Ty Ankrom, superintendent, Pickaway County Educational Service Center
Kim Martin takes networking seriously. As the executive director for Pickaway County Family & Children First Council, Kim’s job is to improve the quality of life for parents and families in the county.
She does this by connecting people with the agencies that can help them.
“There are needs and gaps in the system,” Kim said. “I try to connect agencies that can help meet the needs and close the gaps.”
Family & Children First has four areas that Kim oversees: engaging and empowering families; building community capacity; coordinating systems and services; and establishing shared accountability.
To Kim, all of that means helping parents navigate and take advantage of county services that are available to them.
“I know how to get your kids through the system,” said Kim, who has a background in early education and has worked for Head Start and provided teacher and staff development.
A member of the Logan Elm Local Schools Board of Education and a self-described “professional volunteer,” Kim has split her career among education, raising two children and helping run the family business, Martin Construction.
With daughters Michelle and Makayla in college, Kim decided to get back into the workplace and took a position in the fall through the ESC as a pre-school aide. A few months later, the vacancy at Family & Children First came up and Kim was drawn to it.
“These are all the things I love to do,” Kim said of the job’s requirements. “This is a great fit for me.”
With only three weeks under her belt, Kim said there is much to learn, but she’s eager for the opportunity to help the families of Pickaway County.
“I’m just one person, but I represent a lot of agencies and can be the link to connect community agencies and families.”
Among her immediate goals is encouraging community members to take on a mentor role with TEAM for Youth, a program that helps multi-need children address their needs in a collaborative effort.
For information about being a mentor, contact Kim at (740) 474-7529. To learn more about Family & Children First, go to www.pickawayfamilyandchildrenfirst.org.
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
