The Safety Net Alliance of Northern Kentucky recognizes Paul Gottbrath and Barbara Schaefer for Vision, Dedication, and Service to the Northern Kentucky region as founding members of the Safety Net Alliance of Northern Kentucky.  From a vision to a 126 agency reality, Paul and Barbara have been there every step of the way.  Paul’s leadership within the Safety Net Alliance Food Committee has spurred tremendous advances with food distribution, relationships with grocers, and connectedness of Food providers in Northern Kentucky.  Barbara has served a critical role in the Safety Net Alliance’s Web Committee’s structuring, development, and aim to connect service providers with one another and relevant resources through the web portal.  The growth and improvement of the Web Portal would not have been possible without her unique knowledge and passion; in addition, the achievements and strides made by the Food Committee Program would not have been possible without Paul’s initiative and passion.  Both Barbara and Paul have left a lasting imprint that help remind us all that the Safety Net Alliance’s ultimate mission and purpose is worth being a part of.  Although they are rotating off their leadership roles in their respective committees, Paul and Barbara will still be active in the Safety Net Alliance.  Thank you both for your hard work and commitment to the Safety Net Alliance!

“More than 59,000 children in Kentucky are being raised by grandparents and other relatives – known as kinship care. The majority of these kinship family arrangements are informal, and oftentimes relatives do not have legal custody or guardianship of the children. This can make it difficult when it comes time for kinship caregivers to enroll children in school or access educational services or health care for them.”… Fortunately, this past April, Kentucky’s General Assembly passed SB 176 – a kinship caregiver authorization law. This new law allows relative caregivers to complete a form, called an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, stating that they are the primary caregiver of the child.” 

You can view the entire article here

Congratulations to the Life Learning Center on receiving the Kentucky Nonprofit Newtwork's 2014 Innovative Nonprofit Award!  The Innovative Nonprofit Award was created by KNN to recognize a nonprofit organization in the Commonwealth implementing inventive, nontraditional programs or methods that effectively meet community needs. The award winner
is required to demonstrate creativity and vision in finding unique solutions to their community’s issues.  Life Learning Center Executive Director Denise Govan accepted the award at a luncheon in Lexington on October 29th.

The next SNA On Tour is less than 3 weeks away! This means its a perfect time to highlight some of the results from the first one at the Brighton Center. The Inaugural July SNA On Tour at the Brighton Center went beyond all expectations, attracting more than 30 SNA members. The tour offered a candid look into how the day-to-day services unfold at the Brighton Center. Those who attended, were able to learn about the financial counseling services all the way to the clothing store. The Kickoff Tour was a resounding success, convincing all those involved that the tours are a great continuation and form of collaboration between NKY SNA partners.

All Safety Net Alliance members are encouraged and invited to attend the next SNA ON Tour at Be Concerned, September, 29th. Please RSVP Zach at nkysafetynet@gmail.com with your desired attendance time of 9:00am or 2:00pm!

Congratulations to Karen Yates, Henry Hosea House Executive Director!  The Human Services Program of Gateway Community & Technical College named Karen as its Summer 2014 Outstanding Community Partner!

A new career center will offer "free career coaching, help drafting a resume and applying for jobs online, and even free training to learn new skills that make them more attractive to employers." Founding partners include Brighton Center, Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK), Goodwill Industries, and Northern Kentucky Area Development District.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/northern-ky/amanda-van-benschoten/2014/06/12/job-center-bring-workers-firms-together/10404979/

The SNA Impact and Marketing Committee presented our first ever...
Safety Net Alliance Partner Tour at Brighton Center on July 29th! Thanks to all who participated.

Every year in the month of May, the National Letter Carrier Food Drive gives people an easy and efficient way of donating food to families in their neighborhood. It's a simple equation: leave bags of nonperishable food and hygiene items by your mailbox, your postal worker will pick it up, and then it'll get distributed to local foodbanks.

This drive is critical to area foodbanks and pantries, as they are transitioning out of a long and demanding winter. This year's drive, on May 10, provided ten Safety Net Alliance food pantries and soup kitchens with a whopping total of 40,261 pounds of food!

NKADD Senior Human Services Specialist Michael Hurysz was honored with the Kentucky Association for Gerontology's 2014 Distinguished Practitioner Award at the Kentucky Association for Gerontology Conference yesterday in Pikeville.  He received this award in recognition of his exceptional effort as a service provider for older people in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  The person receiving the award must meet a very specific set of criteria and Mike's 20 plus years of service in the aging field and his accomplishments have merited him this very distinguished award. 

Funding for childcare benefits for working families was “partially restored in the first year and fully restored in the second year of the Kentucky budget. Funding for preschool was also increased from 150 to 160 percent of the federal poverty level – providing access to 5,000 more children. […] This is the first time in eight years that the legislature has increased the state’s investment in early childhood."  

Find the full article here!

Hot off the presses! Just released today!

There is an article in the Enquirer by Cindy Schroeder featuring our very own Brighton Center, Freestore Foodbank, St. Vincent de Paul, Action Ministries, Be Concerned, and United Ministries! It also mentions the Postal Carriers Food Drive on May 10, which benefits many Safety Net Alliance food agencies. See the full article here.

The SNA Website Committee is happy to share that we are continuing to grow! In the past two months (the middle of February to the middle of April), we've added twelve new individuals and three new partner agencies to the web portal!

Please help us welcome these new members!

Crystal Cottrill and John Riedeman, Northern Kentucky Area Development District

Jamie Linkugel, Brighton Center

Kyle Green, Duran Sheets and Billie Usrey, Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission

Amy Wilhelmus, Moore Activity Center

Sheila Carroll, Rose Garden Home Mission

Megan McGuffey, Welcome House

Lizbeth Mercado, St. Vincent de Paul

Micki Claybern, St. Elizabeth Physicians

Humana CareSource

Joanie Kenkel, Union Presbyterian Church

Krista Newland, NorthKey Community Care

Melissa Pilcher, Campbell County Extension Service

Why a Good News Feed?

This Feed is a platform to celebrate the achievements of our Partner Agencies! The goal is to build community by honoring Partner successes, while supplementing the work of the SNA Impact and Marketing Committee.

How do I share my good news?

Submit a Help Desk Ticket, or email nkysafetynet@gmail.com

What can be shared?

Anything that benefits the work of Safety Net Alliance Partners. This includes: promotions, new programs, client successes (with no identifying info), SNA Committee accomplishments, press releases about our Partner Agencies, changes in legislation that support SNA Partner Agencies. (If you are sharing a client success, please keep that individual's privacy in mind. Do not include information that would

Any particular format?

Include a headline, and 2-4 sentences about your good news. This should be brief, but can include links to flyers or web pages elsewhere that give more details. 

How is this different than an Alert?

The Good News Feed is a location on the site that is solely dedicated to Partner successes. Alerts can contain any kind of information, but this Feed's function is to publicly shine a light on you and your work!

Enjoy the Good News!

-The Safety Net Alliance Website Committee