Site Wide Staff Meeting - January 25th

With the bustling hive that is our CHS-Parkersburg site, its a mammoth undertaking to get (most) of the staff together for a site wide staff meeting, which we try to do quarterly. These opportunities to share cross-program updates and information, to talk about whole-site communication issues and projects; review the yearlong calendar of events, and promote the site strategic plan, are very important. This month the meeting is Tuesday, January 25th at 10 am in Suite 3. The meeting will be followed by a potluck lunch for anyone available and interested.

VISTA project holding MLK Day event

Missy Storey has been working hard on a Martin Luther King Day community service event. Missy has taken our First Book project and gotten it revved up. This project, which is a national effort, gets books into the hands of children who otherwise might not have the opportunity to own books. Our local project will work with area Head Start's and some of our own programs to get the project promoted in the local community, and get some books out to children, youth and families.

Local Advisory Council kicks off 2011

Last Friday the Parkersburg Advisory Council kicked off its year with an organizing meeting. 2010 was reviewed and highlighted what all agreed was a successful year for the site in terms of services to children and families and community engagement. 2011 promises to be an equally exciting year for the site and advisory council. The advisory council is looking at holding a more deliberate retreat or planning session coming up in early 2011.

CHS-Parkersburg hosts first music coffee house of the year

Saturday, January 22nd, at 7 pm, the Mid Town Family Resource Center hosts Tommy Womack for a coffee house. Tommy is a Nashville based singer songwriter with a wildly entertaining body of music. He is funny; and provides keen observation of the human condition, and the culture and society of America. He has written books, been involved in a number of bands and collaborations with some of the most creative and inspired musicians in the Nashville scene. Tickets are $15; come out and enjoy a great evening of entertainment.

Numerous Staff attend local Public Policy Forum

CHS-Parkersburg was well represented at a recent public policy forum in Wood County. Is it Good for Children? was the theme. Promoted by Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia, these forums held around the state just prior to the legislative session intended communities to engage their legislators in awareness efforts around children's issues. The local forum focused on the multi-year "service array" community needs assessment process, and the findings locally. Many of the services provided by CHS-Parkersburg were among those highlighted as benefiting local children and families and worthy of additional support.

1800 volunteer hours in 2010 for CHS-Parkersburg

Ashley Way, who is our WE CAN volunteer coordinator, is also our comprehensive coordinator of all-things volunteering, here at the CHS-Parkersburg site. She reports a total of 1800 volunteer hours in 2010 at our site. This represents an impressive array of efforts by community supporters in a wide variety of capacities. We thank all those who contributed to this total, and their individual efforts to further the mission of the agency, and help many area children and families.

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