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People working together for social, economic and environmental justice in Tennessee
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Bedford County Chapter
For information about times and places of the meetings of this SOCM chapter
please check the CONTACTS page
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Current work |
Bedford County Head Start is part of a 14 county region coordinated by the South Central Human Resources Agency (SCHRA).
The chapter was successful in getting SCHRA to hire a bilingual resource person to help work with Spanish speaking children and parents involved in Head Start and Early Head Start in Bedford County.
For several years the Bedford SOCM Chapter
tried to work with the director of the Head Start program to make the program work as it is supposed to.
They volunteered in the classroom, participated in the Policy Council, advocated for expanded classroom space and arranged meetings with administrators.
Due to lack of response, the members arranged a meeting with authorities
from the Federal Head Start office in Atlanta, at which time the full extent
of the mismanagement of all the Head Start Programs in this area was brought
out in the open. As a result, one administrator
resigned.
The Bedford chapter is also
focusing on programs to keep families intact and working together to become drug-free and functioning.
A third area of focus is the lack of affordable housing for low-income families.
The chapter has held 2 public forums on this issue. Members are currently investigating why so few eligible families receive Section 8 vouchers.
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History/Past Accomplishments
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The Bedford County Chapter was formed in November 1999.
The first issue that the chapter took on was expansion of the Bedford County Head Start program.
SOCM members met with public and agency officials and other community groups to discuss ways to get additional funding for the program.
The chapter supported the Kiawanas Club in acquiring a new building for the Shelbyville Head Start. Since then additional children have enrolled in the Shelbyville Head Start and an Early Head Start Center has opened.
There are now about 25 Latino children attending Head Start and Early Head Start in Bedford County.
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Not afraid to get their hands dirty, SOCM members in Bedford County plant flowers
around the Gilliland Center, an African American Cultural Center in Shelbyville.
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