2011 budget summary - St. Louis County

University of MissouriExtension of St. Louis CountyNina Balsam, County Program Directorextension.missouri.edu/stlouis(314) 615-2911OVERVIEWDepartment MissionThe mission of the University of Missouri Extensionis to improve Missourians' lives by addressing theirhighest priorities through the application ofresearch-based education and resources.Strategic Priorities• Offer programming for women in the areas offinancial literacy, investment literacy, taxes, andhow to achieve wage equity.• Provide programming for the public for the St.Louis County Library branches in nutrition,financial literacy, taxes, stress management,youth development, etc.• Host Dr. Joseph Crumbley at the first RegionalKinship Care Conference: Strategies forSupporting Relative Caregivers of Children &Youth.• Provide facilitation services for DomesticViolence Victim Impact Panels for the St. LouisCounty Family Court, which will lead to greatervictim healing and empowerment, and greateroffender understanding of the impact of theircrime and less likelihood of recidivism.• Increase healthy food preservation/nutritionprograms and the availability of fresh producein corner stores.• Increase healthy home workshops to educateresidents about the dangers of certain cleaningand/or building products and healthieralternatives.• Improve nutrition by increasing connectionsbetween local farmers and consumers, andtraining people to grow their own fruits andvegetables.• Decrease the amount of fertilizers andpesticides in storm water runoff throughShowMe Rain Gardens (St. Louis’ regional raingarden initiative), the Master Gardener andMaster Naturalist programs, soil testingservices, and informal training at health fairsand public events.Participants learn how to make sound financial decisions in theWomen’s Financial Education Series, offered annually by MUExtension in St. Louis County’s Meramec BuildingDepartment Products and ServicesUniversity of Missouri Extension-St. Louis Countyconsists of 15 full-time personnel: ten educationalspecialists, two Food and Nutrition Program (FNP)educators, and three support personnel. The threesupport personnel are funded directly by St. LouisCounty.Educational programs are diversified and offered inevery area of St. Louis County. Businessdevelopment, horticulture, labor education,leadership training, workforce development,nutrition and health education, financial education,housing and environmental design, neighborhooddevelopment, aging, and 4-H youth clubs andactivities, are all part of the Extension's range ofprogramming. Many programs target under-servedaudiences and focus on unemployment or underemployment,economic development ofcommunities, assisting individuals with finances andhome-buying, increasing access to nutritional foodand health education, working with at-risk youth, orhelping the elderly save on home energy costs.- 242 -