What's New

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Rural Dynamics Launches the Bridge to Benefits Screening Tool

Bridge to Benefits has reached Montana! The anonymous work support tool asks 13 simple questions and quickly determines individuals and family’s potential eligibility for workers benefits such as the low income energy assistance program (LIEP) or Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP). Once the preliminary eligibility is assessed, the program provides application forms and local contact information to get help applying for the individual programs. No personal identifying information is required for the program.

The Bridge to Benefits web tool can be found at http://montana.bridgetobenefits.org/ or through the www.ruraldynamics.org/. The tool is free. The is a combined effort of Rural Dynamics Incorporated and the Children’s Defense Fund of Minnesota with the support of Opportunity Link. Organizations assisting low to moderate income Montanan’s across the state will be utilizing this tool in their preliminary screening process. If you would like more information on the tool please contact Christina Barsky at 454.5717.

Opportunity Link, Inc and Rural Dynamics Incorporated/Consumer Credit Counseling Service (RDI) have entered into a partnership to build economic security across Northcentral Montana. RDI has been a leader in providing financial education services to low-income residents of the Northern Plains Region including Montana, and the partnership expands RDI’s work into the underserved rural communities of Northcentral Montana. Program work includes increasing Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) outreach in underserved areas of rural Northcentral Montana; creating additional access points and facilitating the development of Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites in underserved areas; providing comprehensive financial literacy education integrated with tax services; and asset-building through savings accounts and Individual Development Accounts (IDAs).
The partnership will also support promotion of and access to a web based tool that evaluates an individual’s or family’s eligibility for community programs such as Reduced School Lunch, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIPS), Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP), Child Care Resources, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) among others. This project, known as the Bridge to Benefits program, assists social service providers and low income working families in accessing necessary information to make informed decisions regarding state and federal programs.

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At Opportunity Link's annual membership meeting in Great Falls on January 19, Joe Brodeur was given the Outstanding Community Contributor Award. Each year at the annual meeting, civic leaders are recognized for their continuous contributions toward improving their community.

Joe was nominated by Shad Moyer of Neighborhood Housing Services, who wrote about Joe's incredible dedication to "Fix Up Great Falls", a project that assists elderly and disabled people with home repairs and yard clean up. "Whenever an individual is in need, Joe immediated goes to the home without hesitation, assesses the project, collects the needed materials, and makes repairs," wrote Moyer. "He is a polite, respectful, knowledgeable individual, who is passionate in helping others, and an asset to the members of the Great Falls community." Thank you, Joe, for your gifts of time, talent and skills that have made your community a better place to live.

GOOD DAY EVERYBODY!

PLEASE TAKE OUR ONE MINUTE SURVEY. CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK AND FILL IN THE ANSWERS HIT SUBMIT AND YOU'RE DONE! YOU WILL BE HELPING TO ASSIST US IN ASSESSING WAYS TO INCREASE COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE PEOPLE IN OUR REGION.

THANK YOU
OL Staff
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Terence Munson (click to enlarge)

The Board of Directors of Opportunity Link announced that Dr. Terence Munson will assume the position of executive director in January of Havre-based Opportunity Link, Inc., a non-profit created to help communities build capacity to reduce poverty long term. “We are very pleased to welcome Terry to Opportunity Link,” said Darrel Hannum, Board Chair. “The Board and staff are looking forward to having such a qualified and experienced individual lead the organization, and believe that with his assistance, we can achieve our goal of helping communities in the region create a brighter future.”

A native of Dodson, Munson has diverse education and economic development experience in and out of the region for the past thirty-five years. He has been an instructor of mathematics and business in various capacities for twenty years, most recently as associate professor of business at Montana State University-Northern, where he twice served as Department Chair. His work in corporate business includes marketing and service training to work groups from Turkey, Israel, Egypt, China, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, and Venezuela. He also served as District Supervisor at Mack Trucks, Inc. for the People’s Republic of China where he planned and coordinated marketing efforts in that country. He has held positions in several farm cooperatives and cattle and grain farms. During his tenure in Montana he has served on the Board of Directors for the Little Rockies Meat Packing Plant and the Investment Board for the Fort Belknap Community. Munson’s academic and community service includes participating on the Applied Technology Planning Committee and assisting in the development of the Montana Cooperative Center, President of the MSU-Northern Faculty Senate, Executive Board of the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE), National Association of Service Managers, Western Marketing Educators Association, American Marketing Association, and American Management Association.

“I am very much looking forward to this position,” Munson said. “I will be working with some great people accomplishing goals that will truly benefit our area. By nature this work is complex and challenging, but it will be a challenge that I will enjoy helping to meet.”

Munson holds an associates degree in Diesel Technology and bachelors degree in Secondary Education, a masters degree in International Management, and a doctoral degree in organization and management specializing in leadership.

If you are a member of a nonprofit board, or would like to become one, this nonprofit board training workshop is for you. Opportunity Link is co-sponsoring board development workshops on Tuesday, April 8that the Stage Stop Inn in Choteau. The workshop runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Taught by Terry Profota, President of the Montana Nonprofit Association and seasoned nonprofit director, and Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer, Executive Director of Hopa Mountain, this board development workshop will focus on the roles and responsibilities of nonprofit board members and getting Boards organized.

This one-day workshop is especially suited for people interested in serving on non-profit boards and improving services in their communities.

The workshops are free of charge and open to everyone; however, advanced registration is required. All necessary workshop handouts and related materials will be supplied at the workshop.

For more information contact Gina Dahlrymple at (406) 466-3202 or Hopa Mountain, (406) 586-2455.