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 The Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall passes through downtown Wapakoneta Wednesday, September 1. Staff photo/William Laney By CARLA MEYER
Staff Writer
For 45 minutes, the roar of motorcycles could be heard passing under an American flag hanging from two ladder trucks. For 45 minutes, area residents gathered in the shadow of the Auglaize County Courthouse and Wapakoneta Fire Station waved and clapped as motorcyclists rode by.
The smiles and waves turned into clapping and cheers as the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall passed down Willipie Street on its way to Custenborder Field in Sidney where it was greeted by a field of American flags.
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County residents struggle with job losses in '09 |
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Thursday, 31 December 2009 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
As Auglaize County residents faced job losses and layoffs in 2009, county agencies grappled to provide the additional support they needed and continue to anticipate an increased need in 2010.
”The biggest eye opener to all of us was that people who have worked their entire lives found themselves in situations where they had to apply for social services benefits,” Auglaize County Job and Family Services (JFS) Business Administrator Amy Ruppert said.
Numbers of these benefits have continued to climb throughout the year as many residents waited to apply until they ran out of other options, she said. Many of them exhausted their unemployment benefits, received family support and sold belongings before turning to the county agency.
“They were hoping to find another way,” Ruppert said.
She said JFS workers are seeing an increased need to shift to former practices of providing more cash assistance, as support services fail to help those in need to make ends meet.
More parents are requesting modifications to their child support payments as their incomes have been reduced, placing the other parent in a bind in their household as well.
The biggest increases in need at JFS have been seen during the past nine months, Ruppert said, noting that is when residents started to get concerned about whether they would get extensions on their unemployment benefits.
At that time there also was an increase in sheriff’s sales, despite efforts to put together a task force to fight foreclosures.
“People tried to get by on their own as long as they could, but many of them hit a wall,” Ruppert said.
There has been an increase of at least 30 percent in food assistance in the county this year, with 2,411 families and 6,042
See LOSSES, Page 3A
people receiving food stamps, while medical assistance has increased at least 20 percent, said Lena Goldenetz, public assistance administrator for JFS.
To qualify for both programs, there is a maximum income guideline.
“We started seeing an increase at the end of 2008 and things have steadily picked up throughout 2009,” Goldenetz said.
JFS officials are anticipating another increase the next time unemployment benefits may expire, which is anticipated around February, without further extensions.
“What has happened in our county is significant,” Goldenetz said. “Some of these people have been working for a number of years at a particular rate of pay and based their lifestyle on that, then they were laid off and their income decreased by at least 50 percent and this has continued now for a long period of time.”
Requests to the agency for child support modifications, based on a change in income, have increased 68 percent from 2007 to 2009, Child Support Enforcement Agency Administrator John Brunner said.
“A lot of our customers want jobs but can’t find one,” Brunner said. “We’re talking about parents who have paid child support faithfully for 10 to 15 years. They have a good work history and are looking for work, but there are no jobs out there.
“People say the economy is recovering, but we just haven’t seen it,” he said. “We anticipate more of the same. Our numbers aren’t going down. We’re only seeing more.”
Children’s Services Administrator Pat Knippen said she is receiving more calls of poverty than neglect –– parents who can’t pay utility bills or are on the verge of being evicted.
Knippen said they are soliciting more help from community partners to meet needs of these clients, but she’s not sure numbers reflect the true severity of the situation.
Ruppert said as an agency they face challenges in 2010, as more clients still are expected, while JFS operates on less manpower and resources. With statewide plant closures they are expecting more money to be available for training to help displaced employees move into a different field.
“Unemployment has been very significant in Wapakoneta during 2009,” Wapakoneta Area Economic Development Council Executive Director Greg Myers said.
In addition to traditional layoffs, several firms have implemented furloughs, or temporary layoffs and have changed operating schedules to include less hours and days.
According to data released last week from the state JFS, Auglaize County’s unemployment rate of 10 percent is down 0.1 percent from November. A year ago, Auglaize County’s unemployment rate at the same time was 6.1 percent.
Statewide unemployment increased 0.2 percent to 10.2 percent during the past month.
Myers said the decrease in the county’s unemployment rate is encouraging and that some companies in the area have started to slowly recall workers. It may be a sign that the county’s economy is beginning to rebound slowly.
Projections are that it could take a long time, up to five years, before the economy fully recovers, but Myers said there are no quick fixes.
“As long as it decreases incrementally month after month, it’s a good sign,” Myers said. “We are lucky that in Auglaize County we have agriculture, food production and a range of manufacturers. There is some diversity and we aren’t tied to a single industry like some communities. Hopefully that allows us to bounce back fairly quickly.”
He said the Ohio School Facilities Commission construction project at Wapakoneta City Schools has created revenue comparable to a small factory opening for the city, but when the construction project is done, that funding will be gone.
“In the long term, we need to continue to grow jobs and get people back in plants,” Myers said. “It’s the same thing people all around the country and world need to be doing.”
The majority of Auglaize County residents using job assistance services provided by the One Stop Employment and Training Network in Wapakoneta are older than 40 and male, said director Tim McCourtie.
He said as of Sept. 30, they are receiving more requests for assistance from residents with higher education levels.
The largest percentage of those using the service, 45 percent, are from Wapakoneta mailing addresses.
Two years ago, One Stop served 1,479 people. At the end of the fiscal year in June, One Stop had served 1,826 people in comparison. Since then, the center has served nearly 800 additional people.
The most requested services McCourtie said are using a copy machine, fax or telephone for a job application or followup and financial assistance for schooling. All services, which also include Internet use for job searches and help with resumes and cover letters, are free.
McCourtie said unemployment peaked in Auglaize County in June at 11.7 percent.
He said with many layoff statistics protected by confidentiality, the people they deal with are only a snapshot of the employment situation in the county.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 04 January 2010 )
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