Tom Gonya, above left, makes notes during a levy committee meeting in August. Gonya is co-chariman of the committee together with Dana Dorsey, at right. Senior Programs Director Robin Richter, center, was part of the meeting. The committee is named Citizens for Seniors Levy.

With the current levy set to expire, Sandusky County commissioners granted Senior Programs Director Robin Richter’s request to have a new levy on the November 7 ballot.

The levy will be a 0.2-mill replacement and a 0.3-mill additional for five years. This will cost the owner of a house with a $100,000 valuation about $15.31 per year, a little more than $1 per month.

"With the projected growth in our senior population, demand for services, and a budget gap for 2007, we really need this levy," Richter said.

In addition to the current 0.2-mil levy that helps to fund Senior Programs, funding also comes from the Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio, a small grant from the City of Fremont and United Way of Sandusky County. Each senior center in the county also is required to do fund-raising to assist with the cost of operating the centers.

WSOS centers are located in Clyde, Gibsonburg, Fremont and Woodville. Funds from the levy are also provided to the Four-County Young at Heart of Bellevue.

A levy committee made up of area seniors committed to getting the levy passed has been established with Jim Walter of Fremont serving as treasurer. Dana Dorsey and Tom Gonya, both of Fremont, are serving as committee co-chairs.

The committee is accepting donations for expenses associated with getting the levy approved. To make a donation, make check payable to the Citizens for Seniors Levy, c/o James K. Walter, 911 Stilwell Ave., Fremont OH 43420.

The New Directions Summer/After School Program was recently awarded two new 21st Century Learning Centers grants for the Fostoria Community Schools and Fremont City Schools districts. This new $1.2 million grant will allow both districts to expand their programs and add sites to serve more students.

In Fostoria, a new site will be established at the middle school, while in Fremont there will be a new site at Stamm and Lutz Elementary and the Fremont Middle School.

"We are so excited about this new funding," said Family Development Director Jacquie Wells. "This program has proven to be a valuable asset to the community, so it is good that this grant will allow us to reach more families."

The Summer/After School Program was first funded in 1999 by the 21st Century Learning Centers. Since then, it has received financial assistance from several local organizations such as the Sandusky County Department of Job and Family Services, the United Way of Sandusky County, Community Development Block Grants, 4-H of Ohio, and Boy and Girl Scouts of America.

The program provides academic assistance to students in grades kindergarten to ninth grade as well as career exploration, field trips, and many other opportunities. In addition, the program provides a safe place for children after school.

Denise Sanchez, above, gets a hug and her award from Vice President Ruthann House.

With presentations from COSI of Toledo and Pattrick, the Magician, employees were treated to time off from the office, and those celebrating milestone years of service were recognized and honored.

Denise Sanchez was honored for her 30 years of service to the organization. Sanchez, who was the lone employee celebrating 30 years of service, is a teacher mentor for Sandusky County in the Head Start program of Family Development. Currently, Susie De La O is the longest serving employee with 38 years. WSOS is 41 years old.

Employees with 25 and 20 years of service received plaques while those with 15, 10 and 5 years of service received certificates. The Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies (OACAA) also recognized the milestone years of service for those with 10 years of service and over with certificates and pins.

Those with 25 and 20 years of service are Sandra Bivins (25), Sally Esquivel (20), Sandra Fiedler (20), and Sally Wyant (20).

Ten Ukranian residents including Deputy Mayor Vitaliy Yavorskyy of the City of Mykolayiv will visit Fremont, hosts of WSOS, on Thursday, September 29.

The group is visiting NW Ohio as part of a three-week program, funded by the USAID, to examine the system of non-governmental organizations and other forms of local democracies in the U.S. The goal is to understand how these systems unite residents (neighborhoods, blocks, streets) within cities and how they participate in local decision-making and community development.

Members of the delegation have been involved in their communities in mobilizing residents, communicating with local governments, and establishing network connections among similar groups in Odesa and Mykolayiv. The delegation also includes representatives of local government who are responsible for relations with neighborhood associations, and representatives of non-governmental organizations that provide support services to such associations.

The community/neighborhood associations that represent territorial communities have begun to play an important role in the system of Ukrainian local governance. In 2001, the Ukrainian Parliament passed legislation that allowed for the creation of non-governmental territorial associations within municipalities. Odesa and Mykolayiv are two cities that took advantage of the new law and set up such associations.

The delegation, then, is seeking information from NW Ohio communities on how this occurs in the United States. They hope to get tips and strategies to engage the residents in their home communities to fulfill the ultimate goal of making their communities more efficient and effective.

While in Fremont, they will visit with representatives of similar neighborhood organizations such as the watershed coalition, Downtown Fremont, and others. They will also visit with similar organizations around NW Ohio.

This program is conducted through the Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development. WSOS administers the funds for the consortium.

The consortium was also responsible for a program that sent a group of community leaders on an outbound trip to Tanzania in August. That group included a Fremont employee of the JobStore. And, a group of NW Ohio community leaders including WSOS’s Deb Martin will visit Hungary in September.

Past training programs have included visitors from Russia, Lebanon, Hungary, and Afghanistan. Denise Sanchez, above, gets a hug and her award from Vice President Ruthann House.

Summer Cooling Program staff: Tony Lindenberger, basic needs specialist; Justin Burel and Tina Chavez, basic needs advocates; Michelle Ardner, basic needs clerk; and Clarissa Rodriguez, basic needs aide.

On June 1 each year, the Summer Cooling Program begins serving families in the WSOS four-county service area to assist them to stay cool during the summer months. The program provides an air conditioner and/or a one-time assistance with electric bill payment to income-eligible residents. This assistance is provided only to those who have a documented medical condition. Electric bill payments can be made to those who have someone in the household who is 60 years and over and income eligible with a documented medical condition.

The program, which ends August 31 each year, has provided help to more residents than ever since the program started in 1999.

As of July 31, 225 air conditioners were distributed to residents in the four-county service area compared to 198 distributed in 2005 at the same time. This is in addition to a total of $31,038 in electric bill assistance. The maximum amount of electric bill assistance available to one household is $200.

The total number of air conditioners distributed in the 2005 program was 288 and $53,671 were paid in electric bill payments. The total number of households served was 530.

More air conditioners had to be ordered in July and August to meet the increase in demand.

Assistance with heating help begins November 1 and runs through March 31.

Editor’s note: The Director’s Corner appears in each newsletter. Next publication will feature Senior Programs Food Service.

The mayor of Norwalk was one of the more than 60 people from six communities who attended the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP) hosted by WSOS’s Housing and Energy Department in May. The seminar was conducted to inform lenders, mortgage brokers, and community leaders of the benefits of the program to the communities.

Housing Director Chuck Wright said the information sharing was beneficial because information taken back to the communities has already yielded more participants for the program.

A new partnership with the NetWORK division of the Zepf Center, the One-Stop Operator for The Source, of Toledo, will allow WSOS to provide job skills and placement to adults eligible for the Prevention, Retention, and Contingency program at the local Department of Job and Family Services.

A new $3 million demonstration grant will provide services to economically disadvantaged families throughout 15 counties in Northwest Ohio including Sandusky, Ottawa and Seneca counties.

The new program, Steps of Hope, aims to assist parents or non-custodial parents of children under age 18 and who are U.S. citizens. These residents must have family incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Participants will be provided with needed job skills including computer skills, job placement, assistance with other barriers to obtaining and keeping a job, as well as any parenting challenges he/she may face.

Other partners in this endeavor include Partners in Employment, the James C. Caldwell Community Center, Grace Community Center, Owens Community College, Penta Career Center, the Catholic Charities Diocese of Toledo, and Ohio Heartland Community Action.

JENNY WILHELM

Full name: Jennifer Ann Wilhelm

Address: Fremont

Family: Father, Paul; brothers Jason and Justin; sister-in-law, Lynne; and nephews, Owen, 3, and Adam, 10 months. Mother, Barb passed away 5 years ago.

Occupation: Jenny joined the agency in December 1992. Her current job title is Processing Clerk for MIS in the Family Development department. She said since she joined WSOS, she has had many, many different job titles.

Favorite part of the job: Jenny said she really likes the people she works with, and she really enjoys the data entry part of her job. The paperwork is never ending. Therefore, she said, she’s usually glued to her chair.

Goals: She said she wants to continue to get better in her job as the data entry person, and to help her co-workers in any way she can.

Interests/Hobbies: When Jenny is not spending time with her family and nephews, she loves to read, scrapbook, and play pool. Recently, she began selling Premier Design Jewelry and that keeps her busier than usual, she said.

Jenny is also involved with the American Cancer Society – Relay for Life event. She said this organization is "a very dear thing" to her because she hopes that one day there will be a cure for cancer. Cancer has taken her mother and a few other relatives from her.