Westside Messenger - December 11th, 2022

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PAGE 4 - WESTSIDE MESSENGER - December 11, 2022 Community Focus www.columbusmessenger.com Winter Reading Challenge back at Columbus Library Columbus Metropolitan Library is bringing back for a fifth year its Winter Reading Challenge, in which students can earn prizes by reading over break. A twist on CML’s Summer Reading Challenge, Winter Reading Challenge aims to keep reading skills strong when students are out of school over the holidays. From the beginning of December through Jan. 31, K-12 students can pick up a game board at CML’s 23 locations throughout Franklin County. The annual program challenges students to track their progress as they read for 20 days and complete five activities on their game boards. Examples of game board activities include “Read a book about science,” “Read a book in a series,” “Read a book about a holiday” and many more. Just for signing up, students can select a prize from the library’s Treasure Box. Students who complete the program will earn a book to keep, as well as a drawstring bag. Last winter, approximately 3,800 students participated in the program. Studies show that kids who read during out-of-school time maintain reading skills that are critical to future school success. The Third Grade Reading Guarantee in Ohio means many central Ohio third graders could repeat the grade if they don’t pass state proficiency testing. This year’s Winter Reading Challenge is supported by Altrusa International of Columbus and Battelle. For more information, visit columbuslibrary.org. SENIORS — HELP IS HERE! Your Doorstep to Your Doctor! We provide: • Transportation • Personal Coordinated Team Care • Concierge Service • Convenience of all services under one roof • Superior Healthcare • We serve to 55+ Medicare-eligible Community Call for more information: Trae White, COS - Community Outreach Specialist 614-551-5367 trae.white@dedicated.care Let’s change the world together! NORTH 2260 Morse Rd Partnership with 3 LOCATIONS: WESTSIDE 50 N. Wilson Rd. WHITEHALL 5156 E. Main St. Messenger photo by Dedra Cordle Wrapping up holiday cheer Westside resident – and noted gift wrapping ace – Jenny Coss helps Zayden Meyers, 4, put the finishing touches on a few presents he picked out in the gift shop at the Trinity United Methodist Church’s Breakfast with Santa event on Dec. 3. Coss is a member of the church in Lilly Chapel and volunteered to help the youngsters wrap their gifts. All of the items within the gift shop were purchased by members of the congregation and the greater community so the children could pick out presents for their loved ones at no cost to them.
www.columbusmessenger.com December 11, 2022 - WESTSIDE MESSENGER - PAGE 5 Grant awarded to fund public health programs The Franklin County Commissioners continued the ongoing investment in public health initiatives for residents by providing a more-than $1.7 million grant to Franklin County Public Health (FCPH). The grant will support FCPH’s Community Health Improvement Plan, which is a collective impact strategy to identify core health priority areas that impact the health and wellbeing of Franklin County residents and to develop plans to address those community-wide. In addition, the funding will provide for training for FCPH staff, strategic planning, upgraded data and technology infrastructure, and additional resources to bring the agency’s services into the community to meet residents where they are. “We’ve seen over the past three years how important it is to have a strong public health infrastructure,” said board of commissioners president Erica Crawley. “The pandemic has been difficult for all of us, but it’s also exacerbated health disparities that already existed in that communities that were already struggling are in even worse shape today. Franklin County Public Health is working to identify those residents and the challenges they face, and put interventions in place to help them get back on track for better health and success in the community.” Over the course of the pandemic, the commissioners have increased funding of public health initiatives to unprecedented levels, from funding the 1,000-bed overflow surge hospital at the convention center to providing additional space for residents in homeless shelters to quarantine, and from purchasing and distributing hundreds of thousands of pieces of PPE to funding community-wide educational campaigns around masking and vaccinations. In 2020, the commissioners also provided funding when they and the health department declared racism to be a public health crisis in order to support a new associate director for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Franklin County Public Health. “Franklin County has become a leader in the public health space in Ohio, and we’re not going to slow down now,” said commissioner John O’Grady. “Too often over the past three years, we’ve seen people here and around the country trying to curtail strong, science-based public health policy and some Americans have suffered because they’re getting bad advice or their local public health agencies aren’t funded well. Here in Franklin County, we’re fortunate enough to have the resources to invest in our residents in this way, and it’s not hard to see the benefits they reap from it.” The new grant funding is made available via the American Rescue Plan, and will fund additional diversity, equity, and inclusion training for FCPH staff as well as other ongoing professional development. In addition, it will help the agency upgrade its data collection and analytics capabilities and support ongoing strategic planning efforts, fund Stop The Bleed trainings, and provide grants to support the use of ACEs, the Adverse Childhood Experiences assessment. “There are so many barriers already standing in the way of success for many of our neighbors, and a lack of basic health information and access to basic care shouldn’t be one of them,” said commissioner Kevin Boyce. “Those are problems for which we have solutions, and we’re excited to be able to partner with Franklin County Public Health in their ongoing mission to address inequities in healthcare and to plan for future public health needs.” The commissioners’ grant will also allow Franklin County Public Health to procure a mobile vaccination vehicle, an emergency preparedness vehicle, and vehicles for community health experts to use throughout the community as well as supplies for the distribution of Naloxone. “This investment from the board of commissioners will enhance critical public health capabilities such as increased datasharing, communications, and organizational competencies,” said Franklin County Public Health Commissioner Joe Mazzola. “The funding will also improve program accessibility, transparency, and efficiency. We are grateful for the continued support of our county commissioners and county administration as we collectively work to improve the health of our community.” You can learn more about Franklin County Public Health and its mission and initiatives at MyFCPH.org. To see how else the commissioners are using the American Rescue Plan to help the community recover from the pandemic, visit Recovery.FranklinCountyOhio.gov. around the westside Blood Drives The American Red Cross will host a blood drive from 12 to 6 p.m. Dec. 21 at Columbia Heights United Methodist Church, 775 Galloway Road in Galloway and from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dec. 23 at OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, 5131 Beacon Hill Road in Columbus. To schedule an appointment, call 1-800-448-3543 or visit www.redcrossblood.org. NO MATTER THE SEASON NO MATTER THE REASON We have the personal loan for you. Rates as low as 6.99% APY (7.759% APR). Need to make a large purchase or consolidate your debt? Get the cash you need now with a personal loan from Telhio, with rates lower than most credit cards! LEARN MORE TODAY AT TELHIO.ORG A $150 doc prep fee applies. Rates are subject to change without notice. All rates and terms subject to credit approval. Additional discounts may be availableailable . APR = Annual Percentage Rate. Example: A $10,000 personal loan would have a payment of $243.01 for 48 months with disclosed APR. Telhio is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or goes to school in Central and Southwest Ohio. This credit union is federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration. 614-221-3233
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Westside Messenger - December 11th, 2022

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