The top priority of the United Way & Volunteer Services of Greater Yankton is addressing needs of people. People of all ages are in need of services - some for a short duration and others may need services throughout their lives. If we begin critical services with the very young, there is a greater potential that these services will not be required as they age. Therefore, we believe that strong community support and programming for the children and youth will be very beneficial.
Keeping children and adults warm for the winter months is the reason for the gathering of warm, washable coats, snow boots and enclosed shoes. Maintaining a Clothing Closet also addresses these needs. By October we hope to gather enough winter wear to keep all warm for the cold winter blast. On Make A Difference Day the doors open at the Human Service Center Training Facility (former Chapel) for the selection for all ages to begin.
***************************************************************************************************************
A press conference was held revealing the results of a local child care survey taken by parents Yankton last spring The event was well attended by child care providers, representatives from the public school, Social Services, concerned citizens, Chamber of Commerce, Legislators, employers, human service agencies plus more.
With 84 % of Yankton County mothers with children under the age of six in the workforce and 80% of Yankton County children under the age of six in households with both parents working, child care is a very important issue. Health and safety are the most important requirements sought by parents for their children. The survey also revealed that parents next value how the care provider relates to the children, the ratio of children to adults and the cost.
It should be no surprise that health and safety for children are at the top of the list. It should be at the top of the list for people of all ages that are receiving care. For the Yankton Business-Civic Leadership Group on Early Care and Education who supported the survey, health and safety has always been the primary concern - closely followed by early education. After discussing the various aspects of the survey and mapping the course to take, health and safety remained the top priority.
Our community is not the first to address child care health and safety. Aberdeen, South Dakota, has also looked at the issue and worked and passed a city ordinance for all child care businesses to be registered. The City Inspector ensures that the home/facility is safe, has a fence where the children play and is a healthy environment. Due to this ordinance it was discovered that two of the providers operated with a convicted sex offender on the premises!
An additional reason to have child care businesses registered is for the ability to contact them when there is training available, awareness and resources for a health issue, available grants or listing of openings. It is NOT a requirement for child care providers to register with the state. The ordinance IS about health and safety for our youngest population and networking!
Older children's health and safety are also part of the mission of United Way. Striving to provide options for latch key children created the Just For Kids program. Addressing a safe place for Yankton youth produced the Boys & Girls Club. Both programs took many hours of sharing dreams, planning the programs, raising the funds and most of all raising awareness of need and then success.
A very recent program for children that sprang to life quickly is the Sack Pack Program. Sending a sack of food home with certain Webster School students on Friday enables the students to return to school on Monday ready to concentrate on school work rather than on their empty tummies. The program was initiated in September as a pilot program.
The caring individuals that serve on the United Way & Volunteer Services' Board of Directors are focused on the needs of our neighbors. It takes careful planning, reviewing programs, budgeting and raising the needed funds to support the diverse agencies and programs that directly sustain our citizens. With a supporting community we can continue to address the health and safety of our children and others that depend upon us for their care.