Many families and/or youth resources/services are available for residents of Lincoln County, but finding them has been a challenge in the past. The Lincoln County Community Health Planning Committee, Lincoln County Family Preservation and Support Services Planning Committee and the Merrill Community School Readiness Project were all involved in county planning processes and the results of their research indicated a need for a countywide Family and Youth Resource Directory.
Based on this need a steering committee comprised of individuals from each of these groups was formed in 1997. Additional community representatives have supported and joined the effort, including professionals such as computer technicians, librarians, chamber of commerce executive and United Way Director. Refer to the acknowledgements button for more detailed information.
Following a year's worth of work by the steering committee, in 1998 an electronic database of resources/services available to Lincoln County families and youth was created and made available via this website. For residents who are unable to access the web site through their own computer, they were also provided access through the use of kiosks (touch screen computer terminals) located throughout the county. The steering committee choose to utilize a web site for the directory versus conventional directories that are printed. They felt that printed directories become outdated as soon as they are printed due to the ever-changing programs and services available. In August of 2001, the kiosks were discontinued due to the increasing number of households with access to the web and public access to the web available at libraries in Merrill and Tomahawk.
The Lincoln County Family and Youth Resource Directory is updated twice each year, in spring and fall. If you are aware of a program/agency that is not yet listed in the directory, please make them aware of the site and encourage them to complete the on-line form with their program information or they many contact the Lincoln County UW-Extension Office at 536-0304 and request a form be sent.
Through your continued help the mission of having a centralized information source of family and youth resources for Lincoln County residents can be accomplished which will result in resident utilizing the resources/services available.
The Lincoln County Family and Youth Resource Directory would not be possible without the support and efforts of many individuals and groups. We wish to extend our thank you to the following:
· Members of the Steering Committee for this project. A small, but dedicated group of individuals have worked diligently over the past several years to make this directory a reality. Members include: Bev Baumann, Diane Hanson, John Kaufman, Kay Kissinger, Bob Polesnak, and Sharon Weinkauf.
· Members of the Lincoln County UW-Extension staff who have provided coordination and oversight for the project. Staff members include: Mary Marthaler, Former Support Staff; Debbie Moellendorf, 4-H Youth Development Agent/Project Director; Val Nicholson, Support Staff; Laurie Smith, Former Interim Family Living Faculty Assistant and Charlene Woller, Support Staff.
· Peter Philleo, Digital Dialogue, for the development of the directory web site and the kiosk (touch screen computer) program.
· Linda Batchelder of murray bonnell & associates for development and leadership in marketing the directory.
· Tim Wolfe and the staff from Micro Systems Consulting for their efforts in making the kiosk system possible.
· Our gratitude to Dave's County Market, Merrill; Good Samaritan Health Center, Merrill; and Tomahawk Annex, Ben Franklin, and Medical Clinic, Tomahawk for their willingness to serve as hosts for the Directory Kiosks.
· Scott Herbison for his efforts in customizing the directory database and beginning the data entry process.
· We wish to thank United Way's FIRST CALL in Wausau for providing part of the information on which this directory is based.
· Financial Support of this project was received from the following: Lincoln County Safe and Stable Families (formerly Family Preservation and Support Grant and Title IV-E Grant; Lincoln County UW-Extension; Merrill Area United Way; Merrill Community School Readiness Grant; and a Wisconsin Advanced Telecommunications Foundation Grant.
· And we wish to thank everyone who provided support in any way during the development of the directory. For fear that we may miss someone in oversight, we will not list these people, but you know who you are.
