Macoupin County

Housing Authority

760 Anderson St.

P.O. Box 226

Carlinville, IL 62626

Phone:

217-854-8606

TOLL FREE:

1-866-363-5142

OPEN:

Monday—Friday

8:00 a.m.—4:30 p.m.

CEO

Margaret (Peg) Barkley

Volume 17

Issue 2

From the Director’s Desk

Thought for the Month: “Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today.”

Groucho Marx

FEBRUARY 2012

Neighbors

There’s a meeting this month to plan resident activities for

2012. All residents are invited to attend—February 15 at

1:30 p.m. at the Carlinville Rec Hall. Bring your ideas!

Inside this newsletter you’ll find information about a schol-

arship that’s being offered to persons going to college or

trade school this fall. You’ll also see pictures from the re-

cent Eagle-watching trip and learn about a program in

Staunton that can help people who are battling depression.

There will NOT be a Food Program this month. Our in-

structor, Beth, is having surgery. She hopes to be back up

and cooking again by March.

The Housing Authority is always seeking input from resi-

dents about programs, activities, etc. Just drop us a line.

Peg

N EIGHB O R S

FEBRUARY RECIPES

Potato Soup

1 30-oz. bag of frozen, shredded hash browns

3 14-oz. cans of chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup onions, chopped

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1 pkg. cream cheese (don’t use fat-free—it will not melt!!!)

In a crock-pot, combine everything except for the cream cheese. Cook for 6-8

hours on low heat. About 1 hour before serving, add cream cheese and keep heated

until thoroughly melted. Serve with cheese, sour cream, bacon bits, green onions,

or whatever else you think would be good.

Mexican Casserole

1 package tortilla corn chips

1 to 1-1/2 pound ground chuck

1 can tomato sauce

1 can Mexican corn, drained

1 chopped onion

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/2 pound shredded cheddar cheese

1 small can sliced black olive

Brown ground chuck and onion; add tomato sauce, chili powder and corn. Place

1/2 package chips in casserole. Add one-half of the meat mixture, one-half of the

cheese, and one-half of the olives. Repeat. Bake at 350-degrees for 30 minutes.

VO L UME 17

Happy February Birthday

In Benld—Melissa Zirkelbach.

In Bunker Hill—Bob Hozian, Brittanie Davis, Beverly Heimer, James McCoig and

Glenda Rose.

In Carlinville—Paula Hazelwood, Ashton Audis, James Gotcher, Isaac Gotcher, Faith

Martin, Joshua Ridens, Maya Knowles, John Knowles, Johnny Sisneros, Adrienne

Wallace, Michelle Waters, Rachel Cole, Raiven McCloud, Flossie Crocker, Pam

Loveless, Stephen Robinson, Catherine Brown, Christopher Stallings, Crystal Holland,

Judith Fones and Kane Bomkamp.

In Gillespie—Austin Frank, Kelly Lucas, Janet Jackson, Josephine Manar, Madyson

Grogg, Roy Allen, Linda Hayes, Frieda Malloy, David Mason, Abigail Brimberry and

Edward Zelenka.

In Mt. Olive—Don Piper and Chance Trebing.

In Staunton—Michelle DeStatte, Julie Tomso, Sally Knapp, Alex Merideth, Demian

Proctor, Helen Krueger, Barbara Hert and Zachary Taylor.

In Virden—Darrell Jaggers, Lauren Nguyen, Tiffany Harris, Rhiannon Doss, Jennifer

Olmstead, Preston Olmstead, Dakota Derosa, Georgia Green, Erica Grooms and

DevonWoosley.

In Girard—Janet Garrison, Christian Garrison, Lori Fancher, Clarence Rentfrow and

Austin Frederick.

N EWSL ETTER TITL E

February Calendar

February 7 MCHA office closes at 3:30 p.m. for Staff/Safety Meeting

February 13 MCHA office closed for Lincoln’s birthday

February 15 RAB Meeting at 12-Noon at Carlinville Rec Hall

February 15 Resident Planning meeting at 1:30 p.m. at Carlinville Rec Hall

February 20 MCHA office closed for President’s Day

UPCS inspections will take place in Gillespie 47-05 (Fillmore, South and Handy

Streets) and in Carlinville (All of Buchanan and the “outside circle” of DeArbee

Drive—odd numbered units.)

Preventive Maintenance will take place in Girard and in Staunton 47-03 (apartments

on Kay Lane but not the S-Building).

Macoupin County Public Transportation

Macoupin County Public Health Department has been providing medical transporta-

tion since July 1996 with one 7-passenger handicapped accessible van. They began

providing senior transportation in October 2008 and now they are Macoupin County

Public Transportation with a total of 19 vehicles ranging from a fuel efficient car to a

22-passenger bus.

MCPT is an on-demand deviated response door-to-door service. Service hours are

Monday through Friday from 7 am to 6 pm and Saturdays from 7 am to 1 pm.

MCPT provides both medical and social transportation, both in and out of the county,

on a first come, first served basis. There are monthly trips to The Brass Door in Car-

rollton, Springfield Shopping Day and Fairview Heights Shopping Day. For more

information or to sign up for trips call 217-839-4130 or TOLL FREE 1-877-600-

0707.

If you need a ride to a Housing Authority event—meeting, recert, etc.—the Authority

will pay for your ride on MCPT.

VO L UME 1, ISSUE 1

Make a Difference in Your Child’s Life

You may be eligible for nutrition education, breastfeeding information and healthy

foods provided by your local WIC clinic.

WIC is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Chil-

dren—administered in Illinois by the Department of Human Services (DHS) and

funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. WIC provides:

* Nutrition Education

* Nutrition Counseling

* Breastfeeding Support

* Nutritious Foods

* Referrals to Other Services

ARE YOU ELIGIBLE FOR WIC ?

You must be:

* A pregnant woman or breastfeeding up to one year after giving birth.

* A new mother, up to six months after giving birth; or

* A parent, guardian or caretaker who has an infant younger than 5 years old.

Your annual household income must be within WIC guidelines.

You may have a job and still meet these guidelines

WIC provides healthy foods such as—milk, eggs, cheese, juice, cereal, dry beans or

peas and fortified infant formula.

For more information, call 1-800-843-6154

Or visit the wed site at:

www.dhs.state.il.us

N EWSL ETTER TITL E

January Eagle Watching

This year’s annual eagle-watching trip turned out to be cold and rainy. Twenty-one

brave residents from Carlinville, Virden, Palmyra, Gillespie, Mt. Olive and Staun-

ton boarded the housing vans and cars, and made their first stop at the Alton visi-

tors’ center. Everyone did see one eagle there, as evidenced by the photos below:

On the drive along the River Road to Pere Marquette residents reported seeing be-

tween 5 and 10 eagles—it varied by vehicle. Due to an icy forecast, lunch at Red

Lobster was earlier than scheduled but everyone had a healthy appetite. Then we

headed for home with our eagle hand-outs from the visitor’s center—including ea-

gle-watcher wristbands—and our memories of another adventure scoping out the

great American eagle.