May is National Community Action Month

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has proclaimed May, 2015 as Community Action Month. The goal is to highlight Community Action Agency’s role in helping low-income families move out of poverty to achieve economic security. Community Action Agencies serve 20 million people annually in communities across the country. Inter County Community Council (ICCC) is the local community action agency for the counties of Red Lake, East Polk, Pennington and Clearwater.    

The Mission of Inter-County is: To provide services and activities of sufficient scope and magnitude to give promise of progress towards the alleviation of poverty, its symptoms and its causes.

Inter-County Community Council is celebrating 50 years of serving the area this year.  ICCC is a private, non-profit Community Action Agency that was organized in April of 1965 by a group of local people to combat poverty, using the guidelines provided by the Office of Economic Opportunity.  We will be sharing a story every week during the month of May to highlight the programs within our agency.  More information can be found at www.intercountycc.org .

In the Family Services Department at Inter-County Community Council, we strive to meet the needs of the families we serve.  We are a small department with two full-time case managers; Ben Thorstad and Lorie Determan.  The department is led by Family Services Director, Bonnie Paquin.   Lynette Kaster, who is the Head Start Family Service Specialist, also helps out in the Family Services Department.  We offer the following programs to eligible participants in Clearwater, Pennington, Red Lake, and East Polk Counties.

The Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP)  

The Emergency Services Program (ESP) 

The Transitional Housing Program (THP)

The Permanent Supportive Housing Program (PSH)

The Long-Term Homeless Program (LTH)

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach 

The Family Assets for Independence Minnesota (FAIM) Program

The Riverside Long-Term Homeless Project

Homeless Youth (ages 21-younger)

MNSURE enrollment 

Local Food Shelf

The total number of homeless and at-risk of becoming homeless in rural Minnesota is not as great as in urban areas, however, households experiencing or facing homelessness are still here, and their needs are just as urgent. The graph (pictured below right) illustrates the number of homeless or at risk of becoming homeless people served in our 3 ½ county service area through our rental assistance programs within the last year alone.

We have also been able to partner with community businesses for donations and services for our clients. With the help of Amy Erickson at Slumberland Furniture in Thief River Falls, Harvey B, (pictured) was donated a bed by the 40 Winks Foundation.  Harvey had grown up on the reservation and hasn’t had a bed to call his own for quite some time.  When asked about the bed donation, Harvey said, “I am so excited, it is so important for everyone to have a bed to sleep on at night.”  Harvey went on to tell us, “I sleep so well at night and I am not in so much pain. I am thankful for all the help I have gotten from Inter-County Community Council and the 40 Winks Foundation.  People take for granted that they have a home and a nice bed to sleep on at night, but the truth is, there are a lot of people that do not have a bed or a home. I hope that many more people can be helped by both of these programs.”  

In our department, we consider our service as a “hand up” to those in need so they can go on to be productive, self-sufficient members of our communities.  We welcome anyone within our service area that needs assistance to give us a call at 1.218.796.5144 or Toll Free 1-888-778-4008.