Service coordinators provide lifeline for Westmoreland housing authority residents

For Trish Walch, living at Odin View Apartments in Hempfield is a dream come true.

It’s in large part a nod to the Westmoreland County Housing Authority building’s service coordinator who plans a multitude of activities while serving as a sort of personal assistant to residents who need assistance figuring out how to get financial help with utilities or set up an online shopping account.

Walch said if she needs help, she, and her fellow residents, know who to ask.

“To me, it’s like living in heaven,” she said.

Five service coordinators who work with about 1,100 seniors and those with disabilities at 12 authority buildings have many duties, from organizing activities for residents on-site to helping someone learn how to use a smartphone app to access grocery coupons.

Their work will continue, thanks to a $216,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That funding, along with $245,000 to add fire prevention equipment, was awarded to the authority Thursday.

Service coordinator Carole Baker said connecting residents to services they need can help stretch their dollar.

“When you’re given that information, it’s a big weight lifted off their shoulders,” Baker said.

Without the federal funding, the authority likely would have to cut back on the number of residents helped by service coordinators, said Lynn Wackenhuth, HOPE in Life program director.

They help residents apply for health care benefits and navigate open enrollment, bring in educational speakers and make sure residents have regular appointments with their primary care physician, among other tasks. The goal is to help residents stay out of nursing or personal care centers, Wackenhuth said.

Service coordinator Amanda Morrison said the help can be as simple as filling out a form for an older resident who has trouble with fine motor skills. The attention helps residents know they have someone looking out for them.

“To us, sometimes it’s simple things, but to them it’s a big deal,” she said.

Richard J. Monocchio, principal deputy assistant secretary of HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing, visited the housing authority’s Hempfield office Thursday.

“At the end of the day, it is about quality of life,” he said. “We invest in the housing and we also invest in the residents.”

HUD regional administrator Matthew Heckles said the funding shows that the housing authority is efficient and successful in delivering its program.

“It’s about housing, but it’s more about people who live in housing,” he said.

The second grant, for emergency safety and security, will allow the authority to add fire prevention devices to about 1,000 housing units, said director Mike Washowich. That will include the addition of emergency shut-offs for gas and stoves when a smoke detector in a unit is activated, heat-activated canisters which can extinguish a stove fire and hood units for ranges in units that don’t have them.

“Fire is not a friend to anybody,” he said. “The health and safety of our residents is of utmost importance to us.”