Two community organizations in Mahoning County have been awarded the latest round of American Rescue Plan Act funds by the county commissioners.

Commissioners allocated a total of $82,500 to the Direction Home of Eastern Ohio and the YMCA of Youngstown. Both organizations will use the funds to help residents countywide.

The federal government gave ARP funds to local governments to be allocated throughout the community to lessen the harmful consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DIRECTION HOME

As the funding agency for the aging and disabled in Mahoning County, Direction Home of Eastern Ohio was awarded $30,000 by the commissioners. Direction Home Director of Communications and Community Outreach Cassandra Valentini said the organization is like the 211 for aging.

The money will go to one of its partners, Family Tech Connect, which will use the funds to help Mahoning County seniors with all of their technology needs, Valentini said. This could include anything from setting up an email account to getting a television set up to learning how to order groceries online.

“(During the pandemic,) seniors were being told, ‘Don’t go out. Don’t go to the grocery store,'” Valentini said. “But seniors obviously still needed groceries so we could partner with different agencies, including Family Tech Connect, to help them with these things that might seem simple to younger people, but can be challenging for seniors.”

During the pandemic, Direction Home received a lot of calls and inquiries about technology services that seniors can take part in. The nonprofit was able to recruit organizations to help bring seniors groceries and help them set up technology and online accounts, but now they are focusing on giving seniors the tools to be tech savvy themselves.

Valentini said that by helping bridge the gap between seniors and technology, the program will help combat social isolation for seniors.

“It’s something that we realized was completely exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Valentini said. “Someone over 60 may not have the capability to connect with friends and family, much less their doctor.”

Direction Home already partners with agencies to provide digital literacy programs for seniors in all the counties it serves, which include Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties. Valentini said the money the nonprofit received from the commissioners will go to expand and continue this program in Mahoning County.

Direction Home is an affiliate of the Ohio Department of Aging and serves approximately 166,000 clients. It receives most of its funding from the state and from federal funds provided by the Older Americans Act. The nonprofit’s goal is to help older community members live a vibrant life while aging in place.

YMCA OF YOUNGTOWN

The YMCA of Youngstown was awarded $52,500. It has three locations: Central YMCA is on North Champion Street in downtown Youngstown, the Davis Family YMCA is on McClurg Road in Boarman and Camp Fitch is a campsite on Lake Erie.

Vice President of Advancement for YMCA of Youngstown, Marykaye Carlson, said the organization seeks to strengthen the foundation of the community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. It plans to use the ARP money for all three.

With the help of the funds from the commissioners, and an additional $20,000 grant from the Western Reserve Health Foundation, the YMCA will purchase an additional bus for its Y on the Fly program. This helps connect the organization with community members outside its walls.

“We currently have 12,000 members, but we know there are so many more people who don’t have access,” Carlson said. “We want to provide access. We know there are more people we could be helping.”

The YMCA runs an afterschool program, which requires the organization to bus students from their schools to one of its locations. One bus takes students from Boardman and Poland schools to the Davis Family location. Another takes students to the Central location, but Carlson said the bus is unreliable and in constant need of repair because it is older. The new bus being purchased will allow the Central location to provide a better service for city children.

Interest in the afterschool program has increased greatly recently, so the organization hopes the new bus will allow it to serve more children.

Y on the Fly also includes programs such as senior trips, summer day camps and Camp Fitch. These programs also will benefit from the added transportation.

“Once we have the transportation, we will be able to do so much more,” Carlson said. “There is more need for many of our programs than we are currently able to serve. This bus will help us move outside of our walls.”

The bus can hold 15 passengers, including the driver, and does not require a CDL license, which Carlson said will make it easier for the organization to utilize.