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Local Agencies Discuss the Impact of Covid-19 on Vulnerable Communities

 

By Tricia Hall

Sojourner’s Truth Reporter

 

Ohio recently launched the Restart Ohio plan that will gradually re-open different industries and implement safety guidelines, but African Americans are still at a higher risk of a COVID-19- related death. Local agencies discussed available resources and specific impact on vulnerable communities during a 90-minute Facebook live event on Thursday, May 21, 2020.

 

Wendi Huntley, the president of Connecting Kids to Meals, served as panel moderator. The panelists included: Rachel Gagnon, the director for Toledo-Lucas County Homelessness Board (TLCHB); Tina Gaston, the Kinship Navigator Program Supervisor for Area Office on Aging of Northwest Ohio; Rosalyn Clemens, the director for Department of Neighborhoods City of Toledo; Joaquin Cintron Vega, the president and CEO for Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA).

 

The panelists discussed how vulnerable populations and African-American communities are impacted in the areas of housing, homelessness and employment during this pandemic.

 

Recent conversations had focused on how COVID-19 has impacted seniors and older residents. The local Area Office on Aging is responsible for local efforts that protect this population. “We are making sure that our older population and seniors are getting enough resources during COVID,” explained Gaston. “We see the anxiety from caregivers, family members and even the seniors. We have set-up efforts to conduct contactless wellness checks on seniors by phone calls. We check-in to see how they are doing and are they in need.”

 

LMHA is another agency that is focused on a targeted community; LMHA manages many properties in the community and wanted to provide clear communication to residents once COVID-19 was first announced locally. “Our biggest initial challenge was communicating with the residents at the various sites,” explained Vega. “We wanted to provide ample information, set-up a plan, work with the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, and implement active prevention. Once communication was established, we worked with our community partners to make sure that each resident had all five of the basic needs. They are food, shelter, access to water, clothing and warmth.”

 

The City of Toledo’s Department of Neighborhoods interacts with the community and local agencies through many different sub-departments and services. In addition to managing the recently announced mini-grant program and COVID-19 relief funds, the department oversees the federal housing related dollars that focus on homeless populations and service to low-to-moderate income communities. The department is preparing to submit a required five-year City of Toledo plan.

 

“This department is charged with many tasks including supporting quality housing, code enforcement, workforce development, and oversight of federal housing related dollars. Our community, the black community, is more likely to live in distressed housing, 48 percent of African American city of Toledo residents live below the poverty line,” said Clemens.

 

According to the City of Toledo’s draft annual action plan, there are at least five agencies that focus on homeless prevention, including Toledo-Lucas County Homeless Board. “The current homelessness population and those on the brink of homelessness are the vulnerable populations during this pandemic. This conversation couldn’t have come up at a better time. The homeless in general already deal with a combination of issues that may also impact African Americans disproportionately more than other populations, these issues are redlining, racism and factors within the criminal justice system,” said Gagnon.

 

The Governor stated during last week’s Thursday 2:00 p.m. press conference that African Americans are dying at a higher rate due to COVID-19 and Clemens provided specific examples that supported this statement.

 

“Our community, the black community, is impacted because we have the direct service jobs and we’re not able to teleport our work from home. Our jobs require interaction with the public. We need to look at developing real workforce development that provides a living wage. Our health concerns in the black community are exacerbated during COVID,” said Clemens.

 

The City of Toledo Department of Neighborhoods has provided masks to the community and nonprofits during a distribution. The department is partnered with Stop & Go to distribute additional community masks, plans to partner with Toledo City Council members to distribute masks to each district, and launch a renter’s assistance program.

 

 “We’re presenting this new program to city council soon. This $2 million-dollar program would assist existing tenants that have loss income over the last three months, it will also aid the homeless who want to transition into a rental,” said Clemens.

 

The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department reports that as of May 24, 2020 Lucas County had 1950 confirmed cases, 185 confirmed deaths, and 12,762 tests performed.

 
 

 

   
   


Copyright © 2019 by [The Sojourner's Truth]. All rights reserved.
Revised: 05/28/20 10:49:40 -0400.


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