Recovery vs Stimulus

It amuses me that it matters whether I say "stimulus" or "recovery." The word "stimulus" currently carries the burden of a failed strategy under a previous administration while "recovery" waves the banner of "change" for the new administration. Either way, it'll be nice to get something moving. From as early as last January we have been hearing about the critical need to spend recovery dollars quickly, efficiently, and with great accountability. If the money were in a CMCA account right now that's exactly what we'd be doing. Unfortunately, the downside of "recovery" funds is that it takes a heck of a lot more planning, budgeting, partnering, training, etc. than the shot-in-the-arm cashflow of a "stimulus" check that didn't even buy me the tv I'd been pining over. Check out my blog post from January 2008 to see my preference between these two hot-button words. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has the potential to meaningfully stimulate the economy. CMCA alone will be creating roughly 50 jobs directly, not to mention all of the workers and employers we'll be supporting through our programs. Community Action has always been about supporting employee retention. When you can foster stability in the home, assist with basic needs, provide high quality early education through Head Start, and train people for new jobs or increase their work skills, you're stimulating the economy by helping people work! It's exciting to think about all the opportunities we're going to see over the next two years as the recovery funds role out to communities throughout the country. New jobs, invigorated infrastructure, and a new economy based on a healthier set of economic parameters . . . now that's a stimulus I can get behind.

Director's Report - Planning for Stimulus Funds

Since we first started hearing whispers about an economic stimulus package the CMCA board and Leadership Team have been brainstorming on our involvement. The first news that dribbled in was that our Weatherization program would expand significantly. We found out shortly thereafter that it meant we would go from weatherizing roughly 140 homes per year to around 100 homes per month. Subsequent information has shed some light on additional funding for our Employment and Training program, Community Services Block Grant, Head Start and Early Head Start. We still don't have exact details nor guidance on how to access these funds but our plans are gaining some definition. Check out this link for my report to the Board of Directors on the Leadership Team's efforts to brainstorm and begin articulating a plan of action. As soon as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds are available, CMCA is ready to flood mid-Missouri with additional services and do our part to support our economy's recovery.

Quick Notes

Our 100 Man lunch in March was extrememly successful. 512 men attended across the 8 counties! This is a new record for this event!

Mernell King, Early Childhood Programs Director, has been selected for the National Head Start Association Leadership Award. She will be presented with her award at the National Head Start Association conference on May 1.

Please join Central Missouri Community Action (CMCA) for a first annual, break-out fundraising event on the Katy Trail on April 25, 2009. This unique fundraising event will highlight five beautiful stops along the Katy Trail and celebrates the efforts CMCA has undergone to eliminate poverty in Mid-Missouri. Please visit our event website to register today!

If you aren't available or interested in riding, consider supporting CMCA by making a pledge to my family's contribution.

Riding Out Poverty features 4 legs of the Katy Trail that will accommodate riders of all levels. As a provider that serves the 8-county area that comprises mid-MO, Central Missouri Community Action will be celebrating four of its counties within the legs.

Leg One - North Jefferson to Cooper’s Landing =20.8 miles

Start Time: 9:00 a.m.

Leg Two - Hartsburg to Cooper’s Landing = 10.4 miles

Start Time: 10:30 a.m.

Leg Three - Rocheport to Cooper’s Landing = 14.3 miles

Start Time: 10:00 a.m.

Leg Four - New Franklin to Cooper’s Landing = 24 miles

Start Time: 8:30 a.m.

UCLA Newsreel

It's not everyday that you get quoted in an article linked to UCLA's main website, not to mention a long article about the health literacy initiative at CMCA called I CAN! This partnership is such a great opportunity to do more meaningful work in our community and to share our expertise with a broader audience. The Columbia Tribune also published a recent article with much of the same information and I thought the online feedback was interesting. Feel free to add your own thoughts here.

President Obama's Plans

The Leadership Team is meeting all day on Saturday, March 14 to discuss our ideas for funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (this link is a summary of stimulus funds to which Missouri will have access). We know we are getting a tremendous increase in Weatherization (more than 10x our current funding through Sept 2010) and large increases in Head Start (through a competitive application process with amounts unknown), CSBG (nearly double current funding through Sept 2010), and WIA (amounts yet to be determined). The President and Congress has charged us with adding to the safety net of services by assisting record numbers of participants eligible for our services but we're also challenging ourselves to think about sustainability and long term solutions to poverty that the stimulus may not effect. To help us think long term, we'll be analyzing President Obama's plans (click her to reach our planning wiki and then click on "Obama's plans") for his administration and comparing those plans to our transformational plan. We're already cooking up some great ideas but this is such a massive endeavor, I fear missing a great idea that might be floating around out there that we ought to add to our consideration. Please check in with your thoughts and let us know if you've got a good idea for serving more people quickly, creating jobs for low- to moderately-skilled workers, or for meaningful strategies that move people off of public assistance in the long term.

Homeownership is Not for Everybody

But MAN! If you or anybody you know has never owned a home but has been thinking about it, saving up, or dreaming about it, this might be the year to make it happen. With interest rates low, deals on every street (since the housing bubble has burst), and the following information about the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, it becomes an awfully tempting way to stabilize a family's housing needs AND support our country's economic stabilization.

First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
Basics

Up to $8,000 is available to first-time homebuyers as part of the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (HR 1) which was signed into law on February 17. You can claim the credit on your 2008 tax return if you buy a home in 2009. You can request an extension from the IRS or file an amended 2008 tax return.

Homeownership Tax Credit Basics

• First-time homebuyers who have not owned a home in the past three years.
• Purchased a home between January 1, 2009 and November 30, 2009.
• The home must be their primary residence.
• The home can be a new or resale home, a coop, condo or manufactured home.
• Must live in the home for at least three years (if you sell it before three years, you must repay the credit).
• The credit is 10% of the purchase price (or up to $8,000).

(Source: CFED)

Success Stories Aren't Always Happy

I believe that success in the anti-poverty community stems from relationship building. CMCA recently lost a friend that was a model of this success. I didn't know Mr. Wyss myself but he touched a lot of people as an Ally in our Circles project. You can see his obituary here but the story that follows really hit a cord with me. The story is told by Circles Coach, Colita Harvey.


The Wyss Family first learned about Circles and was introduced to Bridges out of Poverty workbook through Don Day's Sunday School class. For two months, Don taught Bridges out of Poverty to his Sunday School Class, and from that, the Wyss family came to visit our Circles group meeting. This was the third Thursday of the month, where a Big View topic of political issues was discussed and led by a Guiding Coalition member. In addition to the topic, we also did an activity that night called “Speed Dating”. This gave people the opportunity to get to know each other, which everyone enjoyed doing because there were quite a few new faces in the group that night. After the meeting, John and Barbara Wyss came up to me, gave me their email address and wanted to know more in detail about how to become a part of the whole Circle Initiative and also become Allies to a Circle Leader. The next day, I emailed them a flyer which talked about how they could be a part of the initiative, along with the previous Guiding Coalition minutes, and a copy of November monthly agenda. The Wyss’s returned the next meeting and participated in the group discussion sharing their ideas/thoughts, and gave the group advice on certain topics mentioned that night. Later that month we all noticed that John had a walking cane with him and he joked about his legs being pretty weak that night. That next week, while families painted pumpkins and made masks for Family Fun Night Mr. Wyss sat in one seat all night and didn’t get up until it was time to go. We all noticed that he had replaced the cane with a walker to assist him in walking. In November, Don Day mentioned in our Circle meeting that John was now very ill and the doctors knew it was cancer but didn’t know what type or how bad it was. Don also reported that John wasn’t walking anymore at all and had been admitted to the hospital. Don passed around a get well card for all to sign and write words of encouragement. The circle group immediately felt sad, and I told everyone to keep the Wyss family in their thoughts. Vicki, our VISTA worker, had gone by to see John a few times and sat with him, just to make his spirits better, because by this time John and the doctors knew the cancer was all over his body including his brain, and John said he could die any day because the cancer was eating up his body. John's hair and beard were long and white, but he recently cut his hair because he knew that the radiation treatment would make it fall out and he would rather cut his hair before it fell out. At that point, John only had a few sessions left before the doctors would stop all radiation treatment because the treatment wasn't helping his condition. Again, these reports were given to me and the Circle group either by Don or Vicki who went to visit John on a weekly basis. On November 20^th the Circle group meal had a Thanksgiving theme where the Circle members and Guiding Coalition members all brought dishes to make a huge Thanksgiving meal. I sat in the front greeting everyone as they arrived and to everyone's surprise the pastor of Broadway Christian Church was wheeling in John Wyss to the Circle meeting. John had requested a 2 hour pass from the hospital and with his pass he decided to spend it with the Circle families. We all greeted him one at a time and told him how much he had been in our thoughts and spoke about how much we missed him. He sat and had dinner with us for a little more than an hour before heading back to the hospital. The men in the Circle group assisted him to the men’s room first, before going to the car. While he was in the men’s room his wife spoke about how everyone should cherish each moment and not take for granted the time they have to spend with their family. She had no idea how much longer she had with her husband. The group gave her words of encouragement, knowing how difficult sharing had been while talking through a stream of tears. When John finished in the men’s room everyone told John bye and the men then assisted him to the car. For the next 10 minutes the whole group was just amazed about how John took his first and possible only pass from the hospital and chose to spend it with us - the Boone County Circle group.

Walter John Wyss II, 63, of Columbia died Friday, Jan. 2, 2009, in Columbia.