Good afternoon everyone! Here’s some news to brighten your January!

• CEO was able to serve 130 families with our joint CEO/Unity House Adopt A Family Store. The families really embraced and enjoyed the new model where they were able to choose toys and gifts themselves.
• The agency had 18 interns who spent the Fall 2013 semester with us. We are now in the process of placing new interns for the Spring 2014 semester within our programs here.
• The Foster Grandparent Program is in the process of recruiting Foster Grandparents this month. They will also be conducting five separate trainings for Grandparents across 5 counties.
• In December, the Foster Grandparent Program also honored its Grandparents with its annual Holiday Party. Pictures will be available on the home page of the intranet.
• The VITA program will open on January 28th, with appointments occurring every Tuesday and Thursday evening throughout tax season. The program will begin taking appointments starting on January 8th.
• We recently learned that Troy School District was awarded a grant through the Community School Initiative grant program.  CEO and the School District will be working in collaboration to build a community hub within School 2 to deliver “co-located or school-linked academic, health, mental health, nutrition, counseling, legal and/or other services to students and their families in a manner that will lead to improved educational and other outcomes.”  We anticipate this program will begin sometime in early Spring.