Post-meeting Release, June 27, 2024

Bryan Glover gives Commission on Aging update at commissioners’ meeting

By Sheri Trusty, Seneca County Media Relations Coordinator

Seneca County Commission on Aging Executive Director Bryan Glover gave an update on commission’s use of a Healthy Aging Grant during the June 27 Seneca County Commissioners’ meeting. Glover’s original goal was to procure funding through the grant for a new transportation van, but the commission received funding for a van and much more. In all, the Healthy Aging Grant brought about $233,000 in funds to the county to help meet senior needs.

“Things have gone better than I expected,” Glover said.

Fifty percent of the grant was required to be earmarked for the areas for nutrition, housing and technology. Each year, about 263,000 meals are distributed from the Tiffin office to seniors in Seneca and surrounding counties. Some of the grant money was utilized to pay for meals.

The housing portion of the grant helped fund large home repairs, including furnace and a/c repairs, for seniors in need. Many of those repairs were completed in homes located in rural Seneca County. Glover said an 82-year-old woman’s oil furnace was replaced with a modern furnace.

“We were able to do a lot of really cool stuff in rural areas of the county,” Glover said.

Some of the technology money helped residents gain internet access by funding the lease of routers.

The other 50 percent of the grant money is being utilized to meet a variety of needs, including the purchase of a transportation van. Glover is grateful for collaboration throughout the county that helped him secure the funds and determine the best use of the money.

“Seneca County is a different county, in a good way,” Glover said. “We had a clearcut direction, and we got it done.”

Commissioners Anthony Paradiso, Bill Frankart and Tyler Shuff had a busy week of meetings and events. Among much other work, Paradiso attended the groundbreaking of Heidelberg University’s $27.4 million Student Athletics, Academics, and Recreation Center; Frankart joined Seneca County Fair Board Treasurer, Anna Harner, for an interview with Mike Roca on WTTF; and Shuff attended a bicentennial committee meeting, where he heard updates about plans for upcoming events.

Seneca County Administrator Barb Patterson also had a typically busy week. In her weekly report, she gave an update on the new Bloomville EMS station. She said the crew may begin moving in within the next couple weeks.

“They’re still working on a punch list to make sure everything is done well,” Patterson said.

Seneca County EMS Director Chris Hafley gave a brief update on the new EMS stations, as well.

“In New Riegel, about ¾ of the walls are up. That’s coming along good,” he said.

Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership (TSEP) Development Coordinator Adam Gillmor announced public training for seniors wishing to learn how to use the new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits app. The SNAP food assistance program helps eligible Ohioans purchase nutritious food.

Gillmor said some local residents do not realize that SNAP is accepted at the Tiffin Seneca Farmers Market.

“You can get fresh fruit, vegetables and proteins from our local community,” Gillmor said.

Gillmor said two free training sessions, called Market Bank Training, will train SNAP recipients how to use the app. The first session will be held on July 2 at 4 p.m. at Tiffin Community Kitchen, and the second will be held on July 9 at 4 p.m. at the Seneca County Farm Bureau office. There are restrictions on who can attend each session.

A training session application can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJfshyK0W_MuJ_rkcJfG1EU4uAGVEt1B5mY2koGREmNh0BwQ/viewform.

For more information, contact Adam Gillmor at TSEP at 419-447-3831.

There will be no Seneca County Commissioners’ meeting on July 4. The next regular commissioners’ meeting will be held on Thursday, July 11 at 10 a.m.