Hey everybody,
After we left Birth to Three, we visited with a few of the folks from the Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service (SCHAS, for short). SCHAS is a service that does a lot for Blount County's elderly people – from simple cleaning to giving them baths in their home. They take care of those older folks who get along pretty well on their own, but they just can’t quite do everything like they used to. So SCHAS comes in and fills in those gaps to keep them from having to go to a nursing home.
We got to spend some time with Ms. Beasley, and SCHAS comes in every couple of weeks and helps her with her cleaning. I just loved getting to meet her. She’s a sweetheart, and rumor has it she makes some mean biscuits and gravy. They’re the talk of her floor.
She said it best – we really need to take care of children and our elderly. She said if it weren’t for the services SCHAS provides her, she’d probably have to live in a nursing home because she wouldn’t be able to keep up with her apartment. Then she’d get evicted.
Ya’ know, it’s gotta’ be hard for someone to lose their independence and self-sufficiency, and there’s a lot of people who could live on their own with a little help. Judy from SCHAS was talking about some of the self-neglect and elder abuse she sees, and it’s just sad and wrong.
Seriously, I’m Old Testament on this one. We ought to bring the hanging tree back on the courthouse lawn and hang the folks that hurt our elderly and our children because there’s just no excuse whatsoever for that. Some of the things Judy’s seen were awful, but she’s trying to make a difference.
We should help our elderly live on their own for as long as they can, and if they need a little help here and there, that’s something that Senior Citizens Assistance can provide.
You all have a good weekend, and thanks for reading. My next blog will be about our trip to Douglas Cooperative. Now THAT was really uplifting.
Blog You Later,
Dave Bennett
Friday, April 27, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Birth to Three
Hey everybody,
This past Friday I toured a few of United Way’s partner agencies: LTVEC Birth to Three, Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service, and Douglas Cooperative. I want to thank Cindy Mayes for coming along with us on the tours on Friday. She added a lot of insight, and we shared some great conversations about these agencies.
We started by visiting Pam Potocik and Birth to Three.
And I gotta' say they've got a wonderful program. Birth to Three is a center kind of like a preschool that helps special needs children and their families so that the kids can reach their full potential. Like with Haven House, you walk in and see those kids, and you just know that’s where your heart ought to be if it’s not. These kids have a need, and it’s good that we have folks like Pam who are meeting those needs.
Pam said there was a study done a few years ago that found for every dollar spent on a program like Birth to Three, the community saves between seven and eight future dollars that would have to be spent in rehabilitation and treatment for those kids later on in life. I was floored by that comparison. I mean that’s not why the folks at Birth to Three do what they do, but it has a huge economic impact on our community.
Right now there are 22 children in Blount County who are sitting on a waiting list to join the Birth to Three program, and when I think of those kids, it makes me want to work even harder as campaign chair. We've gotta' raise all the support we can so that these folks can serve these needs in our community.
Plus, we've got to do a better job of getting the word out about the need. If we let the people in our community know what the needs are and communicate that to them, Blount County will give - I have no doubt in my mind. This is a very giving community, and when we let our people know there's a problem, they’ll give.
I better go for now. You all check back soon to hear about my visit with one of the sweetest ladies in Blount County: Mrs. Beasley.
Blog you soon,
Dave Bennett
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Haven House
Hey everybody,
Thanks for reading. I figured I should post my reactions to seeing Haven House before I go on my next visits tomorrow.
After we left the Red Cross, we visited Claudia and the domestic violence shelter Haven House, and I tell ya’ the truth - that visit left me with a heavy heart. I just can’t imagine somebody living through what those women have. Those folks that are there, they’ve been through such a traumatic event, and I’m thankful this community’s got enough of a giving heart that we’re able to have it.
But I hate that we have to have it.
I’d never been to Haven House. Sure, I knew what it was. But when you go and see the folks there, it really hits you in the face. This is real. It’s really kind of sobering to know that there are folks that are dealing with domestic violence, and it’s a terrible, terrible crime that somebody that you trust and you love is gonna’ beat you up or mentally abuse you. I just can’t relate to that, but it’s out there. I’m thankful that there are folks like Claudia that have that giving heart and giving spirit and take care of those folks and try to help them start their life over again.
I was astounded to hear that Haven House takes in about 300 women and children over a year. I can’t believe it. I feel like I’ve been living in a vacuum with my family and the folks I get to work with. It’s unbelievable to me that there are that many people that go through domestic violence in our backyard.
And the kids. It just breaks my heart about the kids. It absolutely breaks my heart that kids have to deal with that. I’m an adult, and I can deal with what I need to. It’s still tough, but some of these innocent children don’t have any way to deal with it other than through these people who can help them.
They help about 300 women and children a year, and Haven House has been here 25 years. That means they’ve helped over 7,000 people in Blount County, and they told me United Way funds almost half of their budget. If United Way couldn’t provide that dollar amount to Haven House, then what’s gonna’ happen to those folks? They’re not gonna’ have anywhere to go. And those children are gonna’ be stuck in that cycle. Then those kids get used to that and might become abusers themselves when they get older.
Claudia’s making a difference each day by trying to break that cycle, and if we don’t have those funds available, the cycle will get bigger and more people will be a part of that.
Haven House kind of got to me a little bit. I guess when you don’t see those things, you just kind of tuck ‘em away. Then when I saw those little kids, it changed everything.
Tomorrow we're going to visit the Birth to 3 Program by the Little Tennessee Valley Educational Cooperative (LTVEC, for short), SCHAS (stands for "Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service"), and Douglas Cooperative. I hope you can join me here.
Blog you later,
Dave Bennett
Thanks for reading. I figured I should post my reactions to seeing Haven House before I go on my next visits tomorrow.
After we left the Red Cross, we visited Claudia and the domestic violence shelter Haven House, and I tell ya’ the truth - that visit left me with a heavy heart. I just can’t imagine somebody living through what those women have. Those folks that are there, they’ve been through such a traumatic event, and I’m thankful this community’s got enough of a giving heart that we’re able to have it.
But I hate that we have to have it.
I’d never been to Haven House. Sure, I knew what it was. But when you go and see the folks there, it really hits you in the face. This is real. It’s really kind of sobering to know that there are folks that are dealing with domestic violence, and it’s a terrible, terrible crime that somebody that you trust and you love is gonna’ beat you up or mentally abuse you. I just can’t relate to that, but it’s out there. I’m thankful that there are folks like Claudia that have that giving heart and giving spirit and take care of those folks and try to help them start their life over again.
I was astounded to hear that Haven House takes in about 300 women and children over a year. I can’t believe it. I feel like I’ve been living in a vacuum with my family and the folks I get to work with. It’s unbelievable to me that there are that many people that go through domestic violence in our backyard.
And the kids. It just breaks my heart about the kids. It absolutely breaks my heart that kids have to deal with that. I’m an adult, and I can deal with what I need to. It’s still tough, but some of these innocent children don’t have any way to deal with it other than through these people who can help them.
They help about 300 women and children a year, and Haven House has been here 25 years. That means they’ve helped over 7,000 people in Blount County, and they told me United Way funds almost half of their budget. If United Way couldn’t provide that dollar amount to Haven House, then what’s gonna’ happen to those folks? They’re not gonna’ have anywhere to go. And those children are gonna’ be stuck in that cycle. Then those kids get used to that and might become abusers themselves when they get older.
Claudia’s making a difference each day by trying to break that cycle, and if we don’t have those funds available, the cycle will get bigger and more people will be a part of that.
Haven House kind of got to me a little bit. I guess when you don’t see those things, you just kind of tuck ‘em away. Then when I saw those little kids, it changed everything.
Tomorrow we're going to visit the Birth to 3 Program by the Little Tennessee Valley Educational Cooperative (LTVEC, for short), SCHAS (stands for "Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service"), and Douglas Cooperative. I hope you can join me here.
Blog you later,
Dave Bennett
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The Red Cross
Friday, we did a couple of agency visits. We went to the Blount County Red Cross and Haven House, the domestic abuse shelter.
Betty Hale gave us a tour at the Red Cross’s new office off Lamar Alexander. Walking through there, it hit me: without the Red Cross, we’d be lost.
The first time I ever dealt with the Red Cross, I hadn’t been working but a couple of years, and we had the train wreck over in Knoxville when the plume made us evacuate all those people. And that was the first time I ever had to open an EOC – emergency operations center. We had everyone come together: all of the utility companies, all the fire departments, all the law enforcement, all the mayors offices, and city managers. And Betty and the Red Cross were there.
I didn’t have a clue, I mean not a clue, what the Red Cross did. And I found out real quick because they handled all the sheltering, and they handled all the food for those folks. It ended up being a smaller incident, but there are just so many disasters that we plan for, and then there are those we don’t plan for. But you never know when you’re gonna’ need them.
And you don’t see it. If things are good, and there are no disasters, and everybody’s happy, you don’t see the need. But boy, when you need them, man oh man, do they step up. Imagine how life would be without the Red Cross - the shelters, CPR, and the preventive things they do. How many people are alive today because of their CPR classes or lifeguard training or anything like that they’ve done?
I gotta' go for now, but I'll blog more later on my visit with Haven House.
I did want to say one last thing: I intend on visiting every United Way Agency before campaign gets here, and if anyone would like to join me, let Jennifer or Aaron at United Way know. And as a final note, thank you to all who have given to United Way in the past. It makes a difference. Look for more soon as I blog you some more.
See you soon,
Dave Bennett
Betty Hale gave us a tour at the Red Cross’s new office off Lamar Alexander. Walking through there, it hit me: without the Red Cross, we’d be lost.
The first time I ever dealt with the Red Cross, I hadn’t been working but a couple of years, and we had the train wreck over in Knoxville when the plume made us evacuate all those people. And that was the first time I ever had to open an EOC – emergency operations center. We had everyone come together: all of the utility companies, all the fire departments, all the law enforcement, all the mayors offices, and city managers. And Betty and the Red Cross were there.
I didn’t have a clue, I mean not a clue, what the Red Cross did. And I found out real quick because they handled all the sheltering, and they handled all the food for those folks. It ended up being a smaller incident, but there are just so many disasters that we plan for, and then there are those we don’t plan for. But you never know when you’re gonna’ need them.
And you don’t see it. If things are good, and there are no disasters, and everybody’s happy, you don’t see the need. But boy, when you need them, man oh man, do they step up. Imagine how life would be without the Red Cross - the shelters, CPR, and the preventive things they do. How many people are alive today because of their CPR classes or lifeguard training or anything like that they’ve done?
I gotta' go for now, but I'll blog more later on my visit with Haven House.
I did want to say one last thing: I intend on visiting every United Way Agency before campaign gets here, and if anyone would like to join me, let Jennifer or Aaron at United Way know. And as a final note, thank you to all who have given to United Way in the past. It makes a difference. Look for more soon as I blog you some more.
See you soon,
Dave Bennett
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