Meeting creates potential for expansion of social services locally

 

Last updated 12/20/2012 at Noon



State and local health service agencies met at Zion Philadelphia United Church of Christ on Nov. 29 to discuss the need of expanding a variety of service options to Ritzville. Pastor Judith Rinehart-Nelson facilitated and coordinated the event with the assistance of Senator Mark Schoesler.

Rinehart-Nelson reached out to Schoesler with the concern about the lack of social services for Ritzville residents. Rinehart-Nelson has experience working with the homeless and underprivileged before she moved to the Ritzville community, but still sees the need for the same services that larger cities provide.

“It wasn’t a conscious thing, but I realized it as I got to know the people,” Rinehart-Nelson said about the lack of services. “There is no clearing house, and no social service help organization.”

Rinehart-Nelson said that health care is readily accessible in Ritzville, but there are not educational resources that deal with low income families, teen pregnancy, homelessness, or drugs and alcohol abuse.

The event hosted a variety of organizations, including representatives from Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), Community Counseling Services of Adams County, Integrated Health Care Service of Adams County and the Adams County Health Department.

The meeting was held in a round table format where representatives relayed their concerns regarding resources inside of the Ritzville community. The group focused the discussion around creating a computer depot in Ritzville that would provide residents with a single, central location to learn about the availability of resources.

Residents could visit the depot to learn about services offered by local organizations and statewide agencies, such as DSHS. Rinehart-Nelson explained that residents do not have a central place to gain information about services available to them and to research about services that they could potentially be using.

“This would be about helping people take the first steps to helping themselves. We don’t have the resources, and they can’t get the help they need to change their lives,” Rinehart-Nelson explained. “This is about us having the knowledge to help.”

Rinehart-Nelson explained individuals who pass through town and end up stranded, for a variety of reasons, rely on the Ritzville Ministerial Association (RMA) to assist them. She continued on to say, “pastors are the last line of defense to help people in need.”

The depot would allow individuals a location to find assistance and gain more information to learn how to better their lives. The resources available at the center could help individuals learn how to receive food stamps, energy assistance or bill payments.

Apart from the depot, DSHS economic support assistance director, Eddie Rodriquez, discussed the possibility of the DSHS mobile traveling to Ritzville once a month. Rodriquez explained economic support assistance grants are also available for individuals and families.

The mobile Community Service Office (CSO) provides outreach to the community by assisting residents with applying for services such as cash assistance, basic food assistance, medical assistance programs, drug and alcohol treatment services, childcare services and replacement EBT cards.

Rinehart-Nelson is hoping to create a local committee that will continue to research the need in the community and determine how to provide more resources to local residents. Her long-term goal is that whenever any individual in need is asking for help, there is a single location where those individuals can be sent to in order to receive assistance.

The meeting served as a time for agencies to voice opinions and concerns about the community, and Rinehart-Nelson is glad the meeting was able to be coordinated to bring all of the social services together in one room.

For more information about DSHS and services available, visit http://www.dshs.wa.gov.

 

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