Intro of HealthPath AmeriCorps*VISTA Albany Woods

The following post is the firsthand account of AmeriCorps*VISTA Albany Woods, who is stationed near Cincinnati, Ohio with The Norwood Service League.

My name is Albany Woods the HealthPath Vista for the South West region Of Ohio. I have 9 counties (Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clinton, Clermont, Brown, Adams, Scioto, and Highland) within my region I responsible for planning the Ohio Benefit Bank capacity building events, also known as the “Do You know Someone Who. . . ” campaign.

My first event was in Hamilton County where I worked hand-in-hand with my host site The Norwood Service League to plan a luncheon for May 24, 2010 scheduled at Xavier University's Cintas Center. Seeing that my event was going to be the first to kick off the campaign I wanted to make sure it had a great attendance rate, so I sent invitations to everyone Lupe’ Hoyt (my Site supervisor) and I could think of. By the day of the luncheon I had sent out 70 invites to Mayors, the Norwood Fire department, the Health Department, County commissioners, local business owners and even the local library.

Photo of May 24, 2010 The Ohio Benefit Bank/HealthPath luncheon event at Xavier University's Cintas Center. At the foregrounded table are Charles Barber, communications manager with the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foobanks, Martha Rose, AmeriCorps*VISTA leader with OASHF, and two community member from the Hamilton County area. Photo Credit: Jessica J. Burchard

On the day of the event we had a great turn out with a room filled with over 25 people, including the President of HealthPath Ellen Gilligan, and Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks(OASHF). The PowerPoint Presentation about The Ohio Benefit Bank (OBB) was delivered by Jason Elchert the Deputy Director of OASHF, who initiated the OBB statewide in 2006.

Jason Elchert, deputy director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, presenting

information about The Ohio Benefit Bank. Elchert is credited with helping create the solid foundation that OBB has today. He and fellow AmeriCorps*VISTAs have promoted the free, internet-based program since OASHF took it over in 2006. Photo Credit: Jessica J. Burchard.

At the end of the luncheon HealthPath's Ellen Gilligan presented The Norwood Service League with a check in the amount of $2,500, which Hoyt accepted on behalf of the organization. I later found out that the one of our guests who was already an OBB site was able to receive more laptops for their site.

Over the next month I began working on my other OBB events.


My next OBB event was on July 12, 2010 in Clinton County, the host site was the Wilmington United Methodist Church. For this informational meeting, I worked closely with Annen Struckart, the churchs' AmeriCorp*VISTA and Wilmington Ohio Benefits bank Counselor, to make it a success.

Annen had many contacts within the city of Wilmington, which really came in handy when it came time for us to put our guest list together. The Wilmington United Methodist Church let us use its lovely fellowship hall for the luncheon which was just perfect. Annen and I spent many weeks trying to get the RSVPs in, which paid off in the end.

 On the day of the event we had a room filled with representatives, business owners, nonprofits and government officials. Charles Barber, communications manager of OASHF, conducted the OBB presentation. Theresa Wukusick, executive director of HealthPath, presented a check for $2,500 to the Wilmington United Methodist Church to further tthe group's good works throughout the community. This luncheon gained the interest of the community and will allow Clinton County to take hold of the benefits of the Ohio Benefit Bank.

Trumbull Co. OBB Event Aug. 5, 2010

The following is a brief summary of AmeriCorps*VISTA Jessica J. Burchard's experience at Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010's  Capacity Building breakfast meeting for The Ohio Benefit Bank at the Hippodrome Banquet Center in Warren, Ohio.

The intimate breakfast gathering went exceptionally well. Myself and the other OASHF staff member were able to interact and have in-depth conversations with those in attendance at the free informational meeting.

Among the attendees were two Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services staffers -- Director Kim Barrell and caseworker Gladys Velez--  the United Way of Trumbull County United Way President Tom Krysiek, the McDonald Village Mayor Glenn Holmes, Kent State University Trumbull Campus Dean Jim Ritter, among others.

Seated at one table at the Hippodrome Banquet Center in Warren, Ohio were the two representatives

from the Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services, the dean of the Kent State University Trumbull County branch, the President of the United Way of Trumbull County and two volunteers at existing OBB sites. Photo Credit: Jessica J. Burchard.

I was particularly pleased to see Charles Barber, communications manager for the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks who gave the presentation, engaged in coversation with  Mayor Holmes after the meeting. The two discussed the possibility of having an OBB Community Trainer address a group of 40-50 people at one of the village's monthly organizational meetings.

Charles Barber, communications manager for OASHF, and McDonald Village Mayor Glenn Holmes spend a few minutes exchanging information after the OBB/HealthPath breakfast meeting on Thursday, Aug. 5. Photo Credit: Jessica J. Burchard

"Thanks for inviting me. I got a lot of valuable information," Holmes said to me on his way out of the meeting.

Some other points brought up at the meeting were questions about the relationship between Job and Family Services and The Ohio Benefit Bank counselor. These were quickly and thoroughly answered with comments from both Barber and Barrell.

In fact, the conversations about The Ohio Benefit Bank and the local department of job and family services went so well that many people lingered after the meeting ended to continue their discussions.

Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services employees stay after the OBB/HealthPath meeting to further discuss the relationship between OBB counselors and JFS. Photo Credit: Jessica J. Burchard

Reflections on July's Capacity Building Events for The Ohio Benefit Bank through the HealthPath Foundation of Ohio

Introduction to Capacity Building events for The Ohio Benefit Bank Through HealthPath


July proved a very busy successful month for spreading the word about The Ohio Benefit Bank (OBB) statewide with nine Capacity Building events completed.
The 90-minute free, no obligation informational meetings had the following schedule in July:


* July 1: Miami County at The First Place Christian Center

* July 14: Jefferson County at Jefferson Behavioral Health System's satellite office, Beacon House

* July 15: Mercer County at the Mercer County Council on Aging

* July 20: Stark County at Trillium Family Solutions, Inc.

* July 21: Hardin County at The Fame Center

* July 22: Columbiana County at The Way Station

* July 27: Washington County at Marietta Holiday Inn

* July 28: Noble County at Lori's Family Restaurant

* July 29: Monroe County at Swiss Hills Vocational School


All of The Ohio Benefit Bank events were coordinated through partnership among four AmeriCorps*VISTAs stationed with The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks (OASHF) in different regions of Ohio, individual nonprofits serving as existing OBB sites in 36 Ohio counties and the HealthPath Foundation of Ohio.


Each AmeriCorps*VISTA is responsible for developing an attendance list in conjunction with partnering site, securing a time and location as well as catered meal for his or her assigned counties for Capacity Building events. The events are designed to promote The Ohio Benefit Bank, specifically what it does to help alleviate poverty and financial hardship for individual families as well as putting more money into the local economy.

The Dollar General Market is one of only a few stores carrying everday goods and groceries

in the most rural and isolated parts of Tuscarawas County, which limits what families can purchase. It also means that low-income households are paying more for goods and services than they otherwise would. The store has Amish and regular customers from the area. Photo Credit: Jessica J. Burchard

Therefore, the invitation list centers on local nonprofit leaders such as United Ways and Community Action Commissions/Programs; area politicians such as village councils and town mayors; colleges and universities whose students might utilize the OBB for service learning or assisting students going through hardships.


The VISTAs also touched base with government agencies like county branches of the Department of Job and Family Services (JFS), health departments and police departments. In particular, the relationship with the JFS is important for expanding The Ohio Benefit Bank because of the E-Gateway Program, which quickly sends completed OBB forms to someone at each JFS office to be processed.

This logo is from the www.odjfs.png and is a clip art found via a www.google.com search. It is connected with www.richlandcountychildrenservices.org.

Although the local Departments of Job and Family Services have suffered layoffs in staffing, many OBB events did feature attendance by at least one staff member. The JFS offices also made a point of having representation from the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program whenever possible.
The eclectic mix of invitees to each of the county's events means that the PowerPoint presentation delivered by a trained member of The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks hits many important topics.


One surprising statistic that is sometimes addressed at the meetings is the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds that for every $5 spent on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program a total of $9.20 of economic activity is generated as grocery stores are able to hire more people and purchase more goods to sell.
For more information about this statistic, visit: http://www.agri.ohio.gov/divs/FoodCouncil/docs/OFPC%20Final%20June%2030%202009.pdf.

The Web site is a PDF of a researched short-term recommendations by the Ohio Food Policy Advisory Council from August 2009. Among the 32 members was Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, as well as Beth Kowalczyk, with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.  

Besides imparting knowledge about The Ohio Benefit Bank to those in attendance, the HealthPath Foundation has made it possible for the current OBB site partnering with the VISTAs in each county to maintain and/or expand their program by donating $2,500 at the end of each event.

Theresa Wukusick, executive director of the HealthPath Foundation of Ohio, and Michele Lucas, community services director of HARCATUS Tri-County CAO, Inc. in New Philadelphia, Ohio, embrace after Lucas (left) receives the $2,500 grant check from Wukusick. Photo Credit: Jessica J. Burchard

Theresa Wukusick, executive director of the HealthPath Foundation of Ohio, frequently presents the check to the nonprofit's representative after a brief explanation of what HealthPath's objectives area -- oral health and domestic violence prevention. Wukusick also utilizes the Health Institute of Ohio's information to show how HealthPath's objectives prove relevant to each county, specifically in terms of dental care for children and family abuse.

Theresa Wukusick, executive director of the HealthPath Foundation of Ohio, shows off some collateral materials for the "Do You Know Someone Who. . . " campaign while explaining what the HealthPath Foundation does to a group in Monroe County. Photo Credit: Jessica J. Burchard.

In the following posts, each AmeriCorps*VISTA -- Rich Field, Sara Mraz, Albany Woods and Jessica Burchard will share some of his/her experiences of coodinating, attending and doing follow-up for the OBB/HealthPath partnership events.