Community Connection

VOLUNTEERS are needed at Community Caring Council!

Our Reentry Opportunity Center is in need of volunteers to assist ex-offenders with employment-related services. Help is needed with cover letters, resumes, job searching, job applications, and interview preparation. We would like to have the Center open daily from 9am – 4pm if enough volunteers can be found. If you have any questions about this program, please call our Reentry Specialist, Randy Huffman, at 651-3746 ext. 117.

Volunteers are also needed to help with our Dental Screenings at area schools and daycares. Help with paperwork and with the fluoride varnish applications is needed. A short online training is required before volunteers can apply the fluoride varnish, but the process is very simple. Go to www.mohealthysmiles.com and click on Varnish Training to access the training. There is no cost for this training.  If you have any questions about this program, please call our Oral Health Coordinator, Dotty Gholson at 651-3746 ext. 119.

The Youth Access Survey is currently being distributed to teens in our community. Click here to access a copy of the survey. Completed copies may be mailed to Kay Azuma, YSAPC, 937 Broadway, Suite 306, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701.

This information collected through the surveys will assist local parents, businesses, law enforcement, civic organizations and churches in reducing the availability of harmful substances to local children. If you have access to a teen group and would like to help us distribute the surveys, please call Kay Azuma at 651-3747 x 104.

The Coalition will have a booth at the upcoming Parks and Recreation Day at Osage Centre and at Salvation Army’s Back to School Fair on August 5.  Surveys will be available at those sites for teens to complete.

More information regarding the Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition can be found at www.mychildourfuture.org. The next Coalition meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 17 at 10:30am here at 937 Broadway, Suite 102. All interested persons are invited to attend.

The next Quarterly Case Managers’ Luncheon Meeting will be Wednesday, August 11 at 11:30 at Cape Public Library, 711 N. Clark Street, Cape Girardeau. The topic will be “Housing Programs and Assistance”. Presentations will be made by Community Caring Council, Habitat for Humanity, Safe House for Women, Hartle Development, East Missouri Action Agency and more.

No reservations are needed. You are welcome to bring your lunch/beverage with you.

The next meeting of the Financial Stability Partnership will be in September (date to be announced) at United Way, 430A Broadway, Cape Girardeau. The group will be brainstorming strategies to help community residents work toward self-sufficiency. All interested persons are invited to attend and provide input to our discussion. If you have any questions, please call John McGowan at 334-9634 or Denise Wimp at 334-4357.