Nurturing partnerships and assisting regional growth were key elements of the Northern Kentucky Area Development District’s annual meeting.
Thursday’s session drew representatives from each of the counties the Northern Kentucky Area Development District serves – Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Owen and Pendleton – to reflect upon achievements and focus on the mission of strengthening the region.
The agency highlighted accomplishments from Aging and Disability Services, Local Government Services, the NKY Office of Drug Control Policy and Workforce Development in its annual report:
- In fiscal year 2023, the agency’s Aging and Disability Services division answered 11,413 calls in the Aging and Disabilities Resource Center. The development district commended Aging and Disabilities Resource Center Waiver Specialist Michelle Thompson for routinely arranging three-way calls with the Department of Community-Based Services to enable individuals to complete financial eligibility for waiver services.
- The agency reported that 1,317 people received 166,800 meals, adding one of the development district’s efforts resulted in a malnourished client receiving meals just under a year ago. The client’s nutrition score has increased, she is no longer food insecure and good medical reports have been received from the client’s physician, officials said.
- Under the development district umbrella, the NKY Office of Drug Control Policy helpline staff answered 3,327 calls in 2023, including 252 Treatment Assist requests. Individuals in crisis, their families or anyone concerned about substance use disorder in Northern Kentucky may call the helpline to access resources and support, the development district said.
- The Kentucky Career Center network partners provided services to 1,376 unique employers, with services including assistance with hiring candidates, training existing employees and helping employers understand labor market information to remain competitive and connected to additional resources.
“These are just a few of the things the Area Development District has been doing, because of our work, the staff’s work and this community’s support,” Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann, who served as the development district’s board chairman from September 2021 to September 2023 said. “We appreciate the staff and volunteers. We bring members of our region together like no other organization to address needs.”
The area development district fulfills various roles, Northern Kentucky Area Development District Executive Director Tara Johnson-Noem said.
“We are a lot of things to a lot of different organizations,” Johnson-Noem said. “We have 156 different sources of funding to serve our communities in so many ways. We connect people and sources to one another to try to make the community strong, vibrant and to help people live independently.”
Communication, collaboration and customer service rest at the core of the area development agency’s key values, Johnson-Noem said.