Tune in for Common Sense Parenting on
Town Talk with Mark Paquette!
Bill Stover of Windham Public Schools and Ana
Lozada, a Windham parent, will discuss this free
parent education program that is helping Windham
parents support their children’s academic
achievement, on Town Talk segments that
will air February 15 at 3:30 p.m., February 17 at
7:00 p.m., February 19 at 5:30 p.m., and at various
other times throughout the rest of the month on
CTV14.
Common Sense Parenting was developed by
Boys Town to give parents the communication,
discipline, and decision-making skills they need to
help their children achieve self-control and succeed
in school. Brought to Windham by a partnership among
Windham Public Schools, Windham Region United Way,
and The Village for Families & Children, the program
is offered in both English and Spanish and has
graduated 29 local parents so far.
Classes are currently forming for the spring. To
sign up, contact Bill Stover at (860) 465-2595.
Two New Free Tax Prep Sites Open in Windham
The Windham Region Asset Building
Collaborative (WRABC), established this summer by
Windham Region United Way and the Ten Year Plan to
End Homelessness, has expanded the number of
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites in the
Windham region. The two new sites, managed by
Access Community Action Agency, Inc., join
several other sites and a mobile site to offer free
tax preparation services to lower-income Windham
residents this season.
Click here to learn more.
Free Discount Card Helps Local Residents Save Money on Prescriptions
FamilyWize, a free discount
prescription card, is now available to help Windham
area residents save money on their prescriptions
thanks to a partnership with Windham Region United
Way.
The FamilyWize card can save
individuals and families an average of up to 30
percent or more on eight out of ten prescription
medications. Simply present the card and your
prescription at a participating pharmacy, and you
will receive either the FamilyWize discounted price
or the pharmacy’s customary retail price, whichever
is lower.
Click here for more information.
United Way Partnership Brings Common Sense
Parenting Program to Windham
Twenty-nine parents of Windham students have just
graduated from a free parenting education class,
thanks to a partnership among Windham Region United
Way, Windham Public Schools, and The Village for
Families & Children, Inc.
Common Sense Parenting, a program developed
by Boys Town in Nebraska, helps parents address
issues of communication, discipline,
decision-making, relationships, self-control and
school success with their children using hands-on
skills.
The skills learned through Common Sense
Parenting have been proved to lessen children’s
problem behavior, improve parent and family
satisfaction, and build strong, healthy family
relationships—all of which translate into better
classroom behavior, increasing children’s chances
for school success. Ensuring local children’s
academic success is one of Windham Region United
Way’s key goals. To learn more about the program,
click here.
New Collaborative Established to Reduce
Homelessness, Increase Financial Stability
Windham Region United Way has joined forces with the
Windham Region Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness to
establish a new collaborative that will help Windham
residents become more financially stable.
By working with local service providers and
community leaders, the collaborative will streamline
services that help lower-income working families in
Windham make the most of their hard-earned dollars.
By focusing on goals established by the Employment
and Income Committee of the Ten Year Plan to End
Homelessness, more Windham families will be able to
live independently with reduced risk of
homelessness.
“The asset collaborative concept brings a lot of the
different resources in our community and region
together,” said Roger Adams, executive director of
the Windham Chamber of Commerce and a member of the
Ten Year Plan’s Employment and Income Committee. “A
group of organizations have been working
individually on financial stability and job
readiness for years, and this is the first
opportunity for them to work together,” he noted.
The Windham Region Asset Building Collaborative will
be managed by Co-opportunity, Inc., a nonprofit
agency with expertise in helping families throughout
Connecticut gain income, earnings, savings and
assets.
To learn more about the Windham Region Asset
Building Collaborative or about United Way’s work in
the Windham region, contact Kim Russo at (860)
456-0188 or
krusso@unitedwayinc.org.
Windham area middle school students who completed
the WinYouth Individual Development Account (IDA)
program, a partnership of United Way, Access
Community Action Agency, and Liberty Bank, were
honored at Windham Region United Way’s 58th annual
community celebration on April 7. This matched
savings account program includes financial literacy
classes to teach young people how to save for
educational and career-related goals. It is one of
numerous United Way–supported initiatives in the
Windham region. Pictured above, left to right, are
Yvonne Picard; Edgar Collazo; Adrian Collazo; Jose
Mendoza; Michael Mendoza; Denise Campagnano of
Access Community Action Agency; Angela LaTour of
Windham Region United Way and Liberty Bank; Kenia
Morales; Aide Perez of Access Community Action
Agency; Miguel Morales; and Joshua Grajeda. Not
pictured but also honored: Victor Alvarado, Josem
Aponte, Joseph Aponte, Walter Aponte, Silas Avilez,
Thomas Cloninger, Nicole Coppin, Jennifer DaSilva,
Rafael Frutos Jr., Erick Galicia, Vania Galicia,
Emmanuel Melendez, Jose Jaime Mendez, Katie Morton,
Ronsy Perez Jr., Tysheika Perez, Christopher
Rodriguez, Javier Rodriguez, Aleisha Rosado, and
Jose M. Santiago, Jr.
Exciting News from Our 58th Annual Community
Celebration
More than 60 community leaders attended Windham
Region United Way’s (WRUW’s) 58th annual community
celebration on April 7 at Eastern Connecticut State
University. Congratulations to our award recipients,
shown below! To read more about the celebration,
click here. To read the Windham Region United
Way 2008 Community Report,
click here.
Above left: VNA East, based in Mansfield Center,
and BJ’s Wholesale Club of Willimantic each received
a 2008 United Way Community Campaign Champion Award
at Windham Region United Way’s 58th annual community
celebration on April 7. Shown here (left to right)
are: Anthony Verterame, store manager of BJ’s
Wholesale Club of Willimantic; Susan B. Dunn,
president and CEO of United Way of Central and
Northeastern Connecticut; and Claudia Marcinczyk,
president and CEO of VNA East.
Above right: Colchester resident Rose Luka
(center) received the 2008 Maurice Heon, Sr.
Volunteer of the Year Award at Windham Region United
Way’s (WRUW’s) 58th annual community celebration,
held at Eastern Connecticut State University on
April 7. Luka chose to donate the $1,500 associated
with the award to Sexual Assault Crisis Center of
Eastern Connecticut, represented here by Executive
Director Georgette Katin (right). Christine Paquette
(left), chair of the WRUW regional advisory board,
presented the award.