A source for resources

CMCA helps those in need find help, information

Alex Marquis, 6, visited Transformation Tuesday at Central Missouri Community Action and made two new friends, Connie Willenbury of Callaway Head Start and Cliff Atterberry, CMCA family development specialist. Besides blowing bubbles, the event offered more kids games and adult education about resources available in the area.
Alex Marquis, 6, visited Transformation Tuesday at Central Missouri Community Action and made two new friends, Connie Willenbury of Callaway Head Start and Cliff Atterberry, CMCA family development specialist. Besides blowing bubbles, the event offered more kids games and adult education about resources available in the area.

For some families, even those who consider themselves to be in middle-income brackets, toilet paper can be a hard commodity to afford.

Central Missouri Community Action hosted Transformation Tuesday to illustrate the struggles of families living in poverty. This included a toilet paper collection drive, according to Cliff Atterberry, family development specialist.

"We're raising awareness about how a number of people we work with don't have the money to buy necessities such as toilet paper," he said.

A variety of community programs and organizations were at the event, making it convenient for family members to learn about resources.

"I just started with the (CMCA) programs, and they're been really helpful," said Heather Crowe, who brought her sons, Alex and Julian Marquis, to the event.

People representing the public library, the county health department and other agencies were available to talk to people stopping by.

"CMCA has a lot of programs we work with - community partners," Atterberry said.

Free hot dogs and refreshments, children's games and a silent auction also brought people to Transformation Tuesday at Callaway County Family Resource Center, 610 Collier Lane. Connie Willenbury of Callaway Head Start was blowing bubbles with some of the visiting children.

"We have a home-based program where we visit families at the homes every week," she said. "We talk about child development problems they're having with their children, or refer them to a doctor or dentist if they don't have one. We talk about nutrition and encourage them to keep immunizations up to date."

The services are offered to pregnant women and families with children up to age 3, Willenbury added.

Inside the front door of CMCA was the world's ugliest commode, painted blue. According to Kellie Pontius, family development supervisor, this toilet has been traveling from business to business, or person to person, in a campaign to flush poverty down the drain. People have several options they may use to get the toilet removed, including paying a "ransom" which goes to fund CMCA programs. Once the ransom is paid, the payer can suggest where the toilet goes next, Pontius said.

"Holts Summit is the next stop," she added.

For more information about CMCA and its services, call 573-642-3316.