Tableland Services, Inc. & Fayette County Community Action
Every day, Community Action professionals transform struggles into meaningful opportunities, creating sustainable change in communities across Pennsylvania. But what does it take to turn lived experience and strategic vision into programs that genuinely empower people? In this special episode of the Thinking CAAP podcast, you'll hear inspiring stories from two dynamic leaders whose innovative work is reshaping how we approach employment, recovery, reentry, and community development. Tune in to celebrate their impact—and get ideas for making a difference in your own community.
In this special episode of the Thinking CAAP podcast, Beck and Heather sit down with Jeremy Oester, program coordination and development strategist at Tableland Services, Inc. and Jessica Hajek Bates, Director of Planning and Development, Fayette County Community Action.
Jeremy Oester shares his passion for Community Action as he leads Tableland’s Employment Advancement and Retention Network (EARN) program. As a certified recovery specialist, social media manager, and Pardon Project coach, he supports clients in overcoming employment barriers, navigating mental health challenges, and seeking second chances. His deep commitment to advocacy and empowerment shines through in his daily work and his community involvement—from county boards to award-winning workplace culture initiatives that make Tableland a hub of transformation in Somerset County.
Jessica Hajek Bates is the Director of Planning and Development at Fayette County Community Action. She reflects on 25 years in Community Action and the innovative work happening at Fayette County Community Action. From launching a reentry initiative and expanding senior services to overseeing grant writing, community development, and a capital campaign to improve facilities, she offers insight into the strategy and heart behind sustainable, locally-rooted impact. Her leadership helps ensure that services are community-informed, high quality, and responsive to evolving needs.
Together, their stories offer powerful proof that Community Action doesn’t just change lives—it transforms entire communities.
Thinking CAAP Talking Points
[00:00] Introducing Jeremy and Tableland Services
Beck and Heather introduce Jeremy Oester from Tableland Services in Somerset County, highlighting the agency’s role in supporting the community and celebrating Community Action Month.
[00:03:33] Jeremy's Role and Responsibilities
Jeremy outlines his multi-faceted role as a Program Coordinator, Development Strategist, and Certified Recovery Specialist.
He discusses his work with the EARN program, social media management, recovery support, and the agency’s wide range of services.
[00:06:32] Impact of Community Action
Beck and Heather reflect on how Community Action agencies like Tableland surround individuals with resources for economic mobility.
Jeremy shares his personal journey and how working with a compassionate team makes his work deeply rewarding.
[00:10:43] Recognition and Awards
Jeremy is recognized for his recent award at the CAAP Conference, with Beck and Heather celebrating the importance of honoring local heroes.
Jeremy shares how Tableland Services earned multiple Community Choice Awards, affirming their positive impact in Somerset County.
[00:11:25] Impact and Community Recognition
Jeremy highlights the reach of Tableland Services, including serving over 34,000 individuals through food pantries and providing 45,000+ transportation trips.
He emphasizes how local recognition validates their work and strengthens community trust.
[00:12:49] PARDON Project Impact
Jeremy explains the significance of the Somerset County PARDON Project, sharing that three applications were submitted in one month.
He encourages other Community Action agencies to consider launching similar initiatives.
[00:13:55] Myth Busting About Community Action
Jeremy challenges the misconception that Community Action doesn’t make an impact.
He shares powerful client success stories, illustrating how these programs provide a hand up—not a handout.
[00:16:44] Impact of Community Action
Jeremy reflects on the emotional reward of helping others achieve self-sufficiency.
He credits the strength of the Tableland team and the broader Community Action network for making lasting change possible.
[00:17:42] Gratitude and Appreciation
Jeremy expresses deep gratitude for the role Community Action has played in his own life and career.
He acknowledges the support of Tableland leadership, colleagues, and community partners.
[00:19:12] Introducing Jessica Hajek Bates
Beck and Heather welcome Jessica Hajek Bates, Director of Planning and Development at Fayette County Community Action, in celebration of Community Action Month.
Jessica shares her 25-year journey in Community Action and reflects on what brought her back to the work she loves.
[00:25:37] Community Action Work and Rebranding
Jessica discusses the importance of community feedback in shaping services.
She shares her role in communications and their upcoming rebrand tied to a capital campaign launch.
[00:26:16] Program Offerings
Jessica provides an overview of the agency’s services, including senior programming, housing, employment and training, and nutrition, such as food distribution and WIC support.
[00:31:45] Reentry Program and Community Impact
Jessica shares details about their new reentry program for individuals leaving the county jail.
She explains how strategic planning and collaboration with local officials are expanding support for returning citizens.
[00:35:25] Campus of Services and Capital Campaign
Jessica describes their "campus of services" and the upcoming capital campaign to enhance facilities.
The improvements aim to create a welcoming, dignified space for all participants.
[00:37:39] Community Action Impact
Jessica underscores the agency’s mission to help people, change lives, and unite communities.
She celebrates the transformational impact that occurs when individuals are empowered with the right resources.
[00:39:21] Gratitude and Appreciation
Beck thanks Jessica and Heather for their contributions to the episode.
The importance of recognizing colleagues and the work being done across the network is highlighted.
[00:39:29] Closing Remarks
Beck wraps up the episode, thanking listeners for tuning in and encouraging them to continue following the series.
[00:39:36] Call to Action
Listeners are invited to check the show notes for resources, connect with featured agencies, and send in questions for future episodes.
Beck provides an email for listener submissions to keep the conversation going.
Transcript of Episode 10
00:00:00
What's up everybody? Welcome to the ThinkingCAAP. I'm Beck Moore, CEO here at Community Action Association of Pennsylvania. With me is my fearless co host today, Heather Holloway. What's up, Heather?
00:00:09
Hey, thank you so much. Heather Holloway from Holloway Media Services it is a thrill to be here, Beck. Always happy to have you and always just can't say enough good about Holloway Media Services. For those of you looking for a partner, just you know, special shout out to my friend here, Heather. And also with us helping to celebrate Community Action Month is Jeremy from Tableland Services.
00:00:29
Jeremy, I would say your last name, but I know I'm going to do a terrible job. Jeremy Oester. Yeah, thank you very much. I was going to ask and I was like, you know what, I'm just going to have him do that. That's better.
00:00:37
Because even if he says it, I will probably mess it up. So thank you. So Tableland Services, you all support Somerset County, correct? Correct. Yes, absolutely.
00:00:47
And so happy to have Jeremy here today to talk a little bit about his work and to help celebrate the amazing work of our 42 Community Action agencies across the state. So with that, Heather, take us away. Yeah. All right. So Jeremy, I'm gonna give you a softball one here.
00:01:00
Okay. This is a really easy one. So tell the folks, tell the folks. What do you do on a day-to-day basis at Tableland? Oh yeah.
00:01:12
Oh, that's easy to do, right? It's a simple job. Simple, simple work thing. Simple one. Yeah.
00:01:19
So this is easy to do because recently we had to create our manuals describing like our job duties and step-by-step instructions on how to like complete our jobs. And like I was completing that and I was like, whoa. I was like, I do do a lot. So my role here is program coordinator and develop development strategist.
00:01:42
Yeah, it just got changed. So. I appreciate that. I used to have a, I used to have a title at one job. It was like there were commas in it and that always throws me off and then how I would say it.
00:01:51
So like am I a director of this or am I program comma director of. And then it changes midstream. You're like, I don't even, I don't know. I work here. I do a lot of things.
00:02:00
Other duties as assigned. Yeah, yeah, same, same. And then I'm also a certified recovery specialist here as well, which was a recent development. I got certified a few months ago. I am basically the day-to-day stuff is my main focus is the EARN program, which is the Employment Advancement and Retention Network.
00:02:19
So the way that is we get our referrals from the county assistance office, right? And clients come in and I'm like, let me help you overcome these barriers to employment, right? And people come in, and sometimes there's like a little bit of like guilt and shame of like needing help. So I try to like practice empathy and share a little bit of my story of like, when I came to Somerset, I was, I was sleeping on a couch, I didn't have a home, I lost a vehicle.
00:02:49
I was walking a mile to the restaurant that I work at and I still work there. And I was like, listen, those, those non-slip shoes they give you don't work on ice, trust me.
00:03:03
Or, or on bike pedals, by the way. They're also. I've been there. I've been there, Jeremy, I've been there. And it's a lot of like having that compassion with people, right?
00:03:13
And being able, like I was where you're at, so I'm able to like feel some of those same feelings of fear. Fear of the unknown, right? Fear of the unknown and what, what's coming. So they come in, I help them with resume building, life skills, job readiness skills. If anybody's interested in going back to school, we set like all of that up.
00:03:33
Mental health too. I'm a big advocate for people's mental health before they get into the workforce. And then talked a little bit about, I just recently got my certified, certified recovery specialist. So we're navigating that here. Like, how do we bring that?
00:03:48
Because the good. The cool thing about Tableland is like this building that we're in, it used to be an old bowling alley and. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my office is like right in the middle. So like down the hall one way is the early childhood department, down another way is housing.
00:04:07
Behind me is our transportation and our weatherization department. So everything is nestled all in this like big umbrella of services. So clients come in and they're like, well, I need help with them. Like, we got it, let me help you. Right?
00:04:22
That's what I'm here for. And then I also manage all of us or all the social media too. So we're on LinkedIn, we're on Instagram or on Facebook. So, you know, go. Follow us.
00:04:35
Tableland Services, you know. Yeah, I, yeah, I went around the office the one time I was like, let me get on your Facebook, hit those three little dots. We're inviting everybody's friends.
00:04:50
Yeah, yeah, I do that. And then I'm also a pardon project coach, so. Which is probably I'm just really passionate about the pardon project of Somerset County. So individuals with criminal records who meet certain criteria, they come in, we fill out the pardon applications. I get all the documents needed from the clerk of courts, and we fill out those applications and we send them to the Board of Pardons, who then sends them to the governor, who has like 500 and stuff from 500 pardons that he still needs to sign from the last year.
00:05:25
So we're trying to like, pen to paper, buddy. And then I sit on a bunch of different, different committees in. In the community. So I sit on the Health and Welfare Council of Somerset County. I'm on the Somerset Single County Authority for Drug and Alcohol, their advisory board, treasurer of the Pardon Project.
00:05:51
I'm in a leadership cohort with the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce.
00:05:58
I'm missing one. I feel like other. You're really, really other duties as assigned. Really? I mean, that's kind of other duties as assigned.
00:06:07
You sound like such a slacker. I. Are you? And what do you do in the free time that you have? My other job.
00:06:14
World peace. World peace. I guess a better question would be what don't you do? Right. Yeah.
00:06:20
Yeah. And anything I can do to bring awareness to like what Tableland and what Community Action does for Somerset county is. I'll always do it. I'll always do it. It's a true passion.
00:06:32
Well, I love that. And part of what you kind of touched on, you know, in terms of even just like the. The way that the office is laid out and the number of programs that you touch in particular, and then Tableland touches, you know, it speaks to really the size and scope of the organizations that we support here at the association and that we're celebrating this month is. Right. That our organizations surround people with all of the resources in order to become self-sufficient, economically mobile.
00:06:56
And I think when you think about all of the programs that Community Action touches. Right. For those of you who are listening who aren't immersed at this point in your listenership, that I think upwards to 100 different programs that on the whole Community Action may or may not touch in some way shape or form the approach to those. Those programs maybe look a little different from agency to agency, but ultimately all through the lens of surrounding people with the resources to become economically mobile. Right?
00:07:25
Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you for. For. Thank you for everything you do.
00:07:28
I mean, it's. You're clearly. Thank you for taking a couple minutes to talk to us. I feel right now I feel even more privileged to be able to talk to you. So if you would have told me where my life was, like, five years ago, because I really didn't have any clue about Community Action.
00:07:42
I didn't know what Tableland services really did or I would have utilized the resources and now here I am able. Yeah, able to lead people to this path of, like, self-sufficiency and to get on their feet. Just help people, you know, with a, with a hand up, you know.
00:07:59
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's what we hear, you know, from these podcast episodes, Beck. We hear this over and over again, that, that these leaders are products of the supports and the opportunities provided in these, you know, agencies all throughout Pennsylvania. So who better to serve the community than Jeremy, who, you know, is a beautiful, prosperous byproduct of the services? Yeah, absolutely.
00:08:26
A million. A million. A million percent and similar, Jeremy. Right. Like when I started, when I got the call from the recruiter about the association work, I was like, I don't, I don't know what this Community Action thing is.
00:08:35
And so spent a lot of time Googling and then was really amazed. I was like, oh, I, you know, 20 years ago I could have benefited from this because similarly, I was, you know, couch surfing. I thought, you know, I was going to be dead in a year and didn't know what I was going to do with myself. And it's part of why we created this podcast, frankly. It's part of what the work of the association is, is try to talk about and advocate and tell the story about the remarkable work that you all are doing on a regular basis.
00:08:58
So, yeah, I want to say, make sure to say thank you. Do you want to check out Tableland? You can again, you can go to our website. I'm going to repeat this on every single episode. Sorry for those of you who listen on a regular basis, but theCAAP.org, you can go to the About Us section, do the dropdown, right.
00:09:11
Look for Tableland. Make sure you check out the volunteer opportunities there. The, you know, you can give your resources, of course, dollars are always going to be helpful and certainly meaningful. But also your time. If you're interested in volunteering, please, you know, check them out.
00:09:24
Perfect. Now, we talked about. I feel like we talked a little bit about the why, why you're doing this work. You know, you've found yourself in a similar situation to the clients that you help and. But what I want to understand is what's most rewarding for you today?
00:09:43
Oh, most rewarding for me today, I guess, would probably be like the, the advocacy and the empowerment part of it. All right. Like being part of the systematic change and advocating clients. Like, listen, one day you're going to believe in yourself just as much as I believe in yourself. And we're going to take every step necessary in order for you to get there.
00:10:02
And then being part of the great team here, like, I can't, I can't express enough how, like, blessed I am to have such amazing, amazing colleagues here at Tableland too. Like, everybody. Everybody's willing to work together to meet the goal of like, a specific client or anything like that. And everybody's always willing to help. Yeah.
00:10:24
Great place to work. Yeah. You all have a. Do have an amazing team. I mean, it's one.
00:10:27
I look forward to seeing you all at our conference every year. I know it was nice to spend a little bit of time with folks. This past October. We don't, unfortunately, because we all work so far apart, we don't get to see each other that often. And so when we, we do get together for conference, it's a little bit like a family reunion, you know, that was my first.
00:10:43
That was my first one. So it was really, hey, way to show up. Because Beck, what happened there for Jeremy. I know he got an award. Yeah, I did it, actually, since.
00:10:52
Right on my desk. Yeah. I love that. I love that. I love that.
00:10:57
Yeah. If you're a local agency listening, remember. Right. We open up those awards in the summer and so an opportunity to really recognize an amazing local staff member like Jeremy here and so many other colleagues that we honored last year. It's one of my favorite parts of the work of the association is getting to recognize some of our local heroes.
00:11:15
So happy to, Happy to do that and be able to give you a fancy award and shake your hand and celebrate you all for the evening. Thank you. Cool. Well, let's keep. Let's keep the trend of celebrations.
00:11:25
So Jeremy, can you. What are we celebrating at Tableland right now? So that was. That's a good question. Right.
00:11:33
So recently we did our, like 2024 at a glance. So really like breaking down those numbers and everything of like, the impact that we made. And to see it all on paper, to see like some of the 34,000 individuals received food from food pantries. Over 45,000 trips were made with our transportation services. 244 students receive services through our early childhood education department.
00:12:03
Like, amazing work. And to see it, you really can, like, feel the impact of what Community Action does, especially here in Somerset County, by just seeing it all, seeing it on paper, seeing it in those numbers. Right. And then another thing is Somerset County does these community choice awards every year. And in 2024, we won like, five of them.
00:12:24
Like, most innovative workplace, best customer service, best place to Work. Our weatherization guy won the best boss, the best overall leadership. So, like, that was like a big deal for us too, because it really shows, like, even. Not only are me and my colleagues seeing the work we do, but like the community as well. To be able to receive those awards was a big milestone, too.
00:12:49
That's awesome. I love that. Yeah, congratulations. And then I guess another thing I should mention too, is most proud of is like the Pardon Project, right? Like, just this past month and Somerset County, such a small county.
00:13:04
And just this past month, I sent three completed PARDON applications to the board of Pardons. So it was like a busy month just for even that. And words getting out about that exciting project. And if there's a Community Action agency out there who doesn't have a Pardon project, like, reach out to me and we'll get you set up with what, another shameless plug?
00:13:24
Seriously, it's always fun to have a marketer on a call because you can just like, naturally slide it in.
00:13:31
Yeah, 100%. Well, we can, we can, we can. One of the things that we do for our agencies on a regular basis is we have our biweekly network calls and so we can make sure we lift that. That project up. Jeremy, if there's an interest.
00:13:41
So that. Yeah, no, happy to. Yeah, would be. Would be honored to. So I do have a question before.
00:13:47
Before we wrap up. Want to. So not. Not a planned question at all. So just recognize, like, if you need a second to think about this.
00:13:55
But one of the questions that we like to ask fairly often on our podcast is what myths are you busting about Community Action? And so when you think about. You're involved in a community level in a much different way than, you know, I think some of our typical caseworkers that we've either spoken to or interviewed on a regular basis.
00:14:13
And so you're talking to people in a way that. Engaging with people in a way that not. Not all of our frontline folks in particular, are doing. But what are the things that you're kind of right, like helping to shift perspective. Perspective on in local community.
00:14:29
I think the biggest myth starting off is Tableland. We don't make tables. There's a little bit of a brand. There is a little bit of a branding challenge that you have there. Yeah, yeah.
00:14:40
Every time I tell people where I work sometimes you make tables. No, I don't bring people to the table to serve. But they're not. Yes, exactly. Yeah, exactly.
00:14:51
Yeah. I think like a lot of the myth is like sometimes people feel like there's not an impact. Like the work that we're doing is not making an impact in the community. And I often tell people about the success stories, right? Like just, just this past month I had a client complete, successfully complete the EARN program and coming over all these barriers to employment, obtaining employment for 12 months, no longer receiving that cash assistance.
00:15:18
So she's become like fully self-supporting. So the impact is there and just bringing awareness to people that like we're not, it's not a handout, we're really help. A hand up for people, right? We're giving people the tools, the education, the resources they need to be able to come and live a fulfilling life, right. And help people, you know, hopefully get out of, like maybe the generational poverty and everything like that.
00:15:47
So breaking, breaking a cycle is incredibly difficult and when it happens for people the change in their life is pretty amazing to see. So the impact of what you do, I know you can't always see it in the day-to-day, particularly when you're in the thick of it, right? But the numbers speak for themselves, and the client stories speak for themselves. So again at the end of it when a client like sends an email or when they, she completed the program, she sent me an email of how like appreciative and the experience that she had of like I came into this program was at my lowest and now here I am, I'm able to provide for my, not only myself but for my daughter as well. And it's just, it's like yes, all, all the stress, all, all the sleepless nights of like worry and like, worth it, worth it, you know, and like it really, it starts with us, right?
00:16:44
It starts with us here at Tableland. It starts with us here at Community Action and just make a big impact and positive impact on the community and the people we serve. Yeah, helping people achieve their dreams is a pretty amazing thing to be able to do on a regular basis. So. Yeah, well we, we appreciate your time so much.
00:17:05
We appreciate the opportunity to hear a little bit about what Tableland's up to. What you're up to again, right? When I encourage our listeners to go to Tableland's website, check us out on theCAAP.org and then find Tableland in our membership organization section. So that if you're interested in volunteering interested in donating. Just want to know more, want to connect with Jeremy to, you know, add another thing to his plate.
00:17:25
If you're interested in, like, I don't know, taking over the world next year, you know, shameless plug for you. And so before we close, is there anything else that you want to. Want to share about the work? And if not, that's okay, but want to give you the chance to just any last minute plugs that you want. To make, like last-minute plugs.
00:17:42
I'll make another one about following us, especially LinkedIn. We need to build up those connections. I don't know, I can just say that, like, working here has not only. I don't only, like, help people and change their lives, but like, they help me and change my life on a daily basis too. And I wouldn't be able to do this without the leadership here at Tableland, without my colleagues, and without all, like, the partners that we have out in the community as well.
00:18:10
It's really like a whole community effort just to. Just to help people and change lives, you know? Yeah, I love that so much. And shout out to Anne Garrison, who's your executive director, CEO there at Tableland. Oh, she's wonderful.
00:18:22
She's wonderful. I think she's just about two years now at this point and just really doing a remarkable job. So shout out to Anne, who we celebrated for Women's History Month as well. And I know you liked and shared it, Jeremy, because I saw it on our LinkedIn. I did then.
00:18:38
See if we went full circle there. So thank you again. We're happy to celebrate you during Community Action Month, the remarkable work you're doing. Thank you so much, Heather. Thank you.
00:18:47
As always. Thank you for having me. It's been an honor. Privilege, really. Likewise.
00:18:52
Right, right back at you. Keep doing what you're doing, Jeremy. Thank you so much. Of course. Thank you everybody for listening and we'll talk to you next time.
00:19:00
Thank you so much for staying with us for this special episode of the ThinkingCAAP. We hope you've enjoyed part one of this special podcast series. So let's get into it. Move on to part two with Jessica Hajek Bates.
00:19:12
What's up, everybody? Welcome to the ThinkingCAAP. I'm Beck Moore, CEO at Community Action Association of Pennsylvania. With me today is my fearless co-host, Heather Holloway. Yeah.
00:19:22
Hey. I also. Hey, Beck. I also share a CEO title. I'm CEO of Holloway Media Services, and I am so thrilled to be here.
00:19:30
Always happy to have you as my co-host. And also with us is a special guest Jessica, who I'm going to let introduce herself in just a second, but we're happy to have her to help celebrate Community Action Month this month and the amazing work of our 42 Community Action agencies across the state of Pennsylvania, serving every single county in such amazing ways. And so, Jess, thanks so much for being here. We appreciate you so much and the work that you do. Thank you.
00:19:54
Thank you so much for inviting me. I'm excited to be part of this and I just realized something. Beck. So I'm Jessica Hajek Bates, and I'm the director of Planning and Development at Fayette County Community Action. And ironically, this May will mark 25 years since I started working in Community Action.
00:20:10
What did you start? Zero. I was five.
00:20:16
I started right out of graduate school and I didn't really realize that it was literally 25 years. May 8th. I know the date because it's. It was my grandma's birthday too, so. Very cool.
00:20:27
I love that. Well, happy anniversary. It's CAAP's 25th. Wait, no, CAAP's 50th anniversary this year. As an association, we started in 1975, so we also have an exciting celebratory moment.
00:20:40
But that's amazing. I tell people all the time that I've been in non profit for like 22 years. I think officially this year, 23 this year. And that feels wild to me in itself to have been in the same work space, but to be in one singular organization for this long. I mean, kudos to you because this is hard work that you all do.
00:20:59
We're going to get to that in just a second, but thank you for doing what you, what you've done for so long. Sure, absolutely. And I've not been here the whole time. I did leave Community Action for a little while. I was at another agency, but I'm right back where I started.
00:21:13
All those years ago and couldn't be happier. So. Yeah, but still, community. Community Action still, right? I mean, it's.
00:21:19
That's. And it was about a five year gap and I missed it. So I ended up back in the network and, you know, my goal's always been to retire from it. So here we go. I love that.
00:21:29
I love that so much. We. I was talking with somebody, not that. So I've been here for just a little over three years now at the association and I said to somebody, you know, when I think about sort of what's next, you know, I kind of think about it in terms of like, how many careers do I have left? And so roughly.
00:21:43
Right. Two, maybe Right. But I'm really happy at Community Action. I think it's a beautiful place to work and really remarkable. And so I don't know what the future holds, but I'm really happy to be here and be a part of supporting remarkable people like yourself in Community Action.
00:21:58
Yeah, no, thank you. We feel it. It's a privilege. So we are here to talk about your local work. And so I'm going to turn it over to you, Heather, to get us started with our questions and go from there.
00:22:10
Awesome. Amazing. Well, Jessica, you really teed this one up for me because you said, you know, 25 years, not all with, you know, Fayette County. You took a break, but you said you missed it so much you wanted to come back. So I want, I want to know, and so do the listeners, why this line of work?
00:22:30
You never know what your day is going to hold. You might have your day fully planned out, but then a newspaper reporter might call. There could be a crisis. There could be a staff in need of some support. There could be a participant who's struggling and doesn't know where to turn.
00:22:50
You really never know. And while I can sometimes feel the anxiety of all of those unknowns tightening up my schedule, it's okay because it just drives me and pushes me to want to continue to succeed. And being here with a lot of really like-minded people makes it so much better. It's such a family group and we figure it out together. And that includes our participants too.
00:23:17
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. I had the recent opportunity to hang out a little bit with your executive director, Kim Hawk in D.C. doing some advocacy work.
00:23:26
So shout out to Kim for her role. She's not new to Community Action, but relatively new in her role there. And so just, we had a, we had a, a good time. I think similarly, one of the things that she shared and then I promise we're going to get back to you, she's, she said, you know, I, I don't, I don't know where we're going. We're in D.C.
00:23:45
we're trying to get ready to meet with a senator, Congressman. And she's like, I'm just following you. I was like, I've never done this before. I don't make it fake it till you make a friend. We're just, we're just doing this in real time.
00:23:55
We're going to, we're going to make this happen. You all know your program best, so you talk about your program. I'm really just here to support you and Talk about larger scale across the state. So with respect to kind of what you just shared a little bit, can you remind us about your role specifically? And I think because of your history with Community Action, some of the roles that you've held over the years and where you started.
00:24:22
Things keep coming to my mind today as we're talking. But when I started out at this agency back in the year 2000, Jim Stark was the CEO. I've kept in touch with Jim all these years. When he was retiring, I thought, my goodness, like, how will that agency survive? Like, Jim, you're everything.
00:24:40
You know, I worked at Blueprints. I felt the same way about Darlene Bigler when she was retiring. So I've been blessed to work under two legends in Pennsylvania. But it's so exciting to be part of what's next. Kim's been our CEO a year and a half.
00:24:56
Her energy, her excitement, the new outlook she brings is very inspiring. And it motivates me to continue to want to excel and try even newer things that we've never tried before at this agency. So I preface that with a lot of talk there, but my role here is ideal. I write grants, I help develop programming. Developing programming is my favorite thing because I don't get much one-on-one time with participants, but I'm looking at our needs, I'm working with our teams, I'm talking with participants when I can.
00:25:37
And we're trying to incorporate that feedback into all the work that we're doing in the grants that we're writing. If you can't tell, I don't have a problem talking. So I get to oversee our communication efforts and everything. And we're rebranding right now, getting ready to formally launch a capital campaign. So just a really exciting time to be in Community Action.
00:26:02
Well, and you know, you're talking Heather's language because rebranding, branding, I mean, you know, like and share. Like and share. Like and share. Yeah, Yeah, I love it. Can you dive a little bit deeper into some of the programs that you've incorporated there at Fayette County?
00:26:16
Sure. So we've been known for decades for the work that we do for older adults. We have senior centers, home delivered meals. Our population of adults 60 and older is larger than most in Pennsylvania. And it's great to help our adults, you know, get that socialization, get that nutrition that they need.
00:26:37
We have programs in housing, a variety from homelessness to homeownership. Back again. We do a lot of community development here. So we're well known in the community for some high rises we've developed as long as well as single-family homes and apartments. That's pretty cool.
00:26:56
Employment and training. You know, we're, we're preparing some CNAs for a future in healthcare. Love to see them excel in a career pathway and meet up with them again when they've got a bachelor's in nursing. You name it a whole lot. Something that's huge too here is nutrition.
00:27:16
So we actually have the county's food bank, so we distributed 2.6 million pounds of food last year. But we're also doing nutrition ed. So we have nutritionists out in the community educating people on how to make the most out of their meals. And then the WIC program where we're providing services to pregnant women, infants and children. So I'm sure I left something out because we do a whole lot here, but I think that's a good summary.
00:27:44
Yeah, well, I think, Heather, what this does is just reinforces what we've said to our listeners in these special episodes celebrating Community Action Month and in the deep dives that we've done with our executive leadership in these last few months. Is that just the dynamic of the wide swath of programs that our organizations manage? You can hear it right in some of the differences in descriptions, but that's because of the intentionality of identifying local community needs and then addressing the local community needs. So I just want to make sure to continue to point that out. You're going to get tired of hearing me say it, folks, but it's true.
00:28:15
And it just, it reinforces, I think, some of the really beautiful work of Community Action over and over and over again. I want to go back to the work that you're doing now just because I think it's important. We, unfortunately in our, in our agencies, we don't often have folks who are especially focused on development side of things in the, we might have somebody who's writing a grant, but not necessarily. Right. Looking at a larger scale development opportunity.
00:28:44
We have a handful of agencies, but it's not something that all of our folks have. And so we try to try to, we, you know, weave this into some of the technical assistance work that Community Action Association does in helping to, to teach this a bit. When you're going through the process of looking for opportunities to secure dollars. What's some of the important parts of how you're doing that? Right.
00:29:09
Because I know in having worked with you, you're working with other teammates. It's not just you doing that in a silo. And so how do you, what's kind of your process, if you can, about some of the things that you want to make sure of? Well, it's really making sure there's a need. We don't want to go after a grant just because it's a grant and it comes with a nice amount of money.
00:29:28
If there's no community need or if it's something that we don't know, that folks will exactly adapt or come to it, we need to put some thought into that. But then it's really pulling in key staff to talk through and develop an action plan, a plan of attack. And then it's also talking with other community leaders, other partner agencies to make sure we're not going to duplicate services and look at what we could leverage. So if we brought this, how could it complement something that might already be existing here or at another agency? How could we share participants if it means that they could excel and access programs that we might not be able to offer?
00:30:12
We're not the experts in. So it's looking at all of that and then it's really crafting your proposal and coming up with a plan so that if you do receive that funding, you know exactly what you're going to do and you're capable of doing it. So. So you want to make sure it's within your area of expertise. If not, how can you get that expertise?
00:30:31
Does that help? No, absolutely. I think yes. Spot on. I mean, I think that's exactly what you just said, is what I was hoping you would say.
00:30:37
If I had to script it, I couldn't have scripted it any better. I think that piece there that you mentioned that I really want to highlight for folks is that it's not just right, like, oh, the money's there, so we're going to do it. It's about need, always need first and then about, right. How does it fit in within the framework of what you already do really well. And in other nonprofits that I've either consulted with or maybe worked alongside or worked in, a lot of times it just feels like, you know, in the world of development, it's like, okay, well, there's more money available.
00:31:04
And so we're going to add this program. We're going to add that program. And I think it's one of the things that I love so much about Community Action is the deep understanding of community need and then looking for the resources to solve both monetarily, right? Or community conversations or volunteers or who else is doing this, how can we work alongside of them, with them, et cetera, and I just, it's. Yeah.
00:31:25
A million percent what you just said. I love so much, so appreciate you, appreciate you for sharing that. Absolutely. So tell me, Jessica, you know, I. We talked about visibility a lot and, and the impact that your agency has on the community and how hard it is to get people to understand what's going on.
00:31:45
So, so take a moment right now. What are you proud of? Of the work that you're doing. Something that's new for our agency is really delving into reentry.
00:31:58
We have a brand new. Well, it's about a year old now, $44 million county jail. Okay. The former one was built in the 1800s, and we were spending a ton of money as a county to house people at other jails because ours wasn't large enough. So now we have this large jail.
00:32:17
The taxpayers can see it. It's in a prominent location in the county. But reentry programming has pretty much been nonexistent in that facility. So we absolutely saw a need. We began meeting with our county officials.
00:32:32
We started by receiving a $15,000 grant to lead reentry planning in the community. So we're hard at work at that strategic planning right now. We're working on a four-year strategic plan for. Coupled with that, we saw a federal opportunity come our way through the Department of Justice. And we've received $900,000 to start the first truly reentry program within the county.
00:33:04
We have a sheriff who's really involved. He's brought some other reentry programming in. So just a really exciting time to be part of something new and have the community see the work that we can do to back up this investment that they've made. So again, that leveraging of funding and pulling everything together, it's just a prime example, I think, of how Community Action, when it's at the table, it can really help take things to another level. Yeah, absolutely.
00:33:32
And kudos to you all for embarking on that work because it's definitely, I mean all of the work that you do is hard, but I think there's so many barriers right. To somebody re-entering. And the things that we don't think about, right from the larger pieces to the smaller pieces about securing housing, securing jobs, all of those things. I know in having worked in an area that there were one of the places in our state, not too many people realize this is in the Union/Snyder County area. It's one of the places where we have the most federal, local, county and juvenile facilities in almost in the entire world in this area.
00:34:09
And so or at least that was the case when I was living there at the time. And so what, you know, in coming to live in that, in that area and coming to a better understand is that. And then we should think about it this way. But we don't. For whatever reason is a lot of folks, right.
00:34:21
Families move to where their family member is incarcerated. And so you also have this influx of people who are moving into your county at the same time that that person's being incarcerated. And so not only are they trying to re-enter into the world, they're trying to re-enter into their family.
00:34:36
And so there's all of these dynamics that are playing out here that, you know, on top of the barriers, the social, emotional components of this. And so good for you all to be doing that work. And we're excited. And it's, and it's. I think it speaks to.
00:34:51
This is one of the things that Megan Shreve talks about in one of our other episodes is micro and macro level work. So it's not just about the individual, it's about. Right. The economics of the entire county and the impact on the local county. Right.
00:35:03
Local community, larger county. Absolutely. For sure. Yeah. Amazing.
00:35:10
So you just talked about that program. So what else do we have to look forward to with Fayette County community? What's coming up in the future? So something that we're proud of is the work we do in community development. And what we have is we call it a campus of services.
00:35:25
So back in the, in the 80s 90s, we started to develop it and I literally had a meeting in one of our other buildings a few minutes ago, was walking across campus and I'm just reminded of how beautiful this place is and just all of the faces and the different folks who are coming to this agency. But we've launched a capital campaign to improve our facilities. You know, some of them now are 25 plus years old. While they still look good, there's some things we need to work to improve upon those. So we just found out recently that we were awarded $300,000 through a private Pittsburgh foundation and with some other resources, we're about a quarter of the way there.
00:36:06
And we're just getting ready to launch the formal campaign. So we're excited to bring the community back to our campus of services under our new leadership and show them that we're still here doing great things. We want our participants to come and, and feel like they're in state-of-the-art facilities. They deserve that. And we're excited to bring things back and make things even
00:36:31
Better than they were before. So, yeah, you know, caring comfort of clients is really important because it's the things that we think about and then it's the environment that we also bring them into. And so I think that's a really. It's a customer service component that a lot of times can be forgotten, easily forgotten, I think. And sometimes just because of the, the funds that are available.
00:36:52
Right. There just can't be the same intentionality when you just don't have the dollars to support it. So you all for recognizing that. So before we wrap up, just want to make sure to ask one last question that we try to ask all of our folks on our prior episodes is the idea of sort of like what myths are you busting about Community Action? And so if there's anything in particular or anything else that you want to share about the organization on the whole, but you're out in the community a lot.
00:37:19
You're doing a lot of grant work. You're talking to folks who are not aware of the great work that not just you all do, but that other agencies do. And I know we've gone to other conferences in the country that are aligned with healthcare and other things. We've had this conversation personally. What are the things that really people don't understand about the work of Community Action on the whole?
00:37:39
We use the tagline from the national movement, helping people, changing lives. So we're helping people all the time. When we're changing those lives and fully engaging families in our depth of programming, that's when it's truly very exciting to be part of Community Action and see just the trajectory of someone's life and the family. Just excel and think outside of the box and know that anything's possible in the future. And knowing that our agency played some part or Community Action agency played some part in that is just amazing.
00:38:19
That's what Community Action does. We bring people together, we unite people. And it's all about moving those people forward, whoever they might be. Yeah, love that Thousand percent. Mic drop.
00:38:33
Mic drop. I love what we do, guys. I just, I do very passionate. So I love what you all do too. So thank you very much for, for sharing.
00:38:43
All of that is our, for our listeners. If you're, if you're local, if you're not local. You want to learn more about Fayette County Community Action, we'd encourage you to go to the CAAP.org caap not CAP and look in the About Us section. Go to our member page. You can specifically look up Fayette County and find their website find out more about them.
00:39:02
Want to make sure to say right. If you're looking to volunteer, it can be donation of time or dollars, resources, but connect with them. Connect with Jessica so that you can help on a local level. They're doing remarkable things and we want to make sure to lift that up and help to celebrate not just during Community Action Month, but always. Absolutely.
00:39:21
Thank you for being here, Jessica. Appreciate you, Heather. Thank you. My friend, my colleague, my co-host. Appreciate you very much.
00:39:29
Thank you to everybody for joining. We'll catch you the next time on the Thinking CAAP.
00:39:36
Thank you for being a part of this episode of the ThinkingCAAP. Check the show notes for resources and links to other episodes and don't forget to subscribe and follow to be notified when new episodes are released. If you have any Community Action questions you'd like Beck or one of our local experts to answer in a future episode, please email your questions about community action to info@theCAAP.org subject line thinkingCAAP.