbon tree in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month!

Make the ribbons count- trees must be registered and completed by April 5th and pictures of the trees will be displayed at the state capitol on April 12th during Child Abuse Prevention Day. Be sure you post your tree on the CCFI facebook page @ CCFInorman! Get started today at www.exchangeclubofnorman.org/.

How one little boy's first birthday made a difference

Birthdays are an important day whether you are turning one or 107. In most cases, the first birthday is the cutest, with cake everywhere and a face full of icing. For one-year-old Jayce, his birthday party proved that even with cake covered cheeks you can make a difference in the world no matter what your age.

The birthday boy after his party.

Jayce is already a giver --whether he's giving loving squeezes to his stuffed animals or consoling a crying nursery mate with a tender hug-- and as his first birthday inched closer his parents saw an opportunity to help others instead of adding to a roomful of toys.

"Before we had our son, my husband and I both agreed we wanted to teach him the value of volunteer work and doing things for others over yourself," said Jayce's mom, Maurisa. "When his first birthday was getting closer we realized that Jayce has plenty of toys. We decided for his first birthday we wanted to start the lesson of giving."

Seuss themed goodies and cakes.

As a counselor at Moore High School, working with a parenting group that is ran by CCFI, Maurisa and her family see firsthand the benefits from the programs and felt that they should give back to the agency by hosting a Dr. Seuss themed benefit party for Jayce's birthday.

And the timing could not have been better as Jayce's birthday weekend kicked off a week of national reading celebrations during Dr. Seuss's 107th birthday for Read Across America Day on March 2nd.

Cake time!

"We chose the Dr. Seuss theme because we love books. Jayce loves to sit and flip through his board books," Maurisa said. "We value reading as a foundation for his future and have read to him every night since he was a month old."

As friends and family arrived for a Seussational adventure filled with red fish and blue fish made out of Jello and 478 diapers in tow, Jayce--with his cake-filled fists-- his very proud parents, and their guests gave local children and families much needed items from the CCFI wish list.

When the party came to an end and all the cake had been washed away, Jayce climbed into his chair- looking a little bit bare- and there he sat, exhausted, cuddled up with his Grinch stuffed animal... and after a year of laughter, learning and fun this little philanthropist turned one.

Gearing up for 11th annual block party

Check out this article from the Norman Transcript about our upcoming block party: 

NORMAN — The Center for Children and Families is gearing up for its 11th annual “I Love My Neighborhood Block Party” next month near Wilson Elementary School.

Block party competition, 2010

Chelsea Turner, program specialist for CCFI’s Neighborhood Centers, said the party will be noon to 2 p.m. April 9 in the parking lot of Trinity Baptist Church, 801 N. Peters Ave. Families can expect games, food and crafts.

The event will give families an opportunity to visit information booths set up by local organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Turner said. Vendors will supply food, and music will be provided.

Turner said about 1,000 people attended last year’s party.

Balloon animals being made, 2010 block party

“We’re just trying to reach out to the community and neighborhood to get everyone together,” she said.

Those who attend also can learn more about CCFI’s Neighborhood Centers program.

Turner said the Neighborhood Centers are available at Kennedy and Wilson elementary schools and Irving and Longfellow middle schools. The centers operate from 3:50 to 5:15 p.m. Monday and Wednesday at Irving Middle School and at the same times Tuesday and Thursday at Longfellow Middle School. Operation hours are later for elementary schools.

Mega slide, 2009

Turner said the centers are open 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday at Kennedy Elementary School and at the same time Tuesday and Thursday at Wilson Elementary School.

“We operate every day that they have school,” she said. “Our program is completely free and we have arts and crafts.” Turner said children also receive snacks.

For more information on this years block party click here.

Girl Power group offers middle schoolers guidance and friendship

For many girls, middle school becomes a pressure cooker filled with power struggles, conflicting impulses, physical growth and strong emotions. Girls at this age mostly talk.  Cliques get clique-ier, the need to be in power intensifies, girls can get meaner- and much of this behavior stems from the intense desire to belong. At the same time, middle-school girls develop deep and close friendships, separating from their families and forming their own rewarding social universes.

Out of our Neighborhood Centers after school and evening program, 55 girls meet each month to help each other navigate through these waves of middle school via a special group called: Girl Power!

CCFI Neighborhood Centers Girl Power Group

Developed out of on-going requests from the girls in the Neighborhood Centers program wanting to spend more time with female staff and volunteers, the Girl Power group elects to spend one Friday night per month addressing topics such as fitting in, schoolwork stress, bullying, concerns about being judged, boys, cliques, relationships with family members, and more through all sorts of activities and conversations.

For instance, this past Friday the Girl Power group discussed the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and the first step in building self-esteem was taken- talking about it. Once the conversation was started the girls began to relate with one another and saw that they weren't alone in battling the issues that they face. Each month interactions like these lead to more friendships based on personality and shared interest rather than looks- which causes many girls enormous amounts of pain. Having a strong support system, one where all feelings are valid and listened to can make a world of difference in helping girls 'hold it together' when braving some of those "middle-school storms."

Through interactions like these, each young woman is given the opportunity to hang out, belong and connect with girls they might not be friends with in other settings. For most girls, friends form the center of their lives. Friends light up girls' days in preschool, become inseparable in elementary school, and help girls in middle school develop their own, separate lives- it's through Girl Power, that we try to help them enjoy the ups and survive the downs of their ever evolving social lives with confidence.


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Oklahoma Ranks 44th in Child Well-Being

Key Findings: 

Oklahoma ranks among bottom 10 states on four of 10 indicators.

Nationally, Oklahoma ranked 47th in the child death rate; 45th in both the infant mortality rate and the teen birth rate; and 43rd in the percentage of children in poverty.

Recent increase brings infant mortality to 2000 level.
Between 2006 and 2007, the infant mortality rate in Oklahoma rose 6 percent to 8.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births—returning to the same level as in 2000. There were 469 infant deaths in the state in 2007.

Child poverty rises steadily since 2000.

In 2008, 23 percent of Oklahoma’s children lived in poverty—up from 19 percent in 2000 and 22 percent in 2007. The state’s child poverty rate is well above the national rate of 18 percent. (A family of two adults and two children were considered poor if their income in 2008 fell below $21,834.)

Significant drop in share of teens not in school and not high school graduates.
The percentage of Oklahoma teens ages 16-19 who were not enrolled in school and were not high school graduates has fallen significantly, from 14 percent in 2000 to 8 percent in 2008.

Information from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2010 KIDS COUNT Data Book

Next Generation Project

A preparation for the future supported by a three-year, $385,000 organizational development grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
  
At a Glance:
The Kellogg Foundation’s funding for the Next Generation CCFI Project is focused on strengthening the organization’s systems and infrastructure to ensure that CCFI will continue to be a viable source of assistance to children and families for many years to come.

“We are so honored and pleased that the Kellogg Foundation believes in CCFI enough to provide us with this significant grant,” said CCFI Executive Director Katie Fitzgerald. “But, it is important that the community understand that this grant is not intended to fund our current services.  We will still be dependent on the generosity of our community to support the vital services we provide to children every day.

The three central goals of the Next Generation Project include:

• A comprehensive review of CCFI’s services and the establishment of new or expanded partnerships to meet the current and projected needs of children and families, including the needs of diverse communities in Cleveland County and surrounding areas;
• The development of a strategic communications plan to increase awareness regarding the impact of abuse and neglect on children and the broader community, as well as increasing the number of clients and supporters engaged with the agency’s mission;
• A set of infrastructure improvements that will support expanded services including a new management information system.

“The Kellogg Foundation grant gives us a rare opportunity to invest in our infrastructure so that all of our community-based support can continue to go directly toward much needed services for children,” said Jennifer Newell, CCFI Board President.

The first step: 

Collecting input and ideas from community members interested in molding the future of the agency through monthly Community Roundtable Sessions.  

First Roundtable Session:

Who: CCFI Former Board Members
When: Friday, January 21st at 11:30 a.m.
Where: CCFI located at 1151 E. Main Street

The next Community Roundtable is open to the public and is scheduled for Friday, February 25th at 7:30 a.m. at CCFI.

To RSVP for a roundtable, contact April at 364-1420