Organization News and Updates

In addition to today's County government related roundup, there were also a lot of County organizations and businesses with County related news and updates from blood donations, to the Youth Assessment Center, Women Build home maintenance training, and agricultural worker mental health courses and sewer system investments. The News-Gazette had coverage a couple weeks ago on a local organization trying to increase blood donations from the younger crowd: 

Community Blood Services teaming with e-sports group to get more millennial donors
A regional blood service hopes to recruit more millennial donors by linking the act of donating blood with something near and dear to many of their hearts — video gaming.

Community Blood Services of Illinois has announced a new partnership with the professional e-sports organization Team Liquid, and will be offering blood drives at video gaming events and incentives for millennials to become blood donors.

The blood service, which operates one of its centers in Urbana, currently draws most of its donors from adults ages 40 and up, and it's also fairly successful at blood drives geared to high school students, according to spokesman Kirby Winn.

But fewer than 20 percent of blood donations come from the millennials ages 20-34, and younger men donate blood at an even lower rate, he said.

Full article with more information here.

The Youth Assessment Center's relationship with the Urbana School District #116 has been formalized. From the News-Gazette earlier this month:

After a school board vote this week on an operations agreement, that could be the status of the partnership between the Urbana school district and Champaign County Youth Assessment Center.

Although the center has long offered its services to those in the district, the agreement formalizes the two groups' relationship and establishes responsibilities on both sides. Establishing that formality has been a goal for Jonathan Westfield since he assumed the center's directorship two years ago.

The operations agreement, if approved, sends case managers into the schools, streamlining communication between individuals served and school officials and easing the burden of families who otherwise would have had to find a way to the center's Champaign location.

That full article here. A link to the latest Urbana School District news will be coming soon here.

Champaign County Habitat for Humanity is offering a Women Build clinic for basic interior home maintenance. Smile Politely had a blurb with links and an overview here:

Habitat's Women Build is a national intiative that gives women an opportunity to learn construction skills and work on home building projects. Locally, Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County hosts clinics on a semi-regular basis that focus on these skills.

On July 13th, they are hosting an Interior Home Maintenance clinic from 9 a.m. to noon at the Habitat for Humanity warehouse, 302 N. Broadway in Urbana.

You will need to register here to reserve your spot. It's $20, and includes a t-shirt and snacks.

Full blurb here.

Carle is offering a mental health course geared towards those working in the agricultural industry and the specific stresses that go along with it. From the News-Gazette today:

An all-day Mental Health First Aid course will be offered in Champaign next month for adults working in the agricultural industry.

The course is intended to help farmers, their families, friends and business associates recognize signs of substance abuse and mental health issues, such as depression and panic attacks, and help remove the stigma from seeking help.

Mental Health First Aid is a program of the National Council of Behavioral Health that has reached more than 1.5 million people in the United States.

The eight-hour class coming up next month at the Champaign County Farm Bureau is being offered through the Carle health system. 

More details and information at the full article here. Mental health and farming was also a topic in the last Farming Updates post on the Cheat Sheet.

And finally, Illinois American Water is going to be investing in sewer upgrades here in Champaign County. From WCIA today:

Illinois American Water is investing more than $12 million to enhance water service to customers in the area.

The work kicks off this summer and includes improvements to the water treatment system and installing over 16,200 feet of water main in Champaign, Urbana and Sadorus.

A bulk of the main replacement work is related to relocating water mains along Wright Street and Armory Street in Champaign as a part of the city’s street reconstruction project.

Full blurb here with a link to additional information on the improvements from Illinois American Water here.