Program areas at West Central Minnesota Communities Action
West Central Communities Action's (wcmca) head start program is a comprehensive child development program that supports the growth of young children within the family and the growth of family within the community. We believe parents are the primary nurturers, educators, and advocates for their children. This family centered approach works to produce high quality early childhood services. We deliver comprehensive services including: health, nutrition, family support service, parent engagement and early childhood education. Program services are provided through center based (classroom) for preschool aged children and home-based (home-visit) for enrolled pregnant women or children ages 0-3. We implement evidence-based research curriculums that are proven to make a difference in families lives and in children's learning outcomes. The staff of our head start program are trained and coached to implement research strategies and curriculums in the classroom and during home visits to promote positive, sustained child outcomes. We are especially proud of our social emotional well-being and literacy and language development. This has been achieved by providing young children the language-rich, stimulating environments they need to develop strong vocabularies. A dual focus of the program is to strengthen family development. This is accomplished through intentional scaffolding of support to meet individual needs. Community resources are matched with parent/family needs to achieve goals toward self-sufficiency. An additional unique part of head start governance and community needs assessment is the policy council. Policy council members oversee the delivery of the program services to children and families. Policy council is comprised of community representative and parent representatives from each of the head start centers and the early head start home-based programs. The parents of enrolled head start children at each center elect the representatives. This program is designed to promote equity by serving low-income children and their families. The number of children and families served under this program is 373.
The family and community services department operates a variety of programs to serve the low-income, which includes emergency services, homelessness, parenting time and exchange center, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing programs. Number of participants served: emergency housing applications received - 515 applications, homeless rental assistance - 61 participants, prevention rental assistance- 105 participants, emergency shelter grant hotel vouchers- 24 households, hra cares 6 households, transitional housing - 20 , house keys 7 households, homework starts at home- 4 households, long term homeless 26 households, launch pad 18 households, housing supports 10 households, homeless to housed 15 households, and parenting time & exchanges - 1187 services provided.the statewide faim program is a matched savings project that enables mn low-income wage earners to build assets through the purchase of a home or personal vehicle, pursuit of higher education, or the start/expansion of a small business within the state. Current funding for faim is provided by mn department of human services and participating organizations. Wcmca contracts with 24 agencies across Minnesota, primarily community Action agencies, to implement the program locally and provide financial coaching to those enrolled. Participants make monthly deposits from earned income to their faim savings account at bremer bank. Deposits up to $2,000 made during the 24-month savings period are matched at a rate of 3:1 up to a household lifetime maximum of $6,000. The minimum enrollment period varies by grant and the maximum enrollment period is 30-months. Faim participants are required to complete 12 hours of financial management training, 10 additional hours of asset-specific training, and any requirements of their chosen asset before payout to a third-party vendor may be requested. Since its beginning, faim participants have opened 5,992 savings accounts, 3,279 have obtained an asset, and 106 enrollees are still actively saving to achieve their goal.the housing counseling services which include pre-purchase counseling, foreclosure mitigation and homebuyer education which are funded through the us department of housing and urban development as well as Minnesota housing and the Minnesota homeownership center. Housing programs provide services that assist clientele in obtaining or preserving the asset that is their home in order to enhance their self-reliance in the five-county area of douglas, grant, pope, stevens and traverse counties. In fy 2023 wmca served 11 households with foreclosure mitigation services, 10 households with pre-purchase counseling, and 10 households with homebuyer education services. Wmca was much lower in households served this year compared to previous years due to the loss of counseling staff. The free tax preparation program serves low to middle income households throughout wcmca's five county service area. The program is funded in part by the irs, the Minnesota department of revenue, and the otto bremer foundation. The program served 2,947 households this past tax season.wcmca operates various other programs to serve the low-income, which enables them to become independent and achieve their goals towards living a life out of poverty. Some of these programs are: applications for mn sure - 94 enrollments, and ready ride for adults 60+: 21 participants and a total of 348 rides, number of rides medical: 230, number of rides non-medical, 118. Ready ride for adults 18 - 64 on primewest ma for medical rides only: 33participants and a total of 377 medical rides. Number of hcr applications: 62, number of hcr clients (by household): 39, number of chore appointments: 136, number of homemaking appointments: 127, number of maintenance appointments: 24, additionally wcmca does referrals, outreach, and advocacy
Wcmca's weatherization assistance program is funded through the us department of energy, health & human services, and the conservation improvement programs, which are funded by the local utility companies. These programs help households with lower incomes cut their heating costs and improves the comfort level of their homes by making energy saving home improvements. Some of these improvements include: insulation, air sealing, ventilation, and mechanical repairs and/or replacements. To be eligible, households must have incomes that are at or below 200% of poverty. These programs have a priority system to target the neediest. The priority system consists of: households of elderly, high consumers, disabled individuals, and families with children. Some of these programs are available to homeowners as well as renters. Wcmca's housing auditors complete the energy audit of a home to determine the improvements allowed. This is accomplished through the use of our energy modeling tool software. Local contractors are then hired to make the necessary improvements to the home. The state average weatherization cost per home is $8,009.00; through leveraging we are able to get our average per home down to approximately $2,100 per home in our primary doe weatherization program. The number of households served: 350.wcmca's energy assistance program helps low-income people meet their home energy needs. Eligible households receive grants to help pay energy costs. Energy consumption is reduced through heating system audits, retrofits, conservation, and repair activities. Crisis assistance gives immediate help to those in emergency situations. Energy related repairs provide heating related repairs for emergencies. Actual heating costs from the previous heating season and household income determine the amount of assistance that is received. All payments for primary heat ($2,403,819), crisis liheap ($2,241,562), lihwap water crisis program ($613,900) and energy related repair ($499,326) are generated from the state of mn through the e-heat system. Additionally, funds are provided by companies and donations from individuals to provide crisis payments on behalf of the clients: 61 clients received additional assistance from the reach out for warmth project.the housing department oversees the building of new homes, the contract for deed homes, and the rehabilitation of homes. Number of participants served: new homes - 2 participants, remodeled homes- 1 participant, contract for deed homes - 21 participants, housing rehabilitation - 9 participants, and community land trust - 3 participants.