![]() ![]() More than 30 community partners gathered at the Country Club Mall this past March to provide information for families regarding school readiness. In the past, the event was organized by the Judy Center and Head Start, but this year the center was joined by the Allegany County Public Library System. The 5th Annual Allegany County School Readiness Fair was again a huge success. Deborah Kolb, Coordinator for the Allegany County Judy Center, reports on the success of this countywide opportunity for families with young children. For the past five years, the Allegany County Judy Center has been instrumental in sponsoring the Allegany County School Readiness Fair in collaboration with community partners. Judy Centers share their knowledge and expertise throughout their counties. ![]() Measuring the success of a Judy Center is often dependent upon the effectiveness of the collaboration it maintains with its local agencies, organizations and business partners. As a result of Mary’s determination and the support from the Judy Center Partnership, she and her children have the new, self-sufficient life she hoped for. Mary recently began engaging in other community activities such as volunteering at her local church and for her daughter’s local Girl Scout troop. The family continues to be part of Judy Center events. The eldest child is now in first grade, having completed school work that is “on grade level,” while the remaining siblings prepare for kindergarten (the middle child met all benchmarks in prekindergarten last year) and to enroll in a Judy Center partner full-day child care program. Today, Mary is employed as a CNA, living in her own apartment and supporting and enjoying her children. Mary continued to attend events sponsored by the Judy Center, was eventually accepted as a tenant in an apartment with subsidized rent, and through the Judy Center, benefitted from other support in the community such as holiday assistance and local food pantry deliveries and “pick-ups.” Throughout it all, Mary continued to grow and change. Assistance was provided to enroll the children in public school (one kindergarten student and one pre-kindergarten student), including helping Mary obtain copies of the children’s birth certificates and immunization records from her previous state. Referrals were made for family and individual counseling as well as for WIC. The Center’s staff worked closely with the shelter staff to assist Mary with her multiple needs. The Judy Center staff helped Mary explore options and secure child care that was accredited and developmentally appropriate. Mary successfully completed training through the Bridges Program at DSS, and the Child Care Subsidy allowed her to have her children safely cared for while she completed her Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training. Mary’s case manager from the shelter also encouraged her to participate in the “Playgroups” offered by the Judy Center through its partnerships with the school system’s Homeless Education Program and the Transitional Family Shelter. Mary also enrolled in the Bridges Program to help her begin to find her way to employment and self-sufficiency. ![]() She helped Mary apply for and receive TANF, SNAP, and Child Care Subsidy vouchers. The case manager at the shelter referred Mary to the local Department of Social Services (DSS). Mary and the children were able to secure a temporary place to stay in a Frederick County Transitional Family Shelter. She carried only her three young children with her, but she was determined to escape a physically abusive relationship and find a way to start again…and she has. She had fled through the night on a Greyhound bus from another state. She arrived in Frederick, Maryland in 2012. Mary is a mother of three young children. Cathy Nusbaum, Coordinator for the Frederick County Judy Center, provides the following real-life example of how a Judy Center, in collaboration with its Partnership, can lead a family to self-sufficiency. ![]()
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