United Way tops its goal of $60.5 million by $18K

Somerset Community College expands insurance continuing education offerings to help agents meet state licensing requirements

Adult Ed. Program Awarded $10,000

The Kentucky Post
October 31, 2003

United Way tops its goal of $60.5 million by $18K

The Cinergy Choir sang "Celebration,'' and that's exactly what it was as the Greater Cincinnati United Way campaign announced Thursday that it had exceeded its $60.5 million goal by $18,000.

More than 750 business and agency leaders gave campaign chairs Michael and Suzette Fisher a standing ovation, which the Fishers gave right back.

"It takes everyone working together to do something like this," Michael Fisher said.

"Each year you hear what a challenge it was. And it was. In a time when people are a little more cautious with their dollars, we galvanized the community to invest in the community."

The money will assure continued funding for the 160 agencies and dozen initiatives supported by the United Way.

Last year the campaign missed its goal for the first time in a decade. That looked like it might happen again this year a day before the finale, projections still showed a gap of less than 1 percent between expected donations and goal. But that 24 hours made all the difference.

Several campaigns tallied their results hours before the final day.

Individuals made special contributions. On Wednesday, Ohio State Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati, learned that the campaign was in danger of not making its goal and asked for a pledge card at the Ohio state house. He pledged a portion of his salary to the Greater Cincinnati campaign and made a plea for others to pledge or raise their previous pledges as "a public service.''

"We're just thrilled with the way companies, organizations and individuals have come through throughout the campaign and especially in the last two weeks when we needed people the most," said Rob Reifsnyder, president of Greater Cincinnati United Way.

"We got dozens of calls yesterday from people reading the stories in the newspaper. They were saying, 'I've not been contacted yet but I want to make sure you get this.' They've been sending donations. This community is incredible the way everyone pulls together behind our major community efforts like United Way. I can't thank the community enough."

The goal has taken center stage during the two-month campaign, but the reason for all the celebration wasn't dollars, said Michael Fisher. It's what those dollars can do.

Before arriving at the finale luncheon, the Fishers stopped at a battered women's shelter run by the YWCA in Cincinnati. When they opened the campaign, they visited with a young mother in the Every Child Succeeds program that helps first-time mothers develop parenting skills.

"Those people are why we're doing this," Michael Fisher said.

The Northern Kentucky portion of the campaign was especially heartening.

Northern Kentucky campaign chair Ed Hughes, president of Gateway Community Technical College, led an effort that brought in $3,727.560, topping the goal by 1.7 percent. The total was 6 percent more than last year.

"We started early and didn't stop," said Hughes.

He launched his campaign in January and had completed interviews with CEOs of the top 50 companies in the region by June. "We had the important information about the business climate and were able to figure that into our campaign," he said, with early, "Pacesetter" drives producing "phenomenal increases."

Citicorp brought in $187,000, a 55 percent increase over last year.

Hughes' school raised nearly $17,000, compared to almost $10,000 last year.

Toyota became the first half million dollar campaign in Northern Kentucky, raising $508,439.

"We wanted to get greater participation and get to them early," Hughes said. "We had 15 to 18 new companies holding campaigns. The generosity of the folks in Northern Kentucky is phenomenal. We had companies that had downturns, but they still ran strong campaigns."

The Middletown, Ohio, campaign came in 1.4 percent over goal with $1,600,971. "We had a couple of plants closing down their paper divisions, so we had to concentrate on new campaign development," said spokeswoman Ginger Bruggeman.

"Each year has a different challenge, but you can't let it set the tone and defeat you. You have to be more creative,'' she said.

The Clermont/Brown county campaign beat its goal by 3.1 percent, bringing in $1,872,815.

Greater Cincinnati United Way spokeswoman Carol Aquino noted that several campaigns are still in progress and the final tally includes estimates of those results. It also includes estimates of a special fund raiser -- the auction of two of the Bats Incredible baseball bat sculptures next week.

Just because the goal has been announced doesn't mean the fund-raising stops, said Aquino. Even though the goal is reached, more money can help more people.

The still uncertain economy made it a tough year to rally the kind of donations the campaign needed. But that same uncertainty made the help the agencies offer even more important, campaign supporters said.

Representatives of most agencies were at the finale, which is serious business for them.

The results of the fund raising campaign determine the bulk of most of the agencies funding for the year.

Sallie E. Westheimer, executive director of 4C child care coordinating agency, based in Cincin-nati's East Walnut Hills neighbor-hood, said the United Way is the core funding for her agency, which coordinates child care information and services in eight Northern Ken-tucky counties and five in Ohio.

"United Way has a strong commitment to early childhood programs," she said. "I think some people gave to United Way this year because they recognize that commitment."

Last year, most agencies saw their funds cut by up to 8 percent.

Those adjustments were on two-year grants.

The goal this year was set to meet those second-year needs at the same basic levels as last year, said Aquino.

"The preliminary work on the allocations was done last year with the idea that 2004 would be a continuation year," she said.

Allocations will be decided in December.

This year's campaign set five goals by which to reach the overall financial target.

Not all were met, but the effort created a major increase in campaign dollars.

Representatives from agencies that will be sustained by the successful campaign took the opportunity Thursday to thank the leaders and workers of the drive.

Among them were students and administrators from Withrow University High School in Cincinnati's Hyde Park neighborhood, one of four schools to benefit from the Families Forward program.

The program provides a social service agency inside each school, offering hands-on support for students and their families, with the goal of seeing students going to college.

"Students who didn't know how to dream see themselves making it happen,'' said Withrow University High principal Sharon Johnson.

"It not only gives them hope, it gives their families hope," she said.

"Most of these students are the first generation in their family to take a college course. This is not only moving the child forward, it's moving the family forward."

Families Forward gets 70 percent of its funding from United Way.

"We couldn't do this without United Way,'' said program director Betti Hinton.

"When you have private money, you can keep your vision. You can stay focused on what works."

McCreary County Record
November 4, 2003

Somerset Community College expands insurance continuing education offerings to help agents meet state licensing requirements

The Community and Economic Development Division of Somerset Community College has received approval from the Kentucky Department of Insurance to teach 40 hours pre-licensing classes in Property & Casualty as well as Personal Lines Insurance. SCC was the first community college in Kentucky to offer pre-licensing for Life & Health insurance candidates.

According to David Wiles, Dean of Community and Workforce Development, “The addition of these two schools will enable SCC to continue as a leader in insurance education for those entering the insurance industry.”

The property and casualty, personal lines and life and health courses are all approved for college credit. Each course is 40 hours in length and prepares those attending to sit for the required examination.

In addition to offering the pre-licensing courses, Somerset Community College has also expanded the courses available for continuing education for those holding an insurance license. The Department of Insurance requires every licensed agent to complete 24 hours every biennium in a related insurance course. SCC offers both correspondence and classroom courses that are approved by the Department of Insurance. All classes are approved for college credit and are structured to fulfill the requirements of the Department of Insurance.

According to Pat Wilson, coordinator of the insurance program, “We have an excellent program here at SCC that serves all those wanting to go into the insurance industry as well as those already licensed.”

Those required to be licensed may be employed in the insurance industry, funeral homes, mobile home sales, banks, investment companies and automobile dealers.

“Anyone licensed to sell insurance of any type, will have Continuing Education responsibilities”, according to Wilson. “We have five qualified instructors and have tried to arrange our class schedules to accommodate most agents”, Wilson added.

For information or to register for any of the pre-licensing schools or continuing education classes, please call Somerset Community College at 606-677-4049 ext 134. Prices, class schedules and an application can be found at the Somerset Community College website, www.somerset.kctcs.edu <http://www.somerset.kctcs.edu>. The information can be found by clicking the mouse twice on "Insurance School" on the left hand side of the web page. It is listed under "Departments."

Somerset Community College, one of only 10 USDA National Centers of Excellence, is a comprehensive two-year institution of higher education. SCC has campuses in London and Somerset, and centers in Russell and McCreary Counties. SCC currently has a new center under construction in Clinton. Call for admissions toll free at 1-877-629-9722.

McCreary County Record
November 4, 2003

Adult Ed. Program Awarded $10,000

WHITLEY CITY - The McCreary County Adult Learning Center has much to be thankful for.

Having reached 126 percent of their enrollment goal, the program has been rewarded with $10,007 from
Kentucky Adult Education, a unit of the Council on Post-Secondary Education (COPE).

Both the McCreary Adult Learning Center and the Casey Adult Learning Center, which are operated by Somerset Community College, earned rewards. The rewards ranged from five to ten percent of each program's funding base. Seventy-five of the 120 counties in Kentucky earned rewards this year. Some $879,555 in rewards money was distributed to the 75 counties.

Beverly Murphy, a retired McCreary County teacher, manages the SCC McCreary Adult Learning Center. Other staff members include: Wanda Monroe, Leslie Hamlin, and Jennifer J. Barnett.

At first, Murphy found that the 511-person goal daunting since the program had served only 281 the year before she was hired. But by the end of June, 645 individuals had come through the center. With a goal this year of 579, the center is well ahead of schedule with 700 enrolled. Murphy believes that 1000 participants are not outside the realm of possibility.

"We're really pleased with our progress," Murphy said.

The adult learning center encompasses a number of programs geared toward increasing McCreary Countians' employability. The "Work Keys" assessment identifies skills needed to earn the Kentucky Employability Certificate, a relatively new credential that more employers are beginning to recognize.

Staff also work with local businesses such as Outdoor Venture when a skills upgrade is needed as well as McCreary County Schools, whose aides must now pass an assessment required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. They also worked recently with American Bag Corporation through Trade Adjustment Assistance to train employees that have been or are about to be laid off.

"We're helping with computer skills, and many are interested in classes like Medical Billing, Electronics and Nursing," Murphy said. "Several people have decided to get their GED. We're hoping to help as many community people as we can. That's the foundation not just for the adult learning program but for the college as well."

Somerset Community College applied for the two-year grant which funds the McCreary and Casey Adult Education Program in 2002 at the urging of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) and COPE. At that time, the programs were not meeting expectations.

"Both the McCreary and Casey programs had a long way to go, but thanks to the cooperation and buy-in of those communities, we were successful in meeting our goals," said Joyce Flynn, the director of the SCC Adult Education Program.

The McCreary County Adult Learning Center has purchased 10 new Gateway computers and functions as a self-sufficient minilab. Murphy stated that participants can prepare for a variety of assessments, including: GED, ASFAB, Civil Service, GRE, ACT and Postal Service.

In the coming year, Murphy hopes to develop the center's literacy program. PACT Time for parents and children is scheduled for the second Thursday of each month from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

"There are many intelligent, capable people in McCreary County," Murphy said. "Intelligence is not a matter of how far you went in school. For a lot of people, [coming to the center] is a second chance to do the thing that, for whatever reason, they didn't do before."

The adult learning center is located in the new addition of SCC's McCreary Center. It is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. For more information, call 376-5747, ext. 2025.