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Gateway Community Action PartnershipJuly 2014

In This Issue

Gateway Teams Up ToClean Up

Salem Students "Happy"With Gateway Literacy

Comcast's InternetEssentials

Around GatewayCommunity ActionPartnership ... News andNotes

Agency Missionand CAP Promise

The agency's mission isto provide services thatimprove the quality of lifeand promote self-sufficiency.

CAP Promise:Community Actionchanges people's lives,embodies the spirit ofhope, improvescommunities, and makesAmerica a better place tolive. We care about theentire community, andwe are dedicated tohelping people helpthemselves and eachother.

Greetings!

The name Gateway Community Action Partnership reflects ourexpanded coverage area, but more importantly, it signifies whatwe are all about. We are a gateway to success for individualsand families in our community and we achieve those resultsthrough actions done in partnership within that very communitywe serve. So please take a minute to read our newsletter andlearn more about our successes and struggles as we serve aGateway to Community Action in Partnership with others foreveryone's benefit!

Gateway Staff Teams Up To Clean Up Rivers Edge Campus

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ContactInformation

Rivers Edge Campus(Headquarters)110 Cohansey StreetBridgeton, NJ08302

(856) 451-6330

Albert B. Kelly, Gateway's President and CEO, trimsbranches from trees along the river while Natasha

Harden from Finance assists.

BRIDGETON - It started out as a campus cleanup andevolved into a team building exercise at Gateway CommunityAction Partnership.

Human Resources pulled weeds with the PlanningDepartment. Administration raked debris with Head Start. ITstraightened up the parking lot with Finance. Staff from theCheryl Chadwick Early Learning Center, Family Success Centers,Compliance, Social Services, and the Mill Creek Urban Farmpitched in to plant flowers, trim shrubbery, and spruce up theflower beds.

Staff at Gateway who work with one another every day inoffices and cubicles and classrooms in following our mission "toprovide services that improve the quality of life and promoteself-sufficiency" found themselves working together in anentirely new element working toward an entirely different goalwhile gaining a new-found appreciation for their fellowemployees.

Albert B. Kelly, Gateway's President and CEO, asked forvolunteers to pitch in to beautify Gateway's Rivers Edge siteand thereby take ownership in the appearance of our campus.Kelly was among those working on the project on a Fridaymorning and afternoon in late June.

At the end, the campus had a tidy, cleaner look andeveryone felt good about what they accomplished in performingas a team.

"Everyone worked really hard, and I thank the staff forthat," Kelly said. "The campus looks much improved. But I thinkthere is a lot more to it than just the appearance of ourcampus. I think we became a little closer as a staff through ourefforts, and that's always a good thing."

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Salem Students "Happy" With Gateway Literacy Program's Beginning English Class

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Gateway's Literacy Volunteers of Salem/Cumberland Counties held an End of Yearcelebration for the program's Beginning English Class in Salem. Above, in mixing fun

with education, students learn a line dance to the song "Happy" after participating in avocabulary lesson using lyrics to the song and conversing in English about what makes

them happy.

Gateway's Literacy Volunteers of Salem/Cumberland Counties program held an End of YearCelebration in June for its Beginning English students in the Salem class. Teacher YvonneCrouch organized the event which included a chicken dinner provided by the teacher and thetutors who work one-on-one with the students outside of class. Members of the class comefrom Haiti, Columbia, and Turkey and speak multiple first languages. The event was held atthe Broadway United Methodist Church in Salem.

Following the meal, students had a vocabulary lesson using lyrics to the song "Happy" byPharrell Williams, participated in English conversations about what makes them happy, andlearned a line dance to the popular song.

Students received certificates of completion for having attended the 10-month class.Beginning English Class in Salem will resume in September on Thursday evenings. A similarclass is held on Wednesday nights in Bridgeton and will continue throughout the summer. Formore information, contact Laura Stanton, Program Director, at (856) 497-6645.

Comcast Makes Internet Service Available For $9.95 To Income-Eligible Families

Internet Essentials, a program offered by Comcast, gives income-eligible families access to

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the Internet for $9.95 a month with no activation fee, equipment fees or priceincreases. Having the Internet enables children to do homework, type reports or do researchand enables the parents to e-mail teachers as well as look for jobs, pay bills or find doctors.

Gateway Community Action Partnership is working with Comcast to inform families of theprogram.

Internet Essentials is available to households that have children eligible to participate inthe National School Lunch Program. They must reside in a Comcast service area and mustnot have subscribed to Comcast Internet in the last 90 days or have overdue Comcastbills. Also, low-cost computers are being offered for $149.99 and free training is accessible ifneeded.

To get more information or to sign up, visit www.internetessentials.com or call 1-855-846-8376.

A Warm Welcome To Gateway Community Action Partnership's Newest Employees

Welcome to the Gateway CAP June 2014 new hires!

Christa Pisano, AdministrationMonica Vivar-Reyes, Cheryl Chadwick Early Learning CenterShamikka Walton, Mercer Head StartKaren Butler, Millville Head StartTanisha Pollard, Germantown-Lehigh Early Head Start

Around Gateway Community Action Partnership ... News and Notes

Gateway dedicated space at its administrative offices for a "Gateway To Success" tribute tothose who have achieved self-sufficiency and success from services at Gateway and/or

employment. Above, at Gateway's June Board of Directors meeting, some of the members

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of "Gateway To Success" received copies of the photos and stories that are on display atGateway. From left, Christina Nahar, Gloria Andritsopoulos, Gateway President and CEOAlbert B. Kelly, Casey Nothnick, and Damaris Montes. Not pictured: Gwendolyn McLean,

Roosbert Demosthene, Rasheeda Anderson, and Ciara Haynes.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Gateway's Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program will hold its second annual "CamdenCelebration of World Breastfeeding Month" on August 9 in Camden. WIC will have information and activitiesfor all ages, as well as coordination with a group that provides back to school services for youth in Camden.Gateway WIC will also hold its second annual "World Breastfeeding Month Celebration" at the VinelandU_Sell Flea Market on August 10. WIC will have information and activities for all ages. For both events,WIC is seeking volunteers and donations of new baby items, gift certificates and other prizes, as well asgently used children's books for distribution. Please call 856-497-6732 for more information. Gateway WICis now on Facebook, with a page dedicated to breastfeeding and nutrition. You can like the pages and sendus ideas for posts on the breastfeeding page. Please be sure to like ushere: https://www.facebook.com/gateway2nutrition . ... Gateway's Individual Development Account(IDA) program is conducting sign-ups for a program that offers matched savings for income eligibleparticipants. The program offers participants the opportunity to save money and have those savingsmatched dollar for dollar and enhance a participant's capability of saving for their future.For example, if aparticipant saves $4,500 during the 36-month period, takes part in personal finance and moneymanagement sessions and is saving for home ownership, post secondary education or small businessstartup, that $4,500 will be matched by the program. By saving $4,500, the participant would have $9,000 inoverall savings at the end of year. Participants must make a $10 minimum weekly deposit for one year andattend eight economic literacy classes.Current or former Work First NJ or TANF recipients are now eligible to participate and having a minor childis no longer a program requirement.

Prospective Gateway IDA Program participants will learn about the importance of saving, moneymanagement, budgeting and financial decision making, debt management, taxes, banking services, basicfinancial planning and insurance as well as learn about first-time home buyers programs, down paymentassistance, scholarships, entrepreneur training, credit repair and dealing with realtors.

For additional information contact Demetrica Todd-Hunter at 856-451-6330 ext. 6742 ordtoddhunter@gatewaycap.org. ... The Salem Family Success Centerat 14 New Market Street in Salem is requesting donations of gently-worn, freshly-laundered, wearableclothing in all sizes for men, women, and children. Center staff is also collecting linens, towels, shoes,sandals, hats, belts, and costume jewelry for its clothes closet, which is open Monday through Friday. Call856-935-0944 for more information on donations, the clothes closet, or to coordinate pickup of donateditems. ... Gateway operates the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants &Children (WIC) in Camden, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties. The program providessupplemental foods, nutrition education, lactation support, immunization education and health care referralsto income-eligible pregnant women, new mothers, infants and children up to age 5. Gateway WIC servesmore than 23,000 clients annually through flexible hours through its eight (8) offices and a full-service,health screening mobile office. WIC is an equal opportunity program. If you believe you have beendiscriminated against because of race, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap, write immediately to:USDA, Director-Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW,Washington, DC, 20250 - 9410. For additional information on the Gateway WIC program or nearest officelocation and hours of operation, call the Gateway WIC program at 856-451-5600 or 856-225-5050. ...Gateway's Alzheimer's and Senior Adult Day Care program continues to provide quality, affordable carefor Cumberland County residents at its Spring Gardens Senior Housing facility, 1781 S. Spring Rd.,Vineland. The program operates from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to provide ameaningful adult day care program as well as provide respite care for families of Alzheimer's patients. Mealsand snacks are provided and daily activities include arts, crafts, low-impact, guided exercise sessions andsocialization. The program also includes monthly parties for participants. A suggested daily donation of $20is requested, but no one will be denied services due to inability or unwillingness to pay. The program isfunded, in part, by the Cumberland County Office on Aging and the United Way of Greater CumberlandCounty. For additional information or to register for the program, contact Sandra Collins at 856-690-0411. ...The Gateway Loan Program, which is a helping hand fund to assist low-income clients in Cumberland,Gloucester and Salem counties facing short-term financial difficulties, is seeking participants. Gateway Loanarranges small loans for income-eligible families who may be unable to obtain a traditional bank loan. Loansrange from $250 to $500 and are repayable within six months. ...

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Gateway's Head Start program is once again sponsoring the Child Care Food Program. This program isdesigned to provide meals to children receiving services in Head Start centers located throughout Atlantic,Cape May, Mercer, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties. Meals are available at no separatecharge to all children 12 and under enrolled in the Child Care Food Program and are served without regardto race, color, national origin, disability, age or sex.

Gateway Community Action Partnership Website

Sincerely,

Michael CudemoGateway Community Action Partnership

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