We have played a significant role in:
Increased Communication, Cooperation, and Collaboration, regarding children and youth issues.
Coordinated Parenting Classes, sponsored by Madison Memorial Hospital and Love, Language, and Literacy.
Creation of a Community Food Bank, maintained by the Family Crisis Center with food collected by the Boy Scouts of America.
Positive Attitudes Through Scouting program.
Bicycle Safety Education and Helmet program.
4-H Middle School Program.
Families in Transition Program.
Community Youth Search (Open Agenda) Conference, with the creation and completion of multiple projects around youth and community issues.
Community Resource Guide.
Hundreds of thousands (approaching millions) of dollars in grant moneys.
Shared Resources.
AmeriCorp Volunteer
Upper Valley Free Clinic
Upper Valley Faith Coalition (Faith and Justice Network)
Youth Action Council
Project Imagine
Upper Valley Children's Mental Health Alliance
Update on the accomplishments of the Madison County Community Council on 9-26-02 by the current Chair of the Council, Rob Tietjen. Some accomplishments may be repeated.
Profile for the Madison County Community Council
Mission: To be proactive in seeking, developing, and promoting ways of improving the general quality of life for the children of Madison County and their families.
To accomplish its mission, the Council will regularly solicit input from all concerned citizens, sponsor activities that build spheres of influence throughout the county, and foster programs that teach the values of:
Education Kindness
Responsibility
Respect
Integrity
Trust
Loyalty
Friendship
Work
Honesty
Obedience
Faith
The Madison County Community Council has been functioning now for almost a decade. Its primary purpose was to bring community agencies together and help increase support for various programs that would benefit the youth and families of Madison County. During that period of time many large and beneficial programs have earned acclaim and enjoyed success in meeting the mission of the Council. Valuable information is also distributed to Council members as they meet with various entities from the immediate community and external agencies.
The Council is composed of leaders throughout the community from civic, public, religious, government and business sectors. The next few pages will give an overview of some of the programs implemented, achievements noted, and funds procured because of the coordination efforts of the Madison County Community Council.
Programs started:
Free Parenting Classes – now held and sponsored by the hospital
Immunization Coalition – holds free Immunization Clinics sponsored by Kiwanis, Dist 7 Health, the hospital, the Civic Club, and many others
Youth Search Conferences – 2 day conference held with youth and leaders of the community to brainstorm and act on youth concerns in the community.
Upper Valley Faith Coalition – several key religious leaders from various sects meeting to help with the needs of the faith based community.
Free Medical Clinic – provides free medical care to uninsured.
Love, Language & Literacy Program – gives fairs and information to parents to help with reading and brain development
Parents as Teachers – helps parents increase their parenting skills by working with them and their children one on one in their own homes.
Love & Logic – teaches courses to parents on parenting skills (sometimes held in conjunction with the parenting classes).
Americorps Volunteers – has provided valuable human resource in accomplishing Community Council goals.
Family Action Committee – awards adults and youth in the community for their emulation of values esteemed by the community council.
Youth Action Council – a group of youth and leaders that promote service and values in the community.
40 Asset Committee – researches the community’s current standing on asset development in our youth and promotes methods for increasing these asset’s.
Community Wellness Fair – promotes healthy lifestyles in the community (ranging from physical, emotional, and mental to social, spiritual, and financial.
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP’s) outreach – provides outreach to help uninsured families receive needed health insurance.
Infant Hearing Screening – screens all infants born in Madison County to prevent early hearing loss.
Early Childhood Project – provides free early childhood education to increase readiness for kindergarten and subsequent schooling.
Afterschool Program – provides free extracurricular activities and mentoring for youth.
Community Learning Centers – offers free education from literacy to computer skills to adults who need assistance or wish to continue their education.
Neighborhood Block Parties – promotes community bonding and security by paying for block party supplies and giving lectures on community safety and drug awareness by community officers.
Drug Free Community Support – Offers programs and resources (such as DARE) to rid our community of drugs and related violence.
Domestic Violence Support (Safe Place) – provides havens of security where youth and adults can go to escape social pressures and physical harm.
Resource Guide – a list of agency resources published on the web for community member and leader access (i.e. Alcoholics Anonymous, Agency on Aging, Family Crisis Center, etc.).
Achievements:
Parenting classes – now boasting classes averaging around 50 parents a week.
Immunization Coalition – received an award from Governor Kempthorne because of fantastic results (an increase from 64% of children immunized to 85% in 2 years)
Youth Search Conference – has resulted in the culmination of several worthy projects – most notably the skate park.
Upper Valley Faith Coalition – making a resource guide of community religious contacts for hotels, hospitals, clinics, etc.
Free Medical Clinic – has received great acclaim for the work they are performing – especially with the Hispanic population.
Love, Language & Literacy Program – their brain awareness fair and reading programs have shown a notable increase in children’s scores entering grade school.
Parents as Teachers – has enjoyed great success with a backlog of over a thousand parents waiting for the instruction. Pulled in over 600 people at the last PAT meeting where free books were distributed along with vision and hearing screenings.
Love & Logic – this course is a big hit among parents and has enjoyed class sizes close to 100 people.
Youth Action Council – a group of youth and leaders that promote service and values in the community.
40 Asset Committee – researches the community’s current standing on asset development in our youth and promotes methods for increasing these asset’s.
Community Wellness Program & Fair – has increased each year and has had great success - especially among the school district.
Infant Hearing Screening – received a silver star from the State for their efforts and success in catching infants with hearing problems before they leave the hospital.
Web-based swapmeet – has provided a tool for agencies to list resources that they need or have in excess to more effectively distribute used or underutilized materials.
Family Action Committee – has been successfully incorporated throughout the community in the media, in schools, and in organizations to help promote the values of the Community Council.
Funds Procured:
Since the Community Council has begun, it has played a significant role in securing grants and funds for community projects. Many of the grants applied for were awarded because of the strong community support funders noted in the Community Council. The following represent a few of these procurements.
Early Childhood Project $500,000
Afterschool Program and
Community Learning Centers $1.8 million
Americorps Volunteers Around $200,000
Drug Free Community Support $475,000
CHIP’s Outreach $180,000
And many more small grants and community funding to make possible all of the wonderful services we now provide. In addition to all of these, the Madison County Community Council has assisted many agencies and businesses in the community to help fulfill their needs and support their value programs through services, equipment, space, or distribution of information.
