Buffalo County Community Partners welcomes Jacque Platt to their staff team, serving as the new Community Response Assistant. Platt comes from Omaha and is studying at the University of Nebraska Kearney getting a degree in psychology with a minor in health sciences. She is interested in getting her “foot in the door” with public health.
As the community response assistant, Platt will be tasked with assisting the Community Response Team with a variety of needs from data entry to facilitating meetings. “I am excited about learning what resources are available to the people in Buffalo County and how we help coordinate these resources to people in need,” said Platt. Platt be reached at intern@bcchp.org.
The Buffalo County Community Response Team, is a collaborative built on Buffalo County Community Partners collective impact backbone, formed during the COVID-19 pandemic aimed at connecting people in need of basic supports of food, housing, health care, and other community resources.
Emergency support agencies like Kearney Jubilee Center, Salvation Army, Community Action Partnership are the front line people when families and individuals are seeking help for food, shelter and utility supports. The Buffalo County Community Response Team wraps around these emergency support agencies to coordinate resources to help persons in need, adding employment, mental health supports, stable housing and additional coordinated services. If no funding is found, then the Community Response Fund is intended to provide funding based on each individual’s unique situation.
Community partners have illustrated the success of this work as 89% of those served in 2021 had their needs met and have not returned for additional services. Those who have returned for additional supports are invited into a coaching relationship with Compass or Families Care to receive three months of weekly meetings with a case manager to set and achieve goals to self-sufficiency. The coaching component is new to our community and of those accepting this support, 64% have successfully completed the goals they set to achieve.
Platt will assist the Community Response Central Navigators, Wanda Fedorchik and Martha Marfileno (bilingual navigator), as they process and determine funding eligibility and availability. Community agencies reach out to the Navigators for assistance with individuals or families that potentially need multiple different services. The team recommends and connects the community agencies to other existing services and appropriate resources in the community, while also tracking data to show what the social needs and issues are in our communities.
“Jacque is a great fit for the Community Response Team. Having her on board allows us to spend more time finding resources and helping our emergency support agencies. We need a fast learner to keep up with our communities’ changes and she has a drive to continue learning,” said Marfileño.
