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Helping People. Changing Lives.
May 2018 Volume 28; Issue 8
From the Executive Director's Desk
The Iowa legislative session ended on May 4 th . It was an eventful year. Some of the more impactful bills passed dealt with tax reform, energy conservation and mental health. Time is always the determining factor as far as impact is concerned. I respect all of our elected officials as their work is challenging. Thanks to all who serve our communities through elective offices.

Our LiHEAP program ended on April 30 with a slight increase in applications over the previous year. About a 3% increase. Thanks to all of our staff who work in Outreach offices or in the LiHEAP department for their work in serving families.

Head Start classes will end for the 2017-18 school year in early May. With several snow days to make up, we will be continuing some center services through the 2 nd week of May.

Federal funding for the current year has been determined by Congress and signed by the President. However; I am hearing some discussions about rescissions which could take place. This means that any unspent funds in certain areas of government could be recalled. In general, this is not a bad thing to do as long as funds have not been committed. The idea of use it or lose it sometimes encourages funds to be spent without proper evaluation of the impact.

The coming weeks will be busy with grant writing. 
2018 Annual Meeting
Special Recognition
Junia Punt
Contract Dietitian
Outstanding Partnership Awards
Britton Chiropractic
Akron, IA
Kris Polich
Child & Adult Care Food Program
Mid-Iowa Community Action
RJ Thomas Manufacturing
Cherokee, IA
Richard Hatz Scholarship Recipients
Jenna Henderson
OABCIG High School
Ida Grove, IA
Shayla Post
Sioux Center High School
Sioux Center, IA
Administration
Mid-Sioux Opportunity, Inc. is fortunate to have very capable and caring staff. Many of the things we do require the collaboration and support of staff from all of our 6 departments or divisions. Those departments include: W.I.C. & Maternal/Child Health, Child Care Resource & Referral, Accounting/Human Resources, Head Start/Early Head Start, Outreach/FaDSS, and Housing/Energy Services.

Management staff meets monthly to discuss policies and services that impact the agency as a whole. Decisions about internal operations are designed to have the most positive impact for staff and families. I have had the opportunity to visit with other community action agencies and businesses during my time with the agency. What I have learned is that collaboration takes work and results when people want to make a difference. We have been able to partner on a number of initiatives thanks to the willingness of our staff to do what is best for the agency as a whole. This must be done within the guidelines of the contracts we administer, of course.

Some examples of collaborative efforts include:

  • Sharing of staff who provide similar services:
  1. W.I.C. and Head Start/Early Head Start Nutrition services.
  2. Head Start family services and Outreach.
  3. Intake services at W.I.C. clinics during LiHEAP and Head Start/Early Head Start recruitment.
  4. Basic Intake forms to determine unduplicated client counts for agency wide services under the Community Services Block Grant.
  5. Marketing services utilizing staff from each of the 6 agency departments.
  6. Safety committee work utilizing support from each of the 6 agency departments.

  • Working together to secure additional resources:
  1. Plymouth County United Way funds utilized by W.I.C., Child Care Resource & Referral, Head Start/Early Head Start and FaDSS to provide car seats to Plymouth County Families.
  2. Utilizing funds from the Des Moines Register’s Embrace Iowa program to support unmet needs for families served in all agency programs.

These are just some of the examples of why having multiple services housed in the same agency make sense. Joint efforts are successful because of the willingness of staff to work collaboratively for the benefit of the agency and families served. 

Thank you all for working together!



Dick Sievers
Executive Director
Cherokee County Outreach
We just finished up with the LiHEAP winter heating assistance program and we are so excited that we surpassed our goal in Cherokee county and served more households than the previous year!

We’ve begun taking Head Start applications for the upcoming preschool season (September 2018 through May 2019). Head Start is a free, federally funded program for preschool children from income eligible families. If you know of anyone that has children 3-4 years of age, please send them our way!

Let’s not forget about WIC! We can help interested families sign-up for WIC services in Cherokee county. WIC is for pregnant women and children under the age of five. WIC provides information on how to keep your family healthy. They also give you checks to buy healthy foods for free!

I know the school year is just ending but for us it means planning for the back to school program. If anyone is interested in making a donation or helping purchase needed supplies, please feel free to call us at the Outreach office at 712-225-3322.

For all program applications, please give us a call. We can tell you everything you need to bring to complete an application. Our phone number in Cherokee is 712-225-3322 on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays. You can always reach us the other 3 days of the week in LeMars at 712-546-6603.
Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
Stamp out hunger food drive in Cherokee county was a huge success! We are so thankful to all that donated and to the postal carriers and office employees for collecting all the food donations. This year they collected 3,500 pounds of food items. 

Pictured left to right are postal carriers Don Roethler, Mike Loetz, Wanda Lenhart and Mid-Sioux Outreach employee Kayla Stubbe
418 S. Marion Street | Remsen, IA 51050 | 712-786-2001 | 800-859-2025