Juneteenth, Self-Sufficiency Workshop, Summer Feeding Program recognized
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The Kokomo Housing Authority (KHA) received an outpouring of appreciation this fall from its peers across the country. Its programs were nominated and won three national awards, thanks to its efforts to celebrate the community and help lift people out of poverty and away from food insecurity.
The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) recognized KHA’s combined Juneteenth and Summer Celebration and bestowed an Award of Merit to its Self-Sufficiency Workshop. A third award, the Nan McKay Resident Service Award, was assigned to KHA for leading the Summer Feeding Program in 2025.
All of the awards were given during NAHRO’s annual national conference in Washington, D.C. KHA executive director Derick Steele explained each program that was recognized.
The Juneteenth and Summer Celebration events arose from an informal partnership between the housing authority and the Carver Community Center. The Juneteenth celebration, which initiated in 2020, was combined with the Summer Celebration in 2024 to even greater community response.
“The primary purpose when we started Juneteenth was to serve as a resource fair event,” said Steele. “The housing authority operated a similar fair for quite some time before. In 2020, we were in the middle of COVID, but we still wanted to do the resource fair for our residents.
“So, Juneteenth was a celebration of holiday. And it was a celebration of our community; an opportunity to bring the resources in our community to our residents.”
Kokomo’s celebration came about after Steele learned of a rally in Tulsa, Okla., held in celebration of the emancipation date in 2020. He reached out to Donte Rogers at the Carver Community Center, and together they organized the event in the span of a week.
The first Juneteenth celebration took place at KHA’s Garden Square Community Center. It expanded in subsequent years, eventually merging with the Summer Celebration. It now has taken place six consecutive years.
“Juneteenth, from our perspective, has always been about the celebration of community, the recognition of what Juneteenth means within our community and in this country, and bringing resources, bringing opportunities to people are traditionally disadvantaged, or just the community in general,” said Steele. “We have so many resources in this community that people just aren’t aware of. We have a lot of people who struggle. No amount of resources is going to cover everyone, but we have far more resources in this community than I see in even larger communities.”
Part of that celebration includes the presentation of a “Breaking Chains” award, recognizing people in the community who have made a positive impact in breaking down the barriers created by racism and discrimination. Past winners include Bobby Pettigrew, Reba Harris, and Rev. Robert A. Lee, Angie Sanders, and Cheryl Simmons.
Steele was particularly proud of the Strategies to Self-Sufficiency Workshop, which was created and organized by Megan Henry, KHA’s Director of Family Self-Sufficiency.
“In addition to the National Award of Merit, Megan’s program, the Strategies to Self-Sufficiency Workshop, was also nominated for an award of excellence,” said Steele. “It was absolutely a great honor. She works closely with community agencies and partners, banks, mortgage lenders, and individuals who can provide resources to her participants in the FSS program.
“The goal of that program is to encourage individuals to obtain self-sufficiency through earned income. Not everyone in the program has earned income, but if they do gain earned income while in the program, that usually results in an increase in rent. The difference between the rent that they have at the start of the program versus what it would go up to when they have earned income goes into an escrow account, and if and when they graduate from the program, they can receive that escrow funds free of any conditions. We just recently had someone graduate with more than $20,000 in escrow.
“That can be used towards putting a down payment on a home. It can be used towards taking a vacation and just enjoying life once they receive the funds out of escrow. There are no stipulations.”
Community partners visit twice a day on one Wednesday a month, Steele said, and they provide financial education, budgeting resources, and other information to help the participants reach their goal of self-sufficiency. He said most of the participants work toward home ownership.
“Megan has basically done a complete overhaul of the program,” said Steele. “She has a different vision of how she wanted to participate and work with the clients. She’s much more of a case manager.
“We’ve had a handful of graduates over the last few months, and we present them at our board meetings when we do have graduations.”
The third award given to KHA this year, the Nan McKay Resident Service Award, recognizes large and small agencies for community development and resident service. The housing authority won its award for its participation in launching, organizing, and executing the Howard County Summer Lunch Program.
Devised with the assistance of Allison Brantley from Bridgeway Church, the program was created in response to the ending of the State of Indiana’s Sun Bucks program, which helped provide meals to school-aged children throughout the summer months.
“Allison took me to the mat and said, ‘If the state is not going to participate in the Sun Bucks program, what are we going to do to rectify that?’” explained Steele. “So, Allison and I, with participation from Northview Church, Crossroads Church, and Bethany Wenger at the Howard County Health Department, with support from the United Way, formed the group, and we were able to, in essentially two weeks, raise the money and the donations to put on a program that allowed us to feed close to 900 students and about 200 adults. We served more than 3,500 meals over the summer.”
Not coincidentally, the summer lunch program became the framework for the current Howard County Feeding Program, which was mobilized in a similarly short timeframe to begin feeding people following the federal suspension of SNAP benefits.
The program quickly evolved from just feeding children to providing “grab and go” bags of food for the entire family in addition to a hot meal each day. This format has been used to great effect this fall, as food insecurity continues to be a rising and critical problem in the local community.
“What we ultimately decided on was a program where every Wednesday, we were able to provide a hot meal, and anyone who showed up could participate,” said Steele “We asked the parents to provide a $5 donation if they were able, but that was never required. So, we were able to feed approximately 200 adults and close to 900 children over that eight-week span.”
This fall, the program has fed more than 300 families each week. This framework likely will be used again next summer, as Steele anticipates the State of Indiana will not resume its summer lunch subsidies.
“We all understand that people are out there struggling every day,” said Steele. “Maybe they have multiple jobs and don’t qualify for assistance anymore, but they’re also not able to put food on the table every night. Maybe they’re making the decision between food and rent. We wanted to make sure that we were providing an opportunity for everyone.
“You show up, you get food. If you’re asking for something, then you need it. I’m not going to turn you away because of some arbitrary qualification.”