Author: Rita Stewart
Major Program: Empowering Community Leaders (general)
Leading Healthy Community Connections is an engaging leadership program designed to explore the policies, systems and environment that shape community activities and interactions. The five session program starts with a shared read of the book “That’s Not How We Do It Here”, and then walks a group through exploring community systems, connecting with community leaders, and discovering personal power. Dr. Dan Kahl with UK CEDIK and this Family and Consumer Sciences Agent ada
Author: Jordan Crain
Members of Help, Hope and Hands have been helping others in the Green County community for meany years. The group first joined together and was focused on making sleeping mats for those in need. Those mats were distributed both locally and internationally. While they continue to work on sleeping mats, they have added additional projects within the group. Each year, they donate 100 cancer caps, make and distribute cancer care packages, sew pillowcase dresses, host the Community Baby Shower, assis
Author: Luciana Hockersmith
The Cooperative Extension Service of Mercer County continually seeks to expose new audiences to the resources available to all Kentuckians. The Mercer County Extension Agents for Horticulture and Family Consumer Sciences with the 4-H Youth Development Program Assistant teamed up to elaborate on existing programs to reach new clientele. Family pumpkin fun day, an event offered in the fall, taught families about how pumpkins are grown, the varieties available, and how to use them in preparin
Author: Brooke Hogancamp
Carlisle County needs strong leaders. According to the Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky, the total number of jobs in Carlisle County is projected to decrease by 5% over the next 10 years. With 17% of the county population already living in poverty, the county needs growth rather than a withering economic structure. Strong leaders promote growth. Through a partnership between the Carlisle County Homemakers, Carlisle County 4-H and Carlisle County High S
Author: Shane Bogle
Livestock production remains a major agriculture enterprise in Caldwell County. The Caldwell/Lyon Cattlemen's Association is a dedicated group of producers that not only promotes and supports the livestock industry but is recognized as a leading civic organization in Caldwell County. They provide catering services for county educational and civic events, sponsor educational programs, mentor young cattle producers, provide multiple scholarships to youth in Caldwell and Lyon County, and
Author: Douglas Shepherd
One of our Extension District Board members, one day after a meeting where one of our veteran leaders had parked his truck in front of the three flagpoles at the front of the new Extension Office, suggested that those parking spots should be designated for veterans. Shared this insight with other Extension leaders, who took it upon themselves to contact the local Volunteers of America (VOA) and VFW, about this possibility. Program then expanded to included national Wounded Warrior Pr
Author: Leslie Workman
Following the CDC’s guidance for making face coverings has not been simple for some people in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Many people in Pike County do not have the resources to gather the needed supplies or knowledge to complete the task. The state of Kentucky has endured alternating times of “mandated” mask wearing and for people in need, it has further complicated their world. The Pike County Family & Consumer Sciences program addressed t
Author: Melissa Goodman
Civic Engagement- Empowering Hickman County LeadersOur nation is at a time of increased public discourse and significant conflict. The recent statewide needs assessment identified Leadership Development, Civic Engagement, and Community Pride as a high priority for Cooperative Extension. Hickman County ranked more qualified leaders to prepare the community for the future as the highest need within the category of community vitality. Youth and adults in Kentucky need programming support to en
Author: Diana Doggett
Nationally, 3.2B consumers reported losing more than $1.9B to fraud in 2019 according to the Federal Trade Commission. 26,870 Kentuckians lost $10.6M in total fraud, identity theft and other reports in 2019. Kentucky Scam Alerts aims to combat the steep climb in reports of scams targeting Kentuckians by phone, mail and email. In January 2019, this Family and Consumer Sciences agent presented Scams! Be Informed to 147 District 4 Homemaker leaders in nine counties. The top
Author: Kerri Ashurst
Dr. Ashurst and Tyrone Atkinson co-facilitated a total of 5 different 2-day Mental Health First Aid - Adult trainings. A total of 68 people were trained in addition to the 81 already trained in the previous reporting year for a total of 149 now trained in Mental Health First Aid - adult program that are working with Kentucky Cooperative Extension as agents, specialists, staff, and collaborators. Of the 149 trained total in Kentucky, an average content score of 4.73 of out a maximum score of 5 ha
Author: Carla Jordan
The CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) suggests that exposure to trauma can pose negative lifetime consequences. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019 that childhood trauma such as abuse and neglect can increase risk factors such as substance abuse, mental health issues and disease. Kentucky State University recognizes the importance of creating sustainable communities. One such way is collaborating with community organizations to teach resilien
Author: Kristi Shive
More than 670,000 Kentuckians — roughly one-third of the commonwealth's workforce — filed for unemployment insurance for the first time from the week ending March 14 through the week ending May 2. The coronavirus pandemic has put a bigger share of Kentucky's workforce out of a job than almost any other state in America. This has left many Kentuckians without a job. Warren County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent partnered with Scholar House of Bowling Green and Community Edu
Author: Gregory Drake
The Butler County Extension Council has identified community and economic development as an important issue for the extension service. The 5 Rural Development clubs functioning here are a great example of a program that works to address rural issues. Rural Development was started by the extension service in the 1950’s. It has been leader led and successful ever since. The Rural Development Program in Butler County has beef functioning for 62 consecutive years. &nbs
Author: Caroline Hughes
Robertson County has a 78% rate of high school graduates, ranking it sixth in its local area; however, of those graduates, 16% of them go on to earn a Bachelor’s degree (Town Charts 2013). Considering that on the average only slightly over 400 students attend grades K through 12 in the school system there, coupled with the fact that the poverty rate there is 30.4% (Lifestories Catalog; US Census 2018), those figures are not to be dismissed. However, some those graduates don’t g
Author: Ronald Hustedde
Many social scientists, journalists and other observers view American society as highly polarized because of political, racial, and economic divisions. While there are merits for judgemental listening, this listening style tends to be overused. A series of Extension workshops has been provided to Extension educators and other community leaders that focuses on various dimensions of non-judgmental listening and providing structures for people to listen to each other. It includes
Author: Roger "Darrell" Simpson
Volunteering ones time can make a difference in the lives of others. The Muhlenberg County Extension Homemakers decided during the January 2020 County Homemaker Council meeting to enter the Kentucky Extension Homemakers Association Family and Individual Development Contest. The county Homemaker Association President informed this agent that this was the first time that the county homemakers had entered a state contest since she had been a member of homemakers. The projects that they agreed to do
Author: Sarah Imbus
Gardening is more than planting, weeding, and mulching. Gardening is an activity that many enjoy doing as a mental and physical activity. Gardening is for every age group and is practiced all over the world. Gardens are different in many ways, but each garden is unique in that it represents a person, family, community, region, or country. Gardening allows people and communities to come together to grow, care, and harvest from. A garden is also a place to use all of your 5 senses: sound, sight, t
Author: Philip Konopka
During Fall 2018 the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service led a statewide community needs assessment for each of Kentucky’s 120 counties. This assessment was led locally by County Extension Agents and sought feedback from various county stakeholders, residents, and organizations. Lewis County Extension agents used surveys, focus groups and interviews collecting information to gain a better understanding of the needs and priorities of Lewis County. Result from the informatio
