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| Agency Mission and CAP Promise |
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The agency's mission is to provide services that improve the quality of life and promote self-sufficiency.
CAP Promise: Community Action changes people's lives, embodies the spirit of hope, improves communities, and makes America a better place to live. We care about the entire community, and we are dedicated to helping people help themselves and each other.
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| Contact Information |
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Rivers Edge Campus
(Headquarters)
110 Cohansey Street
Bridgeton, NJ
08302
(856) 451-6330
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The name Gateway Community Action Partnership reflects our expanded coverage area, but more importantly, it signifies what we are all about. We are a gateway to success for individuals and families in our community and we achieve those results through actions done in partnership within that very community we serve. So please take a minute to read our newsletter and learn more about our successes and struggles as we serve a Gateway to Community Action in Partnership with others for everyone's benefit!
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Gateway Community Action Partnership Opens Doors
To Gateway Head Start Early Education Center In AC
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Gateway opened its Gateway Head Start Early Education Center with a ribbon cutting and tour.
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Gateway opened the doors to its $22 million Gateway Head Start Early Education Center with a ribbon cutting ceremony on May 23 attended by Gateway staff, representatives from Head Start, elected officials, partners, friends, and, most importantly, some of the children and families who will benefit from this amazing learning center in the heart of Atlantic City.
The new, state-of-the-art center contains bright and spacious classrooms that enhance the learning experience, stone floor pathways that both lead the children to their classrooms and introduce color theory, a weather station, playgrounds, an indoor gym and a rooftop garden. Those who attended the ribbon cutting also took tours and were impressed.
The three-story building, located at 1433 Bacharach Boulevard, includes more than 400,000 pounds of steel and will support a roof system that can withstand winds of 165 miles per hour.
"When the project was first put together, we saw the drawings and the plans and one thing that Ed Bethea (Gateway Executive VP and COO) and Bonnie Eggenburg (Gateway VP/Head Start) wanted was the WOW factor when you saw this building," said Albert B. Kelly, Gateway's President and CEO. "This building definitely has the WOW factor."
The center was designed by Alberto & Associates (now known as City Invincible Architecture) and P. Agnes was the General Contractor. Facility funding was provided by Superstorm Sandy relief funds as coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Office of Head Start, Region II.
Architect Angelo Alberto said designing this building for the children and families of Atlantic City made for a unique and rewarding experience.
"Our clients were the children of Atlantic City," Alberto said. "Through this process, Gateway kept reminding us of that. We tried to create a living laboratory. We really encourage everyone to walk through the building and see the way the colors lead you around. Where there is a pop of color, something important is happening. In the ceilings, you can see the heating ducts and pipes where the water is rushing through. We designed all these educational things for the children. That was really important to us. It's rare to work on a building like this. We feel very fortunate to be part of this mission."
Eggenburg authored a rhyming children's book about the center and read it to the gathering. She concluded her reading by saying: "But this is not the end of the story. This is the beginning."
She added: "This will be a place where children will be safe. This will be a place for children who will be successful in all they do throughout their lives."
In keeping with the theme that the center is all about the children and their families, children from Atlantic City who will be attending the center serenaded the gathering with a few songs.
After the children received a standing ovation, Bethea said: "This is why we do what we do. We thank them. We thank their parents for believing in Head Start."
Among those attending were Gateway Board Chairman John Washington; Atlantic City Mayor Donald Guardian; Ann Linehan, Interim Director, Office of Head Start; Carolyn Baker-Goode, Office of Head Start, Region II Program Manager; Michael Cupeles, president of Policy Council and other local elected officials. Also, representatives from the offices of Senator Cory Booker, Senator Robert Menendez and Congressman Frank LoBiondo attended.
"The relationship between the federal government and the Sandy Team and our colleagues at Gateway, it was an amazing relationship built on integrity and trust," Linehan said. "I hate to be trite, but it does take a village, and look at what this village did for the children of Atlantic City. It was done the right way by the right people making the right decisions along the way. The teachers and staff will love it. Thank you very much from the Office of Head Start."
Said Bethea: "This has been a while coming. A lot of work has gone into this day. Without a doubt, without the support we received from each and every one of you, this would not have been possible. From Gateway and our staff, we say thank you, thank you, thank you."
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Gateway Holds "Call To Action" Conference To Identify Needs, Create Goals
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Gateway Community Action Partnership held the first of a series of Call To Action on May 1 at Cumberland County College. The purpose of the sessions is to (1) identify community needs; (2) increase understanding about poverty and how it can be addressed; (3) build and strengthen partnerships across business, government and social sectors to reduce poverty, and; (4) create a draft of goals, suggested strategies and accountability measures that will be given to local officials
Stakeholders and residents attended breakout groups for discussions on neighborhood safety, job training/education, financial security/self-sufficiency and food security/well-being.
"We are all facing the same problems," said Albert B. Kelly, Gateway's President and CEO. "None of us have all the funds to do the things we need to do for our communities. This is a way for us to work together to do the most that we can with what we have."
Dr. Gwendolyn Long Harris, the Executive Director of the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers-University, was the keynote speaker. Dr. Harris, who said she is close is close to retirement, shared the wisdom and knowledge she gained from her accomplished career with those assembled.
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Gateway's Literacy Program Receives "Affiliate Of The Year" Award For Third Time
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From left: Jessica Tomkins, COO, Literacy New Jersey; Laura Stanton, Director, Literacy Volunteers of Salem/Cumberland; and Elizabeth Gloeggler, CEO, Literacy New Jersey.
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Gateway's Literacy Volunteers of Salem/Cumberland received the 2017 Alice M. Leppert Award for Outstanding Affiliate Achievement at Literacy New Jersey's 2017 Literacy for Life Conference in April. Gateway's literacy program received this award for the third time in six years.
Laura Stanton, the director of Gateway's literacy program, attended the conference at Mercer County College in West Windsor. Also attending were staff member Rosario Trejo-Mendiola and advisory board members Minerva Alvarado and Tammy Bitgood.
Gateway received the award in recognition of its financial literacy program. Studies show eight out of 10 Americans are in debt (Pew Charitable Trusts) and 75 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck (Bankrate.com). Unfortunately, the people who are the least educated about financial literacy are often the poorest, which only promotes economic inequality. To address this, Literacy Volunteers of Salem/Cumberland added basic financial literacy instruction to its array of literacy offerings to help adults manage the challenges of being informed consumers.
With comprehension at its core, Literacy Volunteers willingly took on the task of developing a Financial Literacy curriculum to meet the needs of these clients. We perused multiple resources and have included ideas and materials from Literacy New Jersey, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University to create a simple but comprehensive curriculum that addresses the needs of low-income clients. We developed a four-week program of 90-minute classes, covering topics such as budgeting, understanding interest, paying down debt, check-writing, and improving credit scores. Since October 2015, we have offered this class to more than 100 clients.
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Students in Gateway's financial literacy class with Laura Stanton, Director, Literacy Volunteers of Salem/Cumberland.
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Alzheimer's & Adult Day Care Holds Open House To Showcase Programs
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Gateway CAP's Alzheimer's & Adult Day Care program hosted an open house on May 12 at its Spring Gardens Senior Housing location in Vineland. The event showcased the benefits of the two programs.
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Third Annual Gateway Golf Classic Raises Funds For Agency's Core Programs
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Gateway held its third annual Gateway Golf Classic on May 18 at the historic Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club. Proceeds are benefitting Gateway's core programs that promote self-sufficiency and promote a literate community. Many thanks to our sponsors that made the event such a success. Also thanks to our co-chairs: Jack Tarditi of Conner Strong & Buckelew and Angelo Alberto of City Invincible Architecture. Many thanks to our committee. We look forward to seeing everyone again at Seaview in 2018.
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Volunteers Help Out At Mill Creek Urban Farm In Family Day Of Service
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A small group of volunteers visited Mill Creek Urban Farm on May 20, 2017 participating in Family Day of Service, which was organized by the Family Strengthening Network, Volunteer Center of South Jersey, and Pascale Sykes Foundation. The group included one family with 2 children, one of the organizers of the event from Family Strengthening Network, and a friend of hers.
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Hamilton I, Hightstown Head Start Hold Multicultural And End Of Year Celebrations
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Bancroft, AllRisk Leadership Visits Mill Creek Urban Farm
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Bancroft President/CEO Toni Pergolin and AllRisk Founder & CEO Frank Messina visited Gateway and toured Mill Creek Urban Farm. Bancroft is a friend of Gateway and supporter of its mission "to provide services that improve the quality of life and promote self-sufficiency." First photo, from left: Frank Messina, AllRisk Founder and CEO; Edward Bethea, Gateway's Executive VP and COO; Toni Pergolin, Bancroft President and CEO; and Marcus Weaver, Gateway's Director of Agriculture and Food Initiatives.
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Galloway, Ocean City Head Start Children Learn About Gardening
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Galloway and Ocean City Head Start centers recently received garden beds. With help and supplies from Marcus Weaver, Gateway's Director of Agriculture and Food Initiatives, the students and staff planted a variety of vegetables.
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Mother's Day At Hightstown Head Start
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Children and mothers gather together to celebrate Mother's Day at the Hightstown Head Start center.
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Hammonton Head Start Fathers, Children Enjoy Sand Art Activities
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A Warm Welcome To Gateway Community Action Partnership's Newest Employees
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Welcome To Gateway CAP's New Hires!
Kiairrah Moore, Head Start
Iris Rodriguez, Head Start
Katherine Smith, Gloucester CCYC
Martha Arellano, Head Start
Yahnik Hunter, Head Start
Channa Latona, Head Start
Jasmin Hill, Head Start
Laura Capistran-Lucero, Head Start
Dionna Davis, Early Head Start
Nathaly Paz-Olivar, Head Start
Naquilia Serrano, Head Start
Iyanna Williams, Head Start
Jarmar Parker, Head Start
Makayla Miller, Head Start
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Support Gateway CAP By Shopping At AmazonSmile
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| You can support Gateway's mission "to provide services that improve the quality of life and promote self-sufficiency" while shopping at Amazon's "AmazonSmile" during this holiday season or any time of year. Please click on the link below the next time you shop. More information about the program follows the link. Thank you. Click Here To Donate To Gateway Through AmazonSmile!
What is AmazonSmile?
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support Gateway Community Action Partnership every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at
smile.amazon.com, you'll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to Gateway.
How do I shop at AmazonSmile?
To shop at AmazonSmile simply click on the link above or go to
smile.amazon.com from the web browser on your computer or mobile device. You may also want to add a bookmark to
smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile.
Which products on AmazonSmile are eligible for charitable donations?
Tens of millions of products on AmazonSmile are eligible for donations. You will see eligible products marked "Eligible for AmazonSmile donation" on their product detail pages. Recurring Subscribe-and-Save purchases and subscription renewals are not currently eligible.
Can I use my existing Amazon.com account on AmazonSmile?
Yes, you use the same account on Amazon.com and AmazonSmile. Your shopping cart, Wish List, wedding or baby registry, and other account settings are also the same.
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A
round Gateway Community Action Partnership ... News and Notes
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Internet Essentials
, a program offered by Comcast, gives income-eligible families access to the Internet for $9.95 a month with no activation fee, equipment fees or price increases. Having the Internet enables children to do homework, type reports or do research and enables the parents to e-mail teachers as well as look for jobs, pay bills or find doctors.
Gateway Community Action Partnership is working with Comcast to inform families of the program. Internet Essentials is available to households that have children eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program or if they receive HUD housing assistance. They must reside in a Comcast service area and must not have subscribed to Comcast Internet in the last 90 days or have overdue Comcast bills. Also, low-cost computers are being offered for $149.99 and free training is accessible if needed. To get more information or to sign up, visit www.internetessentials.com or call 1-855-846-8376. ... Gateway operates the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children (WIC) in Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic and Salem counties. The program provides supplemental foods, nutrition education, lactation support, immunization education and health care referrals to income-eligible pregnant women, new mothers, infants and children up to age 5. Gateway WIC serves more than 23,000 clients annually through flexible hours through its eight (8) offices and a full-service, health screening mobile office. WIC is an equal opportunity program. If you believe you have been discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap, write immediately to: USDA, Director-Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC, 20250 - 9410. For additional information on the Gateway WIC program or nearest office location and hours of operation, call the Gateway WIC program at 856-451-5600 or 856-225-5050. ... Gateway's Head Start program is once again sponsoring the Child Care Food Program. This program is designed to provide meals to children receiving services in Head Start centers located throughout Atlantic, Cape May, Mercer, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties. Meals are available at no separate charge to all children 12 and under enrolled in the Child Care Food Program and are served without regard to race, color, national origin, disability, age or sex.
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Sincerely,
Michael Cudemo
Gateway Community Action Partnership
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