Community Impact Report

During the previous six-month reporting period, Lincoln Hills Development Corporation (LHDC) moved toward a Whole Family Approach to address poverty in Perry County.

Perry Preschool and Childcare is at full capacity and exploring opportunities for expansion to meet the needs of the community.

During this last six-month reporting period, Lincoln Hills Development Corporation (LHDC) has been in the planning phase for additional sessions to provide education, support, and awareness of the 2Gen Approach / Whole Family Approach in addressing poverty in Perry County. The 2Gen / Whole Family Approach is a family-led strategy in working to address poverty in the community. Additional sessions will be announced soon.

Perry Preschool and Childcare continues to serve families and explore opportunities to better serve the community. The center remains in operation with all classrooms open, serving families from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Opportunities continue to be explored for expansion, and conversations are taking place with community leaders and stakeholders about the importance of increasing childcare capacity in the community.

The Community Foundation has continued to work at a different pace with each collaborating organization during this reporting period. Following the second reporting period, plans and action steps to move projects forward were in place; however, due to the increase in COVID-19 cases and guidance set forth by the local health department, adjustments were necessary. 

With respect to Evansville Christian Life Center, the Poverty and Potential Workshops that take place in person were postponed until a later date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The workshops are being offered virtually at this time. The vision and purpose of the in-person workshop is to provide an opportunity for collaboration amongst community members. Therefore, we will continue to postpone this opportunity. While this postponement has altered our original schedule, this additional time has allowed our community members and leaders to focus their attention and efforts on helping those in need. Once in-person workshops are available for attendees, we will proceed with the proposed plan. 

LHDC adjusted its original plan of in-person trainings during the previous reporting period, providing them virtually instead due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the momentum and convenience of the virtual trainings, as well as the rise in COVID-19 cases, LHDC continued to offer the trainings virtually during the current reporting period. LHDC will continue to evaluate the COVID-19 situation to determine an appropriate time to return to in-person trainings. Due to providing virtual training sessions, the budget line items for refreshments, facility rental, and materials/supplies reduced (Refreshments from $3,750 to $1,500; Facility Rental from $900 to $600; and Materials and Supplies from $2,700 to $2,175). In order to bolster attendance at trainings, the publicity budget line item increased from $900 to $2,475 for the expense of “boosting” the events on Facebook and the increase in marketing efforts through local media. 

LHDC decided to offer a second session of the Perry County Poverty Series, Poverty Resources and Networking Session, which took place virtually at the beginning of this reporting period. The marketing and communications development manager for LHDC led these efforts by creating a training schedule, coordinating training presenters, and providing the information to staff, community members, and leaders. Because of the addition of a second session, a budget line item was added for LHDC staff time for session preparation and presentation in the amount of $1,000. The session focused on Perry County poverty resources and networking and took place on October 15, 2021. Active participation by attendees and the opportunity for all attendees to participate in the discussion allowed better connections to be made. Upcoming sessions are scheduled to take place during the next reporting period, with the next session being on Trauma Informed Care. This budget line item increased from $2,500 to $3,000, as the cost of the presenter has increased. 

Perry Preschool and Childcare persisted during this reporting period, despite extreme challenges, and were able to keep all rooms in operation, aside from COVID-19 related closures. Transform Consulting Group’s (TCG) assistance has been crucial and throughout this reporting period, they continued to advise Perry Preschool and Childcare staff and board of directors, sometimes on a daily basis. They also assisted with the second recent leadership search for an executive director. The position was filled at the end of December, and TCG assisted with the initial onboarding process. In addition, Perry Preschool and Childcare also began preparations for the center's upcoming Paths to Quality (PTQ) rating visit. The center achieved the highly sought-after Level 3 status in 2019, after months of hard work and preparation. Rating visits are conducted annually; however, due to COVID-19, Perry Preschool and Childcare’s has been delayed. In addition to minimum staff training requirements, PTQ seeks to ensure high-quality early learning environments by setting very precise equipment and curriculum guidelines specific to each age/room. The staff have been working hard to prepare for this visit to ensure that the center remains a high-quality early learning environment. In addition, Perry Preschool and Childcare worked with the fire marshal to increase the capacity of the preschool room from 17 to 20, meaning an additional three children in the community will now be served. These openings are currently in the process of being filled.

Lincoln Hills Development Corporation hosted the first session of the Perry County Poverty Series via Zoom in August of 2021.   A representative from the Institute for Working Families presented data to the participants that mirrored the poverty levels in Perry County. Following the presentation, a discussion was held that rendered more insight into Perry County’s issues and other needs in the community. Upcoming sessions are planned to take place during the third reporting period.

Perry Preschool and Childcare continued to find its services to be incredibly important and demanding during this reporting period.   First, Perry Preschool and Childcare has continued working with Transform Consulting Group (TCG) to receive coaching and support. Through their work with TCG during a time of crisis, the coaching and support provided has allowed Perry Preschool and Childcare to continue to operate. Second, the improvement of technology took place during this reporting period to ensure safety, effective communication, and efficient processes. The following improvements were made: improvement of entrance security, software and devices for electronic record keeping/management and parent communication, as well as two new laptops. Lastly, the oven at Perry Preschool and Childcare completely stopped working which made it difficult to prepare and provide meals to the children. Therefore a new oven was purchased.

As of April 2021, Perry Preschool & Childcare were able to hire an outside financial consultant to conduct an overall financial audit and to develop/ streamline procedures to ensure timely/ accurate collection of tuition/ fees and tracking of expenses.  In addition, Perry Childcare & Preschool began working with Transform Consulting Group on its Business Coaching and Feasibility Study specifically focusing on improving the overall management structure.