Kennebec Valley Community Action Program

“The 990 is reviewed by key employees of the agency and the finance committee of the board of directors. If there is no meeting date prior to filing, a copy of the 990 is forwarded to the board treasurer for review.”

“The conflict of interest policy is reviewed annually with the board of directors and each board member reaffirms that conflicts do not exist. Agency employees review the policy at department meetings on an annual basis.”

“The chief executive officer is evaluated on an annual basis by the board of directors. A survey of the ceo's performance is completed by the board and the answers are then compiled. A merit increase of between 2% and 4% is received based on the performance evaluation and as approved by the board effective april 1, 2015.”

“The chief financial officer, chief operating officer, director of child & family services, and hr director's performance are evaluated annually by the ceo. A merit increase of between 2% and 4% is received based on the performance evaluation and as approved by the board effective april 1, 2015.”

“Copies of the organization's form 990 are available upon request in the finance office located on the waterville campus, or on the agency website.”

“All governing documents are available for public inspection upon request at the agency's main office in waterville, maine. Our audited financial statements are also available at our finance office on the waterville campus and on our agency website.”

“The organization's mission is to partner with area residents, organizations, and local, state and federal entities, creating solutions to the conditions of poverty in order to strengthen individuals, families, and communities.”

“Part ix statement of functional expenses - line 24e negative program expenses of 693,843 is an adjustment to remove costs associated with the sale of real estate (33 village circle, 35 village circle, 37 village circle & 42 village circle)from the schedule of functional expenses to the statement of revenue (part viii line 7b) as basis in the sale.”

“Community services is comprised of two divisions: (1) social services, and (2) transportation. The social services division implements the maine families home visiting program and the kennebec/somerset family enrichment councils. Maine families works in partnership with expectant parents and parents of children birth to age three, to ensure safe home environments and promote healthy growth and development. In 2020, 229 families with young children participated in the program. There were 959 in-home visits conducted prior to the onset of the pandemic and then an additional 811 virtual visits and 411 phone visits conducted post onset. The family enrichment councils focus on the prevention of child abuse and neglect in kennebec and somerset counties. These services have included such programming as personal body safety classes and baby think it over programs with school aged children. Since march of 2020 and the necessary changes in providing services, the councils have had to be innovative in how to connect with, support and engage families. One way this was accomplished was through diaper drop- offs to families in need. Over 31,000 free diapers were distributed to area families. The transportation division has two components: (1) operating public transit services in the augusta, waterville, and skowhegan areas through the kennebec explorer, somerset explorer, and "move more kids" public bus system, and (2) providing door-to-door transportation through a network of over 100 volunteers and several agency vehicles for medical and social service appointments. Throughout the pandemic, kv van and volunteer drivers continued to bring people to and from medical and other health- related appointments. 102,729 trips were provided for this on-demand service. For the safety of all riders and drivers, the kennebec and somerset explorer public bus system stopped using fixed routes, changing to a demand response model in march 2020. People rode the bus 44,077 times through the year.”

“Child & family services provides comprehensive, high quality early care and education for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years in public school based care, educare central maine, skowhegan early head start, homestart provider partners, and through home visiting throughout northern kennebec and somerset counties. The program's goal is to increase social competence and school readiness skills of children so they acquire the skills necessary for success in public school. This includes providing nutritious meals and snacks to children in the program, receiving on-site dental exams, and receiving on-site lead testing. The program also partnered with parents on home visits providing supports related to domestic violence and child abuse and neglect, receiving transportation assistance, and providing help finding and securing affordable housing. In mid-march 2020, the program halted all in-person learning, along with our public school partners. Services shifted to e-learning and other creative ways to remain engaged with children and families. By september, all locations had resumed in- person learning. Despite the challenges in service delivery, 600 children received early childhood education and increased their readiness for school success; 450 families received food boxes, hygiene items, and/or health supplies, and 325 families received education packets.”

“Energy & housing services works with individuals and families to improve energy efficiency, to reduce energy burden, to support affordable housing, and to sustain opportunities for homeownership in kennebec, somerset, lincoln, and sagadahoc counties. This is done through a variety of education/assistance programs including: low-income home energy assistance program (liheap), low income assistance program (liap), emergency crisis intervention program (ecip), central heating improvement program (chip), weatherization, home repair, dep home heating oil tank replacement program, foreclosure counseling, homebuyer education, and affordable housing development. During the beginning of the pandemic, weatherization services were put on hold until appropriate protocols could be put in place to address in home services and all fuel assistance applications were taken over the phone. Despite the service challenges, 7,971 homes were warmer last winter, 20 homes received weatherization services that will help reduce their energy costs, and 121 people participated in on-line homebuyer education classes. In partnership with maine housing, we implemented two rental relief programs that assisted nearly 1,600 households with rent payments between april and september helping people stay safely housed and able to physical distance. These programs also provided 1.2 million dollars in direct payments to area landlords. The department also continues with the development of the cony village energy efficient housing community. Four new homes were built and sold in 2020. The community initiatives programming is managed through the energy & housing services department as part of their community building and engagement activities. Community initiatives operates a teen center, resource navigator program, and facilitates the poverty action coalition. The south end teen center serves youth from grades 6 through 12 with members participating in community service projects, music lessons, cooking classes, homework and tutoring, and other enriching activities while focused on completing the school year and/or graduating high school. In march 2020, the teen center closes its physical space, but quickly switched to a virtual "teen time" to keep members connected with staff and their peers. The facility reopened in july. Overall last year, 78 teens attended/participated in the teen center, and over the course of the year over 5000 meals were distributed in the south end neighborhood through partnerships with the alfond youth & community center and waterville public schools. The resource navigator program provides case management services to clients referred through other kvcap programs to receive support and resources to help address a financial crisis. The poverty action coalition (pac) was formed in 2014 with the mayor of waterville and other community partners concerned about the growing number of families living in poverty. The pac's primary initiative, community investors, draws on the resources of the larger community to help individuals and families who are facing a crisis that threatens their stability and when no other resources exist. In 2020, special grant dollars and local donations allowed us to assist 318 people financially affected by covid-19. Essential needs included food and hygiene items, fuel, utility expenses, cell phone and internet services in order to maintain work and school from home, car payments, and insurance.”

“Agency services offers programs designed to increase the operations and efficiency of the agency in regards to providing the types of services described above.”

“Cost of property netted with proceeds 693,843 cost of property netted with proceeds -693,843”