Semcac in the Media

By: Hannah Yang | hyang@postbulletin.com KASSON — The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train came to town Tuesday afternoon. For the first time, the CP Holiday Train rolled into downtown Kasson and stopped outside of the city's fire department, where more than 300 people eagerly were waiting and shivering. After the train came to a halt, the festively decorated metal doors swung down, transforming the rail car into a performance stage. Country music artists Terri Clark, Kelly Prescott and Dallas Smith led the entertainment, singing upbeat Christmas songs as the audience danced and swayed. Attendees dropped off their "admission" of canned and [...]

'Connect' Serves Nearly 700, Task Force Says; Over 500 lbs of Food Collected in Separate Effort By: Deb Nicklay | Published Nov. 21st, 2017, Tuesday Two efforts on Saturday proved that the Austin community always digs deep for its neighbors. Almost 700 of the community’s underprivileged attended the first-ever Community Connect event Saturday, held in Hastings Gym at Austin High School. And, thanks to the Austin High School National Honor Society, the Austin Jaycees and the local National Association of Letter Carriers, 5,100 pounds of food was collected that same day, which will help restock the Mower County Food Shelf [...]

Hannah Yang, hyang@postbulletin.com Sep 8, 2017 Submitted by: Greg Siems, Vision 2020 Director AUSTIN — The Austin Poverty Task Force is planning a one-day event to help people struggling with homelessness and poverty. Community Connect will offer access to resources for those struggling financially. Service agencies, businesses and faith-based organizations are invited to partner with the Austin Poverty Task Force to promote their services in a centralized location. The event is set for Nov. 18 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hastings Gymnasium in Austin High School. Task force co-chairmen Greg Siems of Vision 2020 and Richard Lemons of [...]

Brian Todd, btodd@postbulletin.com | Aug. 23, 2017 STEWARTVILLE — The city of Stewartville will start sharing its regional bus service with Chatfield beginning Sept. 7. Dan Mulholland, a member of the city's transit advisory committee, told the city council that ridership levels with Rolling Hills Transit are still not meeting minimum standards, and the city's transit bus will run twice a week to Chatfield. "Our ridership numbers don't match the grant money numbers," Mulholland said. "If our numbers increase, we can have our bus back to just ourselves." The bus will make morning runs on Mondays and Thursdays to Chatfield, [...]

By: Caroline Hecker, Multi-Media Journalist WXOW.com | News 19, ABC La Crescent, MN (WXOW) -SEMCAC Senior Dining in La Crescent celebrated the retirement of its beloved director on Wednesday.Shirley Schwake has worked with seniors and volunteers in the program for 24 years. She says it was her desire to keep busy in her fifties that led her to apply for the position in 1993. "I was a nurse at the daycare for the elderly and they closed their doors," she said. "So I saw this in the paper and thought, well this is working with the elderly and I've done [...]

May 17, 2017 06:30 PM   | kaaltv.com (ABC 6 News) - Last week Governor Mark Dayton vetoed an Education Finance Omnibus that Republican leaders had penned saying it would put early childhood education programs at risk. With future funding in limbo, some pre-kindergarten programs are worried about what's to come. "If funding for Head Start were to ever, to go away, that would be extremely devastating to so many communities," said Melissa Manroe, a teacher at Head Start in Kasson. Manroe teaches 3-5-year-olds and said making pre-K programs help families who otherwise might not have all the resources they [...]

By MATTHEW RODENBURG , Tri-County Record Staff Writer Wednesday, May 10, 2017 10:03 AM MATTHEW RODENBURG/NEWS LEADER Semcac was recently named one of the “Best Places to Work” in southeast Minnesota by a survey conducted by Workforce Development, Inc. and Personnel Dynamics Consulting, Inc. The 51-year-old company submitted information focused around their Rushford administrative office, though they provide services in seven core counties, from Dodge to Winona. Shown above are executive director Wayne Stenberg (holding the left side of the banner) and Human Resource director Pat Georgens joined by the employees from the Rushford office. Workforce Development, Inc. has named [...]

By John Reinan, Star Tribune | April 6, 2017 john.reinan@startribune.com |  612-673-7402 Citing a responsibility to taxpayers, the Trump administration recently proposed a federal budget that calls for drastically reducing ­— or eliminating — programs that pay for Meals on Wheels and other nutrition services. Citing a responsibility to taxpayers, the Trump administration recently proposed a federal budget that calls for drastically reducing ­— or eliminating — programs that pay for Meals on Wheels and other nutrition services. LEWISTON, MINN. – At 97, you make some concessions. Mary Hennessy gave up line dancing a few years ago. But she’s not ready [...]

Letter: Bill not paying enough attention to early childhood Austin Daily Herald | Published Saturday, March 25,2017 Creating an Early Childhood Access Fund to bring together funding streams like Head Start, school-based PreK and Early Learning Scholarships in theory could create a one-size funding model for young children 0-5. Children are different. Referring to varied programs as a “hodgepodge” minimizes the importance of having a mixed set of options.  These options provide a deeper and broader safety net for parents/families that are most at-risk. The current bill is far from a fair deal for poor children and children of color [...]

By Daily Herald | Published 7:01am, Sunday, March 5, 2017 Joanne Ross- Semcac Head Start Fillmore and Mower County Coordinator For 50 years, Semcac Head Start has partnered with parents to support their role as the primary decision-makers for their children. Head Start recognizes parents are their child’s first and most important teachers.  Working together, children and their parents develop skills that prepare them to enter kindergarten with confidence, and enjoy learning for a lifetime.  This “two generation” approach sets Head Start apart from other providers. Why is Head Start Unique? Medical, dental, nutrition and other services are offered for the well-being [...]