Volume 12, Issue 10 August, 2014 K

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Helping People. Changing Lives. Serving Eastern Oklahoma Since 1968 K

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What a Test! Kenny Moore recently spent 3 1/2 hours testing for the title of Quality Control Inspector for weatheriza-tion. Moore started the test by looking at a client’s file. He then went to the mock-up home to inspect the work performed by weatherization staff. His job was to ensure the work met specific guidelines. According to Moore, “ This was a very difficult exam, but my years of experience with KI BOIS Com-munity Action Weatherization Program prepared me for the process. The entire time I was testing I was also being videoed to make sure that I had completed the inspection….it was stressful!” After passing the test, Moore is now certified to go any-where in the United States as a Quality Control Inspector.

Pictured (l-r) ODOT Finance Director Russell Hulin; Transit Programs Manager Ernestine Mbroh; Stephen F. Lalli, OTA executive director; Gilbert Nuncio, Scott Mathews, both Red River Transportation; Vicky Holland, CART, OTA President Jeannie McMillin, Little Dixie Transit; Karen Nichols, Delta Public Transit; ODOT Director Mike Patterson; Mike Jordan, KI BOIS Area Transit System; Susan Coldwater, CART; Jackie Perry, Delta Public Transit; Kent Watson, SORTS; Brent Morey, Red River Transportation; Allen Leaird, SORTS

Who Do You Call? Public Transit PURCELL, JANUARY 31ST, 2014 - URGENT -The James C. Nance Bridge on state Highway 39 over the South Canadian River between Purcell and Lexington will be closed indefinitely on Friday. All traffic, both vehicles and pedestrians, will be turned away by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol on both the east and west ends of the bridge as the bridge could collapse under

(Continued on page 6)

From the Desk of the Executive Director / CEO

Page 2 KI BOIS News

KI BOIS News is published monthly by

KI BOIS Community Action Foundation, Inc.

200 Southeast “A” Street P.O. Box 727

Stigler, OK 74462 918-967-3325 800-299-4479

www.kibois.org

R. Carroll Huggins Executive Director / CEO

Tom Marlatt Associate Director / CFO

Larry Hall, Associate Director / COO

KI BOIS Community Action

Board of Directors Gene Bass, Board Chairperson

John Cook, 1st VP Kenneth Monroe, 2nd VP Jan Coplen, Sec/Treasurer

Cecil Williams, Parliamentarian Steve Carter, Member

Kay Box, Editor

918-967-3325, Ext. 131 kay.wood@kibois.org

August 2014

Calendar of Events 50th Anniversary of

Community Action, Washington, D.C. August 19th -23rd.

KI BOIS Community Action Executive Board

Meeting, Monday, August 25th, 2:00 p.m., KI BOIS

Community Action Administrative office.

KI BOIS Community Action offices closed

Monday, September 1st , in observance of

Our Head Start employees are back at work and are preparing for their three and four year old children. Their pre-service and summer training is now behind them. Many of them have recently completed two and four year college degrees, CDA’s, and/or Early Childhood certificates. Most of the public school will start back this month. Some are begin-ning as early as August 4th and some as late as August 25th. KI BOIS Community Action Head Start has received ap-proximately a 5% cut in funding in our State Appropriated Funds. We also received a 5% cut in funding in our Com-munity Action State Appropriated Funds.

At the Federal Level we expect to be operating under a continuing resolution until after the November 2014 elec-tions.

Some people say that problems are not problems, but rather, they are opportunities. In Community Action there are daily problems or opportunities depending on how you look at it.

That means the greatest of opportunities awaits us. The opportunity to impact lives. There are three kinds of work: First there is a job, where the goal is simple earning a living and sup-porting your family. Then there’s the career, where you trace your progress through various appointments and achievements. Finally, there’s the calling, the ideal blending of activity and character that makes work inseparable from life.

We are truly blessed to be called to work with disadvantaged children and adults, to daily have the opportunity to impact their lives. Community Action, what a wonderful profession! What a wonderful opportunity!

Carroll Huggins, CCAP

Executive Director / CEO

Carroll Huggins

KI BOIS Community Action has a new board member representing LeFlore County! Left, Carroll Huggins and far right, Gene Bass, welcomes Neil Brannon. Brannon had been a state representative for several years. Thanks Mr. Brannon for your many years of service and many more years to come.

Page 3 KI BOIS News

In July 2012, KI BOIS Community Action Board Chair Gene Bass and his wife, Betty, rescued two cute kittens, Tom and Larry, from a shelter. Today, a little over two years later as you can see, Tom and Larry are no longer cute little kittens, but have ma-tured into large cats. No questions regarding the names were asked at the time of the first pub-lication and to date their names are still a mystery. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Bass for taking care of Tom and Larry and giv-ing them a home!

How many women did it take to put Royce's new desk together? Kaitlyn, Linda, Joyce, Jan, Shelli B., Shelly D., Morgan, Kay, Doylene, Brandy, Nicole, Marci, Jodi, Heather, Christi, Tiffany, Sandra, Jessica…….. . Good job ladies!

Isn’t this amazing…..what creativity and talent! Gans Head Start Center Direc-tor/Lead Teacher Cadesty Brunk’s hus-band, Daniel, spent approximately four hours carving KI BOIS Community Ac-tion’s logo onto a watermelon.

According to Chadesty, “Daniel is very talented in the engineering aspect of any project. He made his own home-made engraver device to accomplish the task.”

Daniel is a project manager for Nahbolz Construction.

New Address for:

KI BOIS Community

Care

631 Hunter Ave. Boswell, OK

74727

580-566-2641

KI BOIS News Page 4

Head Start Cooks Compete... KI BOIS Community Action Head Start cooks proved it doesn’t have to be unhealthy to be fun. The creative designs get children’s imaginations flowing and encour-ages the children to eat fruits, vegetables and cheese. KI BOIS Community Action Head Start will be work-ing hard to encourage children to make healthy choices during the 2014-2015 school year!

KI BOIS NEWS Page 5

By: Denise Daniels, Coordinator The Halt Project

The SWAT/YAB Planning Retreat was held on August 1, 2014 at First Baptist Church in Stigler. Activities started at 8pm and lasted overnight until following morning.

The Retreat was an activity to celebrate our SWAT kids that have been active in the past year, and to have them play an active role in designing our strategic plan for the upcoming year. They were also educated on the tactics of big tobacco companies.

During the course of the evening, the kids attended sessions from our community partners and coalition. Karen Lyons, Coordinator from Choc-taw Nation Project SAFE, presented team building and dating safe-ty. Ginni Dilday, Adolescent Health Specialist with Pittsburg County Nursing Service, spoke on internet safety. Linda Ehrhardt, Oklahoma Heath Care Authority, presented an activity on team building. Royce Alverson came to help with technical moral support.

All in all we had a very productive evening. The kids came up with some great ideas for the coming year. We will be doing school recruit-ment soon, as well as additional activities that will educate the community and expose the big tobacco companies’ lies.

On August 9, 2014, the YAB/SWAT kids participated in the cardboard box boat races at Robbers Cave. This was an activity that the kids wanted to participate in. They started with the construction of the cardboard box by putting YAB on one side and SWAT on the other side. The boat race was a lot of fun. The kids had no idea what to expect, this being their first time to participate. We were very much out-classed from the beginning. However, the kids had fun in spite of the rainy weather. Lauryn Rader from Wilburton, was our fearless captain and she gave a brave salute as the boat sank into the lake.

The YAB/SWAT boat came in first for de-sign and race. It was actually the only one in its category, but that is beside the point.

Page 6 KI BOI News

In Loving Memory

its own weight. ODOT says the bridge has 22 cracks between an inch wide and seven inches wide and any of them could lead to failure. Officials say the bridge will remain closed for months while repair is ongoing. The bridge is 75 years old and is the same design as the Interstate 35 bridge in Minnesota that collapsed several years ago. The alternate route around the bridge takes drivers up High-way 77 into Noble and Norman. This route will add about 45 minutes to the trip. In order to help with the additional cost of fuel and the inconvenience of the additional miles, ODOT called on local rural transits. Public transits from CART, Delta Public Transit, KI BOIS Area Transit, Red River Transportation and SORTS all responded to the call. The five systems coordinated for the seven day a week service, totaling over 11,000 rides February 10th through June 13th. To show their appreciation ODOT hosted a barbeque luncheon for the transit providers. ODOT also honored each provider with a Certificate of Appreciation for providing transit services. ODOT Director Mike Patterson said he knew transit "would respond." During his remarks to the commissioners Patterson also cited the transit drivers and the connections made with the passengers.

According to KI BOIS Area Transit Director Charla Sloan, “We sent two buses to help get residents from one area to the other. It was tough, but we are pleased with the outcome. I would like to thank our drivers Charles Graffman, Sharon Arnett, Roderick Harrison, Donna Atkins, Mike Jordan, Cheryl Jordan, Teddy Black-wood, Bernice Rogers, Rufus Kilgore and Redonia Bow-ers. These drivers would go to Norman on Sunday night and get back home Friday night. The first pickup was at 6:00 a.m. every day and the last drop off was 8:00 p.m. This took a lot of commitment and I would like to say Thank You to the drivers for all of their hard work.”

Who Do You Call? Cont. from page 1

The James C. Nance Bridge as repairs were being made.

On August 11th, 2014, The Veterans Administration announced awards

for Priority 2 renewal grants.

Congratulations to

KI BOIS Community Action Supportive Services for Veteran

Families (SSVF) Program on being re-funded.

If you know of a veteran or a veteran’s family that is

struggling contact:

SSVF Director Tammy Randazzo

at 918-681-7525

Kathryn Wann June 1, 1936 - June 12, 2014

Mrs. Wann was

the mother of KI BOIS

Community Action

LeFlore County Administrative

Assistant Jessie Tucker

Page 7 KI BOIS News

Ledger Michael was born July 291h, weighing nine pounds and one ounce and was 19 3/4 inches long. Proud mom is Elizabeth and Grandma is KI BOIS Community Action Head Start Secre-tary Elaine Boyd.

It’s babies and more babies!

Khloe RainaLee Swart was born July 5th, weigh-ing six pounds, ten ounces and 19 inches long. Proud parents are Miranda Boren and Joshua Swart. Khloe is the first great-grandchild of KI BOIS Community Action Head Start Assistant Technology Coordinator Regina Bratton..

Kaydence Faith was born July 11th weighing seven pounds, nine ounces and was 19 inches long Pround mom is Keshia Stiles and great-grandparents Head Start Director Donna Carolan and husband, Jerry.

Briley Dru was born on July 15th weighing seven pounds, four ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Proud parents are Caleb and Mallory Knowlton. Grammy is KI BOIS Community Action Human Resources Director Doylene Knowlton and husband

David. Briley was also welcomed home by Aunt Kaitlyn, who also is employed by KI BOIS Com-munity Action as a clerk.

On Monday July 14th, The Tahlequah Head Start office hosted a blood drive for the community. “The goal for the blood drive was originally six-teen donors, but we thought we could do better, so we upped our goal to 21. When the last drop of blood was drawn we had a total of 23 donors. There were a lot of staff who tried but, for whatever reason were not able to do-nate. Thanks to everyone who came out and made our blood drive a huge success.” states Head Start Administrative Coordinator Kimberly Tyer.

Left to right are Donna Carolan, Regina Martin, Karen Resendiz and Anita Crow.

The Back to School Bash held in Haskell County had lots of children and parents eager to receive school supplies. The events was held Friday, Au-gust 1st at the Kiamichi Technology Center in Stigler. Back to School events were also held in Latimer and LeFlore Counties.

These positions are open to KI BOIS Community Action Foundation Staff as well as to the public. (ALL POSITIONS SUBJECT TO CONTINUED PROJECT FUNDING.) Deadline for all openings: Until Filled. Current employees – please submit a letter of interest to Human Resources. Applications may be picked up at any KI BOIS Community Action Foundation, Inc. office or printed from the website, www.kibois.org. Applications should be returned to:

KI BOIS Community Action Foundation, Inc. P. O. Box 727, Stigler, OK 74462 Attention: Human Resources

Phone: 800.299.4479 Fax: 918.967.9100 KI BOIS COMMUNITY ACTION FOUNDATION, INC. IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

KI BOIS News Page 8

KI BOIS Community Action Notice of Job Posting www.kibois.org - August 5th, 2014

KI BOIS AREA TRANSIT PROGRAM

JOB TITLE: TRANSIT DRIVERS (Contact local Transit Office to verify opening)

JOB REQUIREMENTS: Maintain a valid dr iver ’s license. Good dr iving record. Must be physically able to assist pas-sengers and their belongings while entering and exiting the vehicles. Must be able to lift a minimum of 50 lbs and provide wheel chair assistance. Should have knowledge of area resources and live within convenient distance of city where job opening is available.

KI BOIS OAKS REHABILITATIVE SERVICES CENTER JOB TITLE: SUBSTANCE ABUSE TECH - FT (McAlester)

JOB REQUIREMENTS: Assist Clinical Staff by providing logistical and suppor t services to residential clients. HS Diplo-ma/GED.

KI BOIS HEAD START PROGRAMS SOUTH and NORTH  JOB TITLE: ASSISTANT TEACHER - FT (Liberty and Tahlequah South)

JOB REQUIREMENTS: Must have CDA Credential or AA, or must complete within 2 years.

JOB TITLE: RECEPTIONIST - FT (Head Start North - Tahlequah)

JOB REQUIREMENTS: HS Diploma/GED. Excellent communication, organizational and data entry skills.

JOB TITLE: TEACHER'S AIDES AND SUBS - PT (Inquire at your local Head Start Center)

JOB REQUIREMENTS: Must have HS Diploma/GED and enjoy working with children.

KI BOIS DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES PROGRAM JOB TITLE: HABILITATION TRAINING SPECIALIST - PT/FT (Stigler Group Home, Poteau, McAlester, Ada, Ardmore, Pauls Valley and Sulphur)

JOB REQUIREMENTS: Will serve as direct suppor t staff for consumers. Ability to handle sensitive issues while protect-ing others’ welfare. Able to exercise patience, understanding, creativity and flexibility. HS Diploma/GED, valid DL and auto insurance. Must complete Foundation, CPR and First Aid Training (and any other training as required/requested.) Must be able to lift a minimum of 50 lbs.