Success in the summer!  Our busy summer season continued in the month of July!  It sure was a scorcher as a heatwave moved through our area, and our Energy Assistance Program was hard at work keeping families cool!  Our Weatherization Program was banging out houses in two new counties throughout the month, serving new families and helping them keep that air conditioning where it belongs–in their home!  Head Start staff were on a training frenzy, gearing up for the upcoming school year.  Section 8 was serving new families and utilizing new funding streams to help them access affordable housing.  Last but certainly not least, we launched a new program and provided fun and meaningful summer camp experiences for deserving kids in our community!  Here are some of the great successes we had during the month of July:

• Nine of our Head Start staff attended national Conscious Discipline® trainings!  Staff travelled to Orlando, FL and Little Rock, AR to attend Conscious Discipline 1 Conferences.  Jerica Anderson (Teacher at our Jennings County Center), Michel Beaty (Teacher at our Jennings County Center), Megan Ellegood (Teach at our Scott County Center), Stormy Moore (Teacher Assistant at our Madison Center), Nickie Nolan (Teacher at our Madison Center), Mary Osterman (Teacher Assistant at our Hanover Center), Maia Schwers (Teacher at our Madison Center), and Lynn Sutherland (Teacher at our Madison Center) participated in the training to learn more strategies for implementing this awesome social-emotional program in their classrooms to help students learn to self-regulate their emotions and behaviors and assist our teachers in creating the best learning environments possible.  Michele Hopper, our Head Start Mentor Coach, was also at the training, not as an attendee but as a table helper!  As table helper, she received a scholarship to attend the training event, assisted with demonstrations and sessions, and helped other early childhood educators across the nation learn about Conscious Discipline.
• Project LIVE was able to assist 4 Section 8 families with lease deposits!  Project LIVE is supported by funding from the Neighborhood Assistance Program Tax Credits and the Scott County United Way and assists eligible households with lease deposits that allow them to enter into lease agreements and utilize their Section 8 vouchers.  For those 4 families, the affordable housing dream has now become a reality!
• Our Energy Assistance Program began distributing air conditioners for the Summer Program!  We received 50 a/c units to give to families in need in our communities.  By assisting the elderly, disabled, young children, and those with medical conditions that require air conditioning, these a/c units are quite literally life-saving!
• Jamie Bare, our Human Resources Director, and Patty Spillman, our Head Start Transportation Coordinator, completed the Department of Transportation (DOT) Collector Training.  This training is part of the process of being certified to complete drug testing for our employees to ensure the highest quality staffing at our agency and to meet state and federal regulations.
• The Camp And More Project was a great success!  This project was provided in 2 parts.  For Part 1, we sent 17 youth ages 10-13 to Jameson Camp, an overnight, recreational summer camp in Indianapolis.  Each camper received a full scholarship to attend camp, transportation to and from Jameson along with their family, and packing list essentials for their week at camp.  They attended July 9-14th for Wellness Week at Jameson, a week of camp devoted to physical, emotional, environmental, intellectual, spiritual, and social wellness.  In CAMP Part 2, we provided a week long leadership and recreational day camp for teens ages 14-17.  Throughout the week, teens developed valuable leadership traits while making friends and tackling challenges at local attractions like the Louisville Mega Cavern, Zip City Indy, and Breakout Games Louisville.  The week culminated in a service project, giving our CAMPers the opportunity to put their newfound leadership and teamwork skills to use and give back to their community!
• We have reached 500 likes on our Facebook page!  Social media is a great community outreach tool and keeps folks in the know about events going on at our agency, important deadlines, program updates, and awesome pictures and client testimonials.
• Our Head Start Program passed 4 Semi-Annual Bus Inspections conducted by the Indiana State Police!  At OVO, safety is our priority.  Acing inspections shows that our hard work is paying off and we are taking the necessary steps to keep our students safe!

Our success blog is just a quick peek at all the of the great things we’ve got going on here at our organization.  To learn more, we always encourage you to check out our website and our Facebook page to see pictures, read what clients are saying about us, and hear more about events and accomplishments featured in our “Celebrating Success” blog.  Go OVO!