The public is invited to an open house for Agassiz Townhomes on Thursday, October 18 at 11:00 am (weather permitting). The townhomes are located at the junction of North Broadway and Fisher Avenue (across the street from Casey’s General Store).

Agassiz Townhomes features 30 rental units consisting of two and three bedrooms. Property features include professional management, central air, washer and dryer in each unit, attached garage and a playground area. Income restrictions apply.

For more information on Agassiz Townhomes and to apply to see if you qualify, please visit www.dwjonesmanagment.com/crookston or call 218-547-3307.

A poverty simulation was held on Thursday, September 13 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Crookston. The event was sponsored by Polk-Norman-Mahnomen Community Health Services, including Polk County Public Health and Norman-Mahnomen Public Health, and Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc. The simulation was facilitated by Minnesota Community Action Partnership (MinnCAP).

The poverty simulation tool was utilized since decreasing persistent poverty is one of three Polk-Norman-Mahnomen Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) priorities. We know that poverty level is one of the most critical characteristics that contributes to the number of people experiencing preventable chronic diseases. The collaboration between agencies allows communities to solve problems that cannot be solved, or easily solved, by single organizations.

A poverty simulation is designed to help participants begin to understand what it might be like to live in a typical low-income family. The object is to sensitize audiences to the realities faced by low-income people. In the simulation, participants assume roles of up to 20+ different families facing poverty. The task of the families is to provide for necessities and shelter during the course of four 15-minute “weeks”. Throughout the event it is stressed that it is a simulation, not a game and those involved should take it very seriously.

If you would like more information on the poverty simulation, please contact Leah Pauletti at leahpauletti@minncap.org.

The University of Minnesota Crookston, Crookston School District, City of Crookston, Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority (CHEDA), Crookston Youth Foundation, Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc., Crookston Chamber and Visitor’s Bureau, Polk County Public Health, Polk County Wellness Coalition, Downtown Crookston Development Partnership, Bike Crookston invite area community members and organizations to a “Quality of Place” brainstorming session on Wednesday, September 19. The event will be held at the Tri-Valley Administrative Office at 102. N Broadway in Crookston at 4 pm. The session will focus on recruitment and retention of talent (people).

Urban Land Magazine describes “Quality of Place” as cutting across three key dimensions:

• What’s there: the combination of the built environment and the natural environment; a stimulating, appealing setting for the pursuit of creative lives.
• Who’s there: diverse people of all ethnicities, nationalities, religions, and sexual orientations, interacting and providing clear cues that this is a community where anyone can fit in and make a life.
• What’s going on: the vibrancy of the street life, café culture, arts, and music; the visible presence of people engaging in outdoor activities—altogether a lot of active, exciting, creative goings-ons.

If you have any questions about the brainstorming session, or if your organization would like to be included as part of the invitation as a community partner, please contact Crookston City Administrator Shannon Stassen at sstassen@crookston.mn.us.

By Mike Christopherson (Crookston Daily Times)

Posted Aug 30, 2018 at 11:08 AM

Tri-Valley program wrapped up Aug. 24 at Community Family Service Center

Between the Summer Food Service Program coordinated by the Crookston School District, which wrapped up Aug. 9, and a similar program put on by Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, which concluded on Aug. 24, almost 9,000 free lunches were served to local youth up to age 18 this summer.

The school district’s program operated at serving sites in Highland Park and Wildwood Park, Mondays through Thursdays, while Tri-Valley’s program was headquartered at the Community Family Service Center/Head Start building, formerly Carman School, and served Monday through Friday.

Jami Lee, child nutrition services manager at Tri-Valley, tells the Times that 4,108 youth meals were served at the CFSC. She hadn’t calculated the number of adult meals served. The 2018 number marks an increase of around 500 meals served by Tri-Valley in the summer of 2017, Lee noted.

The Tri-Valley program implemented the “Farm to Early Care” initiative, she added, meaning that kids had fresh, local produce included in their meals.

“I am a firm believer that working together in the community to outreach and let everyone know of each other’s programs, we can make an impact on the community and reach out to those in need that may not know what services are available to them,” Lee said.

Tri-Valley Transportation Programs is offering a convenient way to get to the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion in Rollag, Minn. on Friday, August 31. T.H.E. Bus will be giving rides to the event from Crookston and Thief River Falls for only $10 round trip! T.H.E. Bus will arrive in Rollag at 10 am and depart at 4 pm. To reserve your seat or ask a question, please call 1-800-201-3432 (Option 4).

To learn more about the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion please visit https://rollag.com/.

T.H.E. Bus is a curb to curb service and provides public transportation services to the general public in eight Minnesota counties, Polk, Red Lake, Norman, Marshall, Kittson, Pennington, Mahnomen, and Clearwater. Buses run through these counties on various days with various destinations. Our public transit buses are available with no age limits or income guidelines.

Courtesy of Mike Christopherson (Crookston Daily Times)

Crookston Public Schools’ Eat United Summer Food Service Program wrapped up its season on Aug. 9, and Crookston School District Food Services Director Anna Brekken reports that 4,725 meals were served at two sites, with 4,580 of those being free meals served to youth from birth to age 18 and 145 meals served to paying adults.

“It was fun to see all the new and familiar faces come out to both Highland and Wildwood parks,” Brekken said.

The program ran for 32 days over eight weeks, with one day at Wildwood Park being cancelled due to severe weather.

Many made this summer’s program a success, Brekken said.

She elaborates: “We had a great group of volunteers that helped serve the students daily from varying organizations which include Cathedral School, Crookston Public Schools, Trinity Lutheran Church, Tri-Valley Foster Grandparent Program, Polk County Public Health, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, American Crystal Sugar, University of Minnesota Extension, Riverview Health, and the United Way of Crookston,” Brekken said. “It’s also important for me to recognize Scott Riopelle and the Parks and Recreation Department for allowing us to use their beautiful parks all summer to run this program. They did a wonderful job keeping the facilities clean and helped with any questions or concerns I had this summer. We could not have ran this program without the support of our volunteers and Crookston Parks and Recreation Department.”

An important component of the program is Tri-Valley Opportunity Council providing free transportation to and from the meal sites on T.H.E. Bus.

“This allowed students to participate in this program from neighborhoods outside of our service sites,” Brekken said.

A grant from the United Way of Crookston covered some of the labor costs this summer, she added.

The Summer Food Service Program is a nationally funded program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Minnesota Council of Nonprofits will host a lunch and learn at Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc. in Crookston (102 N. Broadway) on Tuesday, August 21 from 12 – 1:30 pm. There is no charge for this event and everyone is invited to attend.

This month’s topic is “Innovative Energy Efficiency Strategies and Tactics to use in the Nonprofit Sector” presented by Joel Anastasio from the Headwaters Regional Development Commission (HRDC). Information that will be discussed includes, tactics that nonprofits can use to reduce their energy use, material and products that are available on the market and grants and other opportunities.

If you have any questions about the lunch and learn, please contact Ashley Charwood, Northwest Minnesota regional coordinator, at acharwood@minnesotanonprofits.org or 218-407-5202.

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) was founded in 1987 to meet the increasing information needs of nonprofits and to convene nonprofits to address issues facing the sector. It is the largest state association of nonprofits in the U.S. Through MCN, nonprofits join together across interest areas to work on issues of common concern to all.

The Glencoe center held a mini Farmers Market for children on August 10 as part of the Farm to Early Care Initiative in celebration of National Farmer Market Week (August 5-11). Local produce was donated from the Farm of Minnesota located in Hutchinson, MN. The Farm of Minnesota is one of the local farms that will be supplying some of TVOC’s Head Start Centers with fresh, organic, and locally grown produce. Members of Glencoe’s fire department and police department came out to volunteer as well.  Tables were set up in the parking lot with samples of different fruits and vegetables. The children were able to walk around to each table and sample produce such as purple beans, peppers, squash, watermelon, raspberries, tomatoes and so much more.   Jami Lee, Child Nutrition Manager, also read stories about vegetables to the children after they finished with the Farmers Market.  All children were able to bring home a bag of corn on the cob and apples!

Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc. staff attended the Minnesota Community Action Partnership (MinnCAP) Annual Training Conference held on July 31 – August 2 at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud, Minn. Staff took part in legislative general sessions, listened to speakers on various topics, and took part in several educational breakout sessions.

In conjunction with the annual training conference, 25 Year Honorees were recognized for their dedicated service and commitment to Community Action. Tri-Valley’s Cindy Boudreaux (Health Services Manager) was honored for her 25 years of work with Tri-Valley in Crookston.

(A short bio on Cindy from the event): Cindy started her Head Start experience as a Head Start child where she was introduced to new and exciting things she had never seen before. For the past 25 years, Cindy has undeniably impacted countless children and families through her work.

Cindy has been instrumental in providing high quality, innovative health services and health education to children and parents. Her team provides CPR training, educates Pregnant Women and performs Child and Teen check-ups, which generates income for the program. Admirably, while doing this, Cindy is a strong advocate for families and staff, displaying empathy and compassion in everything she does.

(Photo L-R): Arnie Anderson (MinnCAP Executive Director), Cindy Boudreaux, and Francie Mathes (Office of Economic Opportunity)

Melody Hedden, (Family and Community Services Manager) and Christine Young (Identification and Recruitment Manager) at Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc. in Crookston recently completed training at University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA) Head Start Management Fellows Program. They were two of 38 graduates from UCLA’s intensive leadership program.

“The Head Start Management Fellows Program played a vital role in moving me from a “shouldn’t have been to a look at me now.” I was a Head Start child who transitioned into a Head Start parent and later a Head Start staff person,” states Hedden. “Head Start has been loyal in supporting and encouraging my professional development, which led to applying to the fellowship program. Through the classes at UCLA, I developed and sharpened skills that will be vital in supporting children and families,” Hedden adds.

Throughout the program, participants are taught how to lead effectively and deliver developmental services in changing environments, secure funding, implement programs and network with other Head Start executives across the nation. Since the program’s inception, 1,560 executives have graduated with enhanced management and leadership abilities.

Designed from a strategic planning perspective, the UCLA Head Start Management Fellows Program provides a unique opportunity for Head Start executives to participate in a 12-day, intensive leadership and management development training session at UCLA Anderson School of Management. Since 1991, the program has trained over 1,400 Head Start directors and managers who provide comprehensive services to nearly 1 million economically disadvantaged children and their families each day.

Photos L-R: Melody Hedden, Christine Young