THREE RIVERS — A number of items and upgrades will be coming to the St. Joseph County Commission on Aging (COA) thanks to recently-approved American Rescue Plan funding.
The COA’s Board of Directors were updated on how much the agency received and what items will be coming to the COA during their monthly meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 17.
St. Joseph County commissioners, just the day before, approved a $265,000 budget amendment that satisfied a capital request for the COA. About $230,000 of that amount is funding the COA received as a grant from the Older Americans Act, which received $1.434 billion in the federal American Rescue Plan (ARP). The remaining money, $35,000, is a required 13 percent match in funding.
COA Executive Director Pam Riley said the money they received will be used for a multitude of items to improve their services. These include a new Meals on Wheels truck, new MySeniorCenter software, a blast-chill freezer for nutrition services and meals, a slicer and kettle to make soups in-house, and a new vehicle for case coordination.
“It’s going to be a big spending spree in September, for sure,” Riley said, noting that the funding has to be spent by the end of September. “We should be in good shape.”
She said some items have been approved at the regional level for the Area Agency on Aging, and is expecting approval back this week, with the hopes of being able to purchase some of the bigger-ticket items this week.
In her director’s report, Riley also reported she will be working on the budget for the upcoming 2023 fiscal year and 2024 fiscal year for the county in the next couple of weeks, which are due to the county by Sept. 2. In addition, they will also be working on a five-year capital improvement plan for the agency. The Board of Commissioners are expected to approve the budget by November.
Riley also reported the COA has a couple of applications in for its open chef position, adding that they will also be looking into a partnership with Constantine and Sturgis schools to be able to let culinary students in those districts know that institutional cooking can be a career path.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 ext. 22 or robert@threeriversnews.com.
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