12/10/2023 0 Comments Mdhs ms gov snap loginNancy New: It really began about five years ago. We divided the state so we could manage it better. You ask about the two organizations, that’s just a matter of logistics. What’s happened is that it’s grown and where we were concentrated in just a few areas across the state, according to resources, financial and other resources, we were able to expand that through this greater effort now. Let’s start changing families lives instead of just one person in that family because if we can impact the whole family, that’s going to be much more powerful and beneficial than just one individual. Let’s reach every individual in the family. Where we have concentrated on helping that individual and perhaps the individual’s child or vice versa, what we want to do is learn about the whole family. So the whole concept of Families First for Mississippi and the services is to enhance and empower families through getting them stabilized through education, through services and so forth. Actually when the federal money first flowed down to the states across the nation, Mississippi was one of them to receive monies to actually set up Family First resource centers to serve families, so I was fortunate then to have a small grant and to get services started in the Delta. Nancy New: I’ve been part of Families First resource centers for 25 years, from its inception. Mississippi Today: How was Families First conceived? I understand now that Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi combined in this effort. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. She has not made any public statements since her arrest in early February, but the following transcript is how she explained their mission back then. Mississippi Today sat down with Nancy New and other nonprofit employees in October of 2018, while the nonprofit was allegedly perpetrating what the State Auditor called the largest public embezzlement scheme in state history, to talk about her nonprofit’s work. They did not track how many of their clients got a job or how much more money they may have earned after the program. From 2017 to 2019, the nonprofits reported helping 652 people receive a Career Ready Certificate, 94 write a resume, and 72 complete a job application, though the reporting is likely flawed. In reality, they helped very few low-income families find self sufficiency, according to outcome documents the nonprofits provided to the Mississippi Department of Human Services, the agency funding the program. They would do this by offering soft skills training, such as resume writing and interviewing, and work supports, such as donated professional clothing, to adults otherwise unprepared for today’s workforce. Before she was arrested, New’s organization, Mississippi Community Education Center, and another nonprofit, Family Resource Center of North Mississippi, ran a statewide program called Families First for Mississippi with the new focus of helping low-income families secure employment to support their families instead of public assistance.
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