Collaboration helps community needs

By LAUREN HOUGH / Journal Staff Writer

Executive Director of Community Networks Glenda S. Helman has a case management session with Christi Ballard at the general office of the Bethany House. (Journal photo by Martin B. Cherry)

MARTINSBURG — Strength often comes from numbers, but so can power and the ability to creatively work toward effective solutions.

Grouping community networks together last year, the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle and the state Department of Health and Human Resources joined their collective resources to develop the Eastern Panhandle Health and Human Service Collaborative.

“We recognize that no one agency ... has the solution to many problems families are facing in the Panhandle,” said Jan Callen, executive director of the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle.

A collaboration of governmental agencies, charitable nonprofits and interested volunteers emerged as the key to working toward resolving many common hardships and issues residents face, but, as Callen noted, no number of agencies can solve all the problems of the region.

The groups honed in on three areas of focus: affordable housing, affordable healthcare and increasing self-sufficiency among community members.

Each area was assigned to its own workgroup of volunteers, who proceeded to take “numerous actions” over the past year, Callen said.

The Warming Hands and Hearts initiative, for example, addressed the rising cost of heat and tied federal money to charitable donations to provide assistance to community members in need, he said. As a result, 192 families kept their heat on last winter.

A meeting was held Friday morning to assess the accomplishments and discuss the future plans for the collaboration.

“It’s been an exciting year for me,” said Trina Bartlett, director of community impact for the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle. “We can look at all the successes and programs and opportunities. The biggest accomplishment is that ... it’s truly a collaborative effort.”

Another positive step forward was implementing the 211 resource referral center on a local level, she said.

As the groups focus on continuing the successes they have had and working toward making a difference in new areas of need, such as behavioral health services, Bartlett said she hopes their work will also influence local decision makers.

Information, such as data collected from the housing group survey completed by members of the HHSC, can be presented to such officials to help them to more effectively meet the documented needs within their communities.

Such collective work reflects the holistic view of community needs that Callen said the group is aimed at tackling with a combination of state and local agencies.

“We had a number of wins this year,” he said. “I charged the group to continue with the small wins, because in three to five years down the road, those will turn into big wins.”



— Staff writer Lauren Hough can be reached at 263-8931, ext. 163, or at lhough@journal-news.net

Click here to return to News Articles index.