The United Way of the Greater Clarksville Region is pleased to welcome five new programs to its family: Child Advocacy Center for the 23rd District’s “Reclaiming Me” program, Mid-Cumberland Developmental Services of Dickson County’s Montgomery County Imagination Library program, Manna Café’s Mobile Café program, L.E.A.P. Organization’s Supportive Emergency Housing, Child Care Assistance and LEAP Intern programs, and Students Taking a Right Stand’s (STARS) Student Assistance and Kids on the Block program. They join the 33 current programs dedicated to assisting community members throughout Montgomery, Houston and Stewart Counties and the Fort Campbell Area.
· The Child Advocacy Center is a place for children who are victims/alleged victims of child abuse. They receive support after a report of child abuse has been made. Located in Charlotte, Tennessee, (Dickson County) they work with police and child protection workers to speak with children in a safe and child-friendly location. The goals of the center are to increase children's safety to help children and their families heal from the trauma and victimization of child abuse, prosecute child abuse perpetrators, educate the community on ways to decrease the occurrences of child abuse and to assist families in reclaiming a healthy safe home environment.
· Any child from birth to 5 years of age in Montgomery County can receive a free book every month through the Montgomery County Imagination Library. There is a national committee of individuals who meet each year to review the Library. The committee is composed of representatives from Parents as Teachers National Center, the International Reading Association, the University of Tennessee, Rutgers University, and the teaching profession. New titles are introduced each year so younger siblings will not receive the exact same books as their older siblings. Bilingual titles are available.
In 1996, Dolly Parton launched the Imagination Library Program to benefit the children in her home county in East Tennessee. Her goal was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families and wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.
· Founders and pastors of Manna Cafe’ Ministries, Kenny and Vicki York have a combined 16 years experience serving the poor. The Mobile Café program began in April of 2010. Mobile Cafe consists of taking hot, appetizing meals to homeless camps, parking lots, and /or other gathering places, both indoor and out. Sometimes they include worship and a brief church service; other times, they simply offer hot food and a smile. Presently, Mobile Café consists of Tuesday Night Café, Thursday Night Café, and Saturday Morning Community Breakfast (in cooperation with Grace Community Church). Since the program began, they have served over 1500 individuals.
· The mission of LEAP is to develop and strengthen communities of productive citizenship with values of Leadership, Enlightenment, Academic Achievement, and Perseverance through faith, hope and love by providing mentoring, tutoring, affordable housing, and various assistance programs. L.E.A.P. provides adequate housing to low income single parents, quality and professional child and family development services for low income families in our community, establishes a development program for youth for primary education, community involvement, higher education and career development, and establishes strategies and implement workforce development initiatives that addresses the problem of long-term, disproportionately high unemployment within community.
· Students Taking A Right Stand (STARS) is the leader in school-based student assistance program services in middle Tennessee. STARS helps schools tackle tough issues that threaten the emotional, psychological and academic well-being of students - issues such as substance abuse, violence, bullying, harassment, family conflicts and divorce, loss, grief, and other concerns. Through assemblies, classroom presentations, and group or individual counseling sessions, STARS Nashville assists schools in preventing and confronting these difficult challenges.
Kids on the Block educates children - as well as the broader community - about health and social concerns that affect their lives. Using puppets and other teaching tools, Kids on the Block promotes understanding and acceptance of all children and adults, regardless of their differences. Their KIDS ON THE BLOCK program reached over 40,000 young children in 2008-2009 by making over 500 puppet performances in Middle Tennessee.
Other partners of United Way include: Adult Literacy Council; AJAX Turner Senior Citizens Center; Bethesda Community Mission; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Clarksville; Boys Scouts of America – Cogioba District; Catholic Charities- Creating Hope by Assisting Parents Program; Centerstone- Regional Intervention Program; Clarksville Area YMCA Youth Programs; Clarkville-Montgomery Couty Community Action Agency- Foster Grandparents, Head Start, Old Firehouse Day Shelter and RSVP programs; Crisis 2-1-1; Fort Campbell Armed Services YMCA; Fort Campbell Army Community Services; Girl Scout Council of the Cumberland Valley; Highland Rim Economic Corporation- HeadStart program; Hearing Bridges; J.D. Lewis Senior Citizens’ Center of Houston County; Legal Aid Society; Mid-Cumberland Human Resource Agency- Homemaker Program and Meals on Wheels; Nurses for Newborns of Tennessee; Parents Reaching Out; Progressive Directions Inc. – Early Intervention, Adult Services and Buddy Ball programs; Stewart County Imagination Library; United Methodist Urban Ministries – Grace Assistance, SafeHouse and Turning Point Transitional Housing programs; Youth Center Cooperative of Houston County and Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center.
United Way and its Partner Agencies are working to advance the common good by focusing on education, income and health. These are the building blocks for a good life – a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health. Their goal is to create long-lasting changes that prevent problems from happening in the first place.
The United Way of the Greater Clarksville Region is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and survives solely upon donations from the community and through grants. Last year, over 96,000 people throughout Houston, Montgomery, and Stewart Counties in Tennessee and the Fort Campbell area benefitted from the programs supported and monitored by the United Way of the Greater Clarksville Region. The regional community they serve is growing, and the needs they work to address each day are growing proportionately.
United Way is committed to making measurable improvements throughout the community. Annually, each partner agency and its program(s) must undergo a review to ensure they are meeting the requirements put into place to guarantee that effective change is taking place throughout Montgomery, Houston and Stewart Counties and the Fort Campbell area. This is just one way the United Way of the Greater Clarksville Region holds itself accountable in action and results. For more information, please visit liveunitedclarksville.org or call 931-647-4291.
