Community Action Newsletter OCTOBER 2019 EDITION

Our mission:

To provide services, with dignity and respect, that help people become self-sufficient

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Our website, www.caoginc.org, has various links for employees

under “Staff Resources” including: Links to ADP, the agency

newsletter, training resources, employee handbook, forms (direct

deposit, mileage, and tax) and other beneficial information.

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

DEADLINE:

FRI, OCTOBER 25TH

NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS TO:

newsletter@caoginc.org

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Employee news

page 2

News from Bonnie

page 3

Head Start news

pages 4

News from Donna

page 5 and 6

News from Carly

page 7

Main St Store sales info

page 8

ABATE Toy Run

page 9

Meet the Directors

page 10

Area library computer class info

page 10

EOCC news

page 11

“Say Boo to the Flu”

page 12

Main Street Thrift Store Customer Appreciation Day Celebration

Sales and giveaways

food

and music!

PERFECT ATTENDANCE (August)

ANNIVERSARIES (October) Lisa Church 10/4/1999

Erin Mattison 10/5/2015

Tammy Moore 10/9/2018

Maria Rowcliffe 10/10/2013

Sharon Wright 10/10/2013

Ashley Pahura 10/11/2018

Cassandra Kinne 10/17/2012

Janet Foppes 10/18/2002

Christina Barnes 10/19/2016

Lorraine Ruiz 10/19/2017

Ann Bartel 10/20/2008

Linda Malaniak 10/20/2017

Karen Boston 10/24/2018

Taryn Moyle 10/25/2010

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*Note-Inclusion of having your birthday listed is

OPTIONAL. If you do NOT want your birthdate

to be included in the newsletter, send an email

to: alester@caoginc.org by the deadline of the

newsletter (listed on the front page) noting this.

Christina Robertson October 18th

Heidi Wyant October 19th

Joann Zajaczkowski October 22nd

Annette Finch October 25th

Mike Jessmer October 25th

James Willis Jr October 25th

Stephanie Fox October 29th

OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS

Ruth Bell Laura Grose Halee Potter

Cathy Brien Mary Guzik Amy Prate

Virgie Brooks Mike Jessmer Ken Pritt

Katrina Chaffee Susan Jessmer David Reis

Melinda Cotter Amy Lester Christy Robertson

Jackie DeMarco Teri Lester Danielle Smith

Kaitlyn Dodge Bonnie Malakie Freddie Stewart

Willie Drisdom Judy Martino Nicole Struble

Gary Elich Sherry McMillan Pam Wadhams

William Francis Barb Miller James Willis

Michele George Tabitha Miller Lisa Wittmeyer

Dawn Gray Tammy Moore Sharon Wright

Stacie Gronski Shelcy Plueckhahn Heidi Wyant

NEW HIRES (September) Michelle Andrews HS Substitute-Batavia 9/5/2019

Jennifer Blake HS Substitute-Batavia 9/5/2019

Patricia Kingston HS Bus Monitor/Floater -Batavia 9/5/2019

Aspen Moyer HS Substitute-Batavia 9/5/2019

Annette Nagel HS Bus Monitor/Floater -Batavia 9/5/2019

Linsey Vallett Infant Toddler Teacher -CCR&R 9/5/2019

Alisha Talbot HS Lead Teacher -Batavia 9/9/2019

Kolleen Zaffrann HS Lead Teacher -Batavia 9/9/2019

Melinda Swan HS Substitute-Medina 9/12/2019

A Note from Human Resources...

Welcome back Everyone!

As we head into Autumn, please be sure your mailing address and phone number are current with HR. There will be many items coming your way as we approach Year End. Thanks!

Susan Jessmer Human Resources and Payroll Administrator 585-589-5605 ext 104 sjessmer@caoginc.org

CONGRATULATIONS!

Baby Chase Riley (grandson

of Melinda Cotter) was born

on 9/21, and was 7lbs. 7oz.

and 20 inches long. Proud

parents are Eliza Jane

(Melinda’s daughter) and

Donald

McClary.

E m p l o y e e n e w s . . .

THE

DIRECTORS'

CORNER

Annette Finch, Director of Community Services

Bonnie Malakie, Director of Children and Youth Services

Carly Ward, Director of Planning and Operations

Donna Wojdat, Director of Finance and Administration

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News from Bonnie:

“NOTHING YOU DO FOR CHILDREN IS EVER WASTED”…..Garrison Keillor

What’s happening in children and youth programs ?????

Head Start began the 2019-20 program year with pre-service in late August and September.

WELCOME BACK staff who were off for the summer and THANK YOU to staff who worked all

summer!

It is a joy to see the children and parents! Special thanks to all who have played a role in getting

things ready to start and beginning the year! The Batavia Site has an additional HS classroom

and a new kitchen! We have hired some new staff and added Friday to the Albion Full Day

classroom. Family Advocates and Shelcy worked hard all summer to recruit as many children as

possible and we are close to full in the classrooms. We still have some openings and need to

have waiting lists, so please keep telling people about Head Start! We do have waiting lists for

EHS in Batavia and Medina.

CCR&R is working with all Child Care Providers in both counties to help them implement the

new regulations. Also, welcome to Linsey Vallett, the new CCR&R Infant/Toddler Specialist fund-

ed through the Western Region Infant/Toddler network.

Early Head Start Child Care Partnership staff have been busy all summer. Their new program

year began August 1. Our numbers were reduced to 58 (had been 72) due to us not being under

enrolled because we did not have enough money to operate 72 slots because of the large cost

of subsidy payments (not the program’s fault). We are now fully enrolled and expect to be able

to stay at full enrollment. Thank you EHSCCP staff for the work you are doing!

ACT, Helping Youth ACT Responsibly staff are preparing for their first round of curriculum clas-

ses in 2019-20 at public schools (mainly Nov and Dec). Check out www.ACTprogram.org to see

what’s going on!

ATTENTION ALL HEAD START STAFF OCFS regulations have changed for all childcare in NYS. We

were informed in September that changes would take place regarding background checks beginning

October 1. ALL CURRENT HEAD START STAFF will have to have new background checks (including

fingerprints) in the next year. A memo will be coming out next week to explain further. You will

need to fill out forms and have your new finger prints taken within 2 weeks of your birthday (these

are OCFS expectations, not a system we set up). Watch for the memo! We are trying to make this

as easy as possible.

Wouldn’t this page be more fun to read if it had nice pictures from your program? Send me some

photos please

WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE? VOLUNTEER COORDINATORS NEEDED!

1 in Genesee County - 1 in Orleans County

Community Action of Orleans and Genesee Head Start Program is seeking two volunteers to coordinate volunteer

projects for Orleans and Genesee sites. Duties include recruiting volunteers and matching them with specific needs, collecting

information and providing necessary reports.

Qualified applicants should have at least a high school diploma, general knowledge of coordinating and managing projects and

people, good oral and writing skills, basic grasp of Microsoft Word and reliable transportation.

Some work may be performed from home as well as at Community Action sites (Orleans or Genesee). Mileage reimbursement

will be provided for some travel. The duties will include working approximately 10 hours a week, with flexible hours. Training

will be provided.

For the complete posting, go to www.caoginc.org. Please respond with a letter of interest by October 4, 2019 to

mcotter@caoginc.org.

Liberty Partnership summer programs:

The Liberty Partnership Program was started in 1988 by the New York State Department of

Education. This program provides services to students in grades five- twelve identified as

“at risk” of dropping out of school to continue their education. In promoting collaboration with

colleges, community based organizations, school districts, parents, volunteers, and busi-

nesses, students are given the opportunity to enter the workforce prepared with the neces-

sary skills to be successful. This program collaborated with Head Start in Medina and

Batavia to utilize some of the

students efforts with helping

in the classroom, office, and

outside. Both work camps

were very successful- Medina

had 3 advisors and 13

students and Batavia had 3

advisors and 5 students.

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News from Donna:

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Online security: Simple steps to help protect your accounts

Your login is your first line of cyber defense, so make it as unique as you. Think of it as your cyber thumb print. A lot of care should go into choosing a login, but too often we settle on one and use it across multiple accounts. The average person has 27 discrete online logins, but not 27 unique passwords.1 The most com-mon passwords in America are 123456 and 123456789. That’s not very unique.

Safeguard your money with a little added security

Saving money is hard work. So, you deserve to know what steps to take to help keep your accounts secure as you continue toward your financial goals—including retirement. But the fact is, in 2016 15.4 million U.S. consumers lost a total of $16 billion to online theft.2 The good news? There are simple steps you can take to help protect your online accounts.

Protect yourself.

We’d all love a virtual watch dog guarding the front door to our computer files and account information. However, there’s a lot you can do to take matters into your own hands and keep these hackers and fraudsters away from your accounts. Begin with the following:

Protect your account numbers, PINs and passwords. We all forget our passwords sometimes (in fact, 37% of people forget a password at least once a week1). So write it down, and find a secure location in your home to store all your financial records. Be careful what you download. Never open an e-mail attachment from someone you don’t know, as

this can be a way around your anti-virus software to introduce a virus. Practice smartphone security. Never send sensitive data like credit card info via text message. And be sure all apps you download are from reputable sources.

Take advantage of two-step authentication. This extra layer of secur ity dur ing the login process requires a password, username and either a personal piece of information only you know or a physical token that you possess. Together, this combination makes it more difficult for potential intruders to gain access and steal your personal data or identity—even if they have your password. Info courtesy of The Principal (Community Action’s 403b provider)

Do you have news you want to share? Email: newsletter@caoginc.org

Good news! AmazonSmile is now available in the Amazon Shopping App

to all AmazonSmile customers using supported Android devices.

If you are an AmazonSmile customer, you can now support Community

Action of Orleans and Genesee Inc in the Amazon shopping app on your

Android device! Simply follow these instructions to turn on AmazonSmile

and start generating donations.

1. If you have the latest version of the Amazon Shopping App, open the App on your Android device.

2. View Settings and select AmazonSmile.

3. Follow the in-App instructions to complete the process.

If you do not have the latest version of the Amazon Shopping App, update your App.

AmazonSmile is not currently available for iOS users. We will notify AmazonSmile charities when it becomes available.

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SAFETY COMMITTEE UPDATE

Yay! After over a year of work, the new Safety Manual is almost finished (and we know that you’ve all been waiting anxiously to see it)! The manual will be released pending inclusion of the Safety committee’s final edit comments. The manual has been streamlined with Hyperlinks added to provide any program-specific details. More information to come over the next few months.

Remember, working safely is everyone’s responsibility. If you see an unsafe condition that you can fix on your own, please do so! Otherwise, file a work order or bring it to the attention of your supervisor. Do you have an idea to make the workplace safer? Discuss it with your supervisor, or feel free to contact any safety committee member.

The next safety committee meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 8th in Batavia. Your current safety team members are: Rachael Escobar, Ed Fancher, Laura Grose, Mary Guzik, Mike Jessmer, Susan Jessmer, Barb Kiefer, Teri Lester, Deb Renner, Jim Soccio, Lisa Wittmeyer, and Donna Wojdat.

News from Carly:

Teamwork in the workplace: 10 qualities of an excellent team player

Every organization relies on good teams. Effective teamwork in the workplace helps drive the organization toward success. Here are a ten qualities that can make a team player outstanding in the workplace:

1. Show Genuine Commitment Team players are genuinely committed to their cause. Good team players might make sure they are in the office when need-ed, but great team players will make “seat” time worth it and contribute as much as possible. They strive for excellence.

2. Be flexible Instead of sitting on the bench watching the rest of the crew perform, an outstanding team player wants to see the magic hap-pen through his or her efforts as well. They are flexible to the situations thrown their way, and they participate and tackle challenges without showing too many signs of stress or pressure.

3. Don’t stay in the shadows

It is not in your interest to just sit quietly and get your work done. It’s a good thing to involved others, as long as you aren’t bothering people with questions you should know the answer to. Great team players come to their teammates having prepared their ideas clearly.

4. Be reliable and responsible

An excellent team player will be reliable and responsible. They complete the tasks in order of priority, not necessarily in or-der that they’re given. When you’re not sure of what should take priority, ask your manager.

5. Actively listen You are only a team player if you respectfully consider the viewpoints and ideas of other people as well. This is why diverse teams have the potential to so effective, and it all depends on active listening. Active listening is harder than you think. When you hear someone saying something you don’t initially agree with, keep from interrupting and don’t let your mind prepare any counter remarks. Just listen, and consider what they’re saying and more importantly, why they believe that.

6. Keep your team informed

Share your opinion and ideas without trying to come up with a plan for taking credit for it. Transparency is key on a team, so keep your team members informed. Planning for your own success is important, but whether you get promoted may have a lot to do with how you communicated with your team members.

7. Always be ready to help

Even if it is not in your job description, be generous with pointers or tips to help your team members. For example, if a mem-ber of your team is having trouble with a technology tool that is easy for you, offer to sit down with him and show him what you know.

8. Support and respect others

It seems obvious that you wouldn’t want to shut someone from your team out, or laugh at other people’s ideas, but we do these things in a subtle way, without realizing it, all the time. It is important to become more self-aware of how you treat oth-ers. Remember, you’ll receive respect when you give it to others. An ideal team player knows how to have fun, but he would never do it at someone else’s expense.

9. Be a problem-solver

Your team leader may be working on solving problems, but there is no reason why you can’t offer solutions yourself. Your teammates will appreciate your skills, and this may pays off later when your manager considers you for a promotion!

10. Recognize when you are wrong

A good team player will back off an idea when it becomes clear it’s not the right path. If you believe strongly that your team is making a mistake, you can find a way to come back to the issue when the time is right, but being a stubborn stick in the mud is not a quality of a good team player.

https://www.collegerecruiter.com/blog/2015/07/14/10-qualities-of-an-excellent-team-player-at-any-workplace/

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Main Street Thrift Store October 2019 Specials”

“1st and 3rd Tuesdays” 11 am-2pm

50% OFF Storewide Sale*

LIVE MUSIC: September 3rd WOODY AND FRIENDS

‘Are you working all day? Would you like 50% off storewide?

Oct 30th 5pm-7pm Special Sale just for you!’

HoJack’s Food Truck At the store - Thursday’s 11-1:30

50% OFF SWEATERS AND JACKETS all month

Week of: BOGO* Sale

Oct 7-12 Knick Knack Oct 14-19 Place Setting Oct 21-26 Stemware Oct 28- Nov 2 Cookware

EMAIL CLUB DISCOUNT CODE ‘Spooky ’

Check us out on Face book for additional sales throughout the month. Mainstreetthriftstore.albion

Clothing ‘Tag Color’ Sale* ~ 50% Off

Monday-Red Wednesday-Orange Thursday- Green Friday- Pink Saturday- Grey Every Thursday: Seniors 60+ and Veterans discount 5%

*Excludes Consignment Tags and scheduled markdown tags. Not eligible for combined discounts

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ABATE Annual Toy Run

$650 was donated to the Community Action holiday program as

well as a collection of toys.

Your generosity and continuing support is greatly appreciated!

Thanks to Theresa Brien for providing photos from this event! ABATE participants:

Tim Brien (Theresa’s husband) and Cathy & Jeff Brien

Thank you to the members of ABATE who participated in this years Toy Run.

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Hoag Library (Albion)

(585) 589-4246

1 on 1 Tech Assistance

Fridays in October

10a-12:30p (by appointment)

Thu, October 17th

10a-12p

Facebook

12p-2p

Internet Resources: Safety, Security, and

Fun!

Richmond Memorial Library (Batavia)

( 585) 343-9550

Wed, October 16th

10a-12p

Computer Basic: Get the Computer

That’s Right for You!

1p-3 p

Computer Security & Internet Resources

FREE computer

classes/assistance

Lee-Whedon Library (Medina)

( 585) 798-3430

Tech Tutor

Tue, Wed, Thu in October @ 1p

(except week of October 13th)

Fri, October 25th

11a-1p

Windows Made Easy

1p-3p

Carigslist & Letgo,

Facebook Marketplace

Contact the library for additional info and/or to register for any of the above classes.

Bonnie Malakie and some of the new employees who attended the “Meet the Directors” event September 27th at the

Community Action Conference Room. New employees were given the chance to meet with the directors team, interact with

other employees and chat about retirement planning with Bill Wadsworth.

Welcome to the team!

October is...

United Health Care will be at the Holley Community Center to talk to people about health insurance changes on 10/7 and 10/16. For more information regarding this or the events above, call Debbie Rothmund at 638-6395.

EOCC picnic at Holley park

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