West Central Minnesota Communities Action

West Central Minnesota community Action's (wcmca) head start program is a comprehensive child development program design 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-716 applications, homeless rental assistance-43 participants, prevention rental assistance-136 participants, emergency shelter program hotel vouchers-119 households, hra cares-2 households, transitional housing-17, house keys-4 households, homework starts at home-4 households, long term homeless-26 households, launch pad-30 households, housing supports-13 households, homeless to housed-14 households, and parenting time & exchanges-887 services provided. Mnsure aplications completed totaled 109.the statewide faim program is a matched savings project that enables mn low-income wage earners to build assets through the purchase of a first home or personal vehicle, pursuit of post-secondary education (self, spouse, tax dependent), the start/expansion of a small business within the state. New pilot tracks added in 2024 include 529 college savings and emergency savings. Current funding for faim is provided by mn department of human services and participating organizations. As the fiscal host, wcmca contracts with 25 agencies across Minnesota, primarily community Action agencies, to implement the program locally and provide financial coaching to enrollees. Participants make regular deposits from earned income to their faim savings account at bremer bank. Deposits up to $4,000 made during the 24-month savings period are matched at a rate of 3:1 up to a household/dwelling lifetime maximum of $12,000. The minimum enrollment period varies by grant; 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 from the program. Since its beginning, faim participants have opened 6,171 custodial savings accounts; 3,372 have obtained an asset; and 203 are actively working toward saving to obtain an asset in minnesota.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 1,261 households this past tax seasonaging well continues to provide programs for adults 60 years and older with additional support to help them remain living in their homes for as long as they choose. Our ready ride volunteer driver program had over 40,000 miles this year. Providing 519 non-emergency medical rides for adults 60 years and older and low-income adults with prime West insurance. An additional 107 rides are provided to adults 60 years and older for trips such as social, educational, or shopping. Our home care and repair program completed 281 chores, and 459 homemaking visits this year for adults 60 years and older. We are continuing to provide evidence based matter of balance classes and have added bingocize as an additional class option for adults 60 years and older. Our in-home modification program has completed 39 home modifications to adults 60 years and older who own their home. These modifications help to make their home safe and help reduce the chances of falling.

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, or is eligible for assistance under the liheap income, whichever is greater at the time of eligibility determination. 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 $8,497.00 ; through leveraging we are able to get our average per home down to approximately $2,700 per home in our primary doe weatherization program. The annual number of households served is 238.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 emergencies. Energy-related repairs provide heating-related repairs for emergencies with non-functioning home heating. Actual heating costs from the previous year's heating season, household income, and household size determine the amount of assistance that is received. All payments for primary heat ($2,261,377), crisis liheap ($836,353), and energy related repair ($653,278) 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: 44 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 - 3 participants, contract for deed homes - 17 participants, housing rehabilitation - 6 participants, and community land trust - 3 participants.