As part of KRA Corporation’s 2013 Community Care Day Campaign (CCDC) for staff to support our community neighbors in nursing/assisted-living facilities, or who are hospitalized, KRA/SCWorks Career Centers* employees volunteered at three local nursing homes for their CCDC project. According to Kenneth McIver, KRA Business Services Agent, and CCDC Site Coordinator, “The Waccamaw Region is made up of three counties in north-east South Carolina: Georgetown, Horry, and Williamsburg. With the help of KRA team members who live in each county, we selected three nursing homes for our volunteer initiative. After speaking with each of the homes’ Activity Directors, we reviewed the options that the residents would enjoy, and there was one recreational activity that all three had in common: Bingo!”
At Morningside of Georgetown Nursing Home, KRA Career Agents Gardenia McCray and Sherell Robinson led the games, calling out numbers, checking players’ cards, and surprising the winners with prizes of candy provided by Morningside. In Horry County, KRA staff from the Coastal Workforce Center office, and the Conway office’s Youth Employability and Success (YES) Program, teamed up to volunteer at Kingston Nursing in Conway, which provided monetary prizes of quarters for the winners, with Josephette Dotson, KRA Career Agent, adding her own unique touch to liven up the games. In Williamsburg County, at Vital Aging of Kingstree, KRA Career Agents Gwen Brown and Kathy Hammond called numbers, checked winners’ cards, and presented personal-care items, provided by Brown, as prizes.
McIver concluded, “You know that an event is a success when everyone involved wants to do it again! Each of the homes’ resident groups had their own dynamics, yet each group was the same: they all appreciated the time and effort of the KRA volunteers to brighten up their day. Not only did Robert Welch, Executive Director of Vital Aging, ask that we come back, so did the KRA volunteers who enjoyed spending time with the seniors at each home.” Welch is reported as saying, “I heard of KRA through my involvement with the Council of Governments [COG]. I’m glad that your organization decided to visit us for your Community Service Day.”
*Funded by the Waccamaw Regional COG, and adhering to a sector-driven strategy that targets service businesses in high-growth industries, this SCWorks [One-Stop] Career Centers WIA program provides comprehensive services for Adult/Dislocated Workers in need of training and/or job placement opportunities. Services include interest, aptitude, and personality assessment; skills upgrading through occupational training and OJTs; career coaching, counseling, and guidance; instructional job search technique workshops; job referral, placement and retention services; and referrals to community partnering agencies. The YES component of the operation provides a comprehensive year-round program for disadvantaged In-School/Out-of-School Youth facing significant barriers to employment. Workplace-readiness services include interest, math, and reading assessment; GED preparation; job application and interviewing skills; and intensive career counseling.
Dr. Boone’s 20+ years’ experience in the industry is extensive and her expertise in private-, public-, and non-profit sector workforce-services organizations is unparalleled, particularly in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan area.
