Correspondent photo / Sean Barron ... Leah Sakacs, president of the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown and coordinator of a program for senior citizens, holds a plaque she was awarded in 2016 while a student at California State University at Long Beach. She won the award for her contributions to several on-campus and community organizations.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of a series of Saturday profiles of area residents and their stories. To suggest a profile, contact features editor Burton Cole at bcole@tribtoday.com or metro editor Marly Reichert at mreichert@tribtoday.com.

AUSTINTOWN — At first glance, it may seem like a stretch to imagine how Leah Sakacs went from receiving a bachelor’s degree at Youngstown State University in criminal justice and anthropology — followed by a master’s degree in applied anthropology — to having volunteerism as her life’s centerpiece.

But dig a little deeper and the connections become more apparent.

“I did my thesis on six women who spent time in a California prison (on drug-related offenses). I did a life course analysis,” said Sakacs, 32, a 2006 Austintown Fitch High School graduate who grew up in Austintown. “My focus (also) was on communities we live in here and now.”

Sakacs, the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown’s president and coordinator of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program of the Mahoning Valley, explained that she fused criminal justice and anthropology to better develop skills that set the stage for her to better understand and appreciate diverse cultures. A guiding point for Sakacs was her belief that the six women who had drug problems would benefit from treatment, not incarceration, she said.

In January 2018, Sakacs, who studied for about three years at California State University at Long Beach, finished her thesis, titled “Tell Me Who You Are: Life Histories of Women Beyond the Prison Walls.” The experience caused her to form a jaded view of the criminal justice system by concluding its focus was much more on punishment than rehabilitation and offering social supports.

“I always think someone deserves a second chance, as long as they’re willing to change,” she said.

While at California State, Sakacs joined the college’s Liberal Arts Student Council, having served as secretary and then vice president. At the same time, she was further cultivating her volunteerism and leadership abilities via recruiting and working closely with undergraduates to run the council after she moved on.

“I wanted to build leadership and find those who would keep it going. I wanted to engage young people to be leaders,” she explained.

For about two years, Sakacs was an AmeriCorps volunteer, and she joined the local Habitat for Humanity chapter, after returning to the Mahoning Valley, as a volunteer coordinator who also worked at home construction sites and helped families who moved into Habitat houses. In addition, Sakacs had performed Air Force Reserve duty to help pay for graduate school, she said.

After her Habitat work, Sakacs began with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, which serves Mahoning and Trumbull counties, as well as volunteering on behalf of the League of Women Voters. She and a co-worker also are managing the Senior Support Action Group, which debuted last April in the early days of the pandemic and, last summer, expanded into northern Columbiana County.

The original idea behind the Senior Support Action Group was to grocery shop for senior citizens — especially those who had low income and were fearful of visiting a food pantry, for example, because of COVID-19 concerns — but “we got calls from many who were afraid to get out,” she recalled. Consequently, the initiative has grown to delivering food and medicine to seniors in need, offering transportation to and from medical appointments and providing companionship via a Phone Pals program, Sakacs said while emphasizing the need for younger volunteers.

Also, SSAG has partnered with Shepherd of the Valley, Gleaners Food Bank, RSVP and SCOPE Senior Services in Trumbull County, she said, noting that it was patterned partially after SCOPE, which for several years has conducted a food-box delivery program.

“I think every senior in Mahoning County has my phone number at this point,” Sakacs said with laughter.

Today, about 200 households are served per month after food items are packaged and loaded at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Youngstown on the North Side, she said.

Despite the programs’ successes before and during the ongoing health crisis, the need remains for additional volunteers, especially of high school and college age, Sakacs continued. She added that reaching out to others in need has changed her perspectives in some profound ways.

“With lifelong volunteering, you get to meet so many people; it opens your eyes to others,” Sakacs said. “You see how complex and widespread issues are.”

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