On Thursday, AmeriCorps Seniors hosted the event, along with Samaritan’s Feet Seniors and Serve Ohio in partnership with the United Way of Northern Columbiana County at an auxiliary building behind the Lisbon Church of the Nazarene on Market Street.

Local organizations were on hand to provide information about available resources for seniors as well as provide free health screenings as well as a light lunch with sloppy joes, chips and cookies to attendees.

Participating agencies included the Sight for All United, which provided vision screenings; Salem Area Visiting Nurses; Family Resource Center; Salem Regional Medical Center; North Star Critical Care ambulance service; Harmony Hospice; Comfort Keepers and Home Instead, two additional provider of home health care services; Catholic Charities, who offers domestic violence victims through Christina House; as well as the Family & Community Services food pantry.

Marti Leake, who is the RSVP program coordinator for Columbiana, Mahoning, Jefferson and Trumbull counties, acknowledged that the Hope Totes were a definite draw for seniors, who had reserved them.

Family Recovery Center case manager Miranda Abel provided a variety of items to seniors at her table during the Thursday RSVP resource fair at an auxiliary building behind the Lisbon Church of Nazarene. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

The AmeriCorps team had organized the event around those totes, which contained a new pair of senior-friendly shoes with velcro enclosures in the place of laces, which could allow the wearer to adjust them as needed if their feet had become swollen.

After securing $1,000 in funding from a Make A Difference grant through ServeOhio to purchase some shoes through Samaritan’s Feet, the AmeriCorps were successful in getting a $1,000 match for additional pairs from Samaritan’s Feet themselves, now run by Deborah Cox-Roush, who herself had been affiliated with AmeriCorps.

She always had been a big backer of AmeriCorps senior programming, explained Jessica Carin, who was involved in Thursday’s event. Carin serves as the national service director on behalf of another participating organizer, Axess Family Services, and was in attendance.

The Hope totes, sponsored by the Samaritan’s Feet and the county AmeriCorps chapter, was the main draw for the resource fair.

Leake estimated that each tote, which had to be pre-reserved to assure that the free pair of shoes were of the proper size, had a value in excess of $35.

Family Recovery Center case manager Miranda Abel provided a variety of items to seniors at her table during the Thursday RSVP resource fair at an auxiliary building behind the Lisbon Church of Nazarene. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

In addition to the shoes, which were double checked by RSVP volunteers at the event on the recipient, each tote included a pair of Bomba socks, free literature and hygiene items as well as a Hope Note written by a volunteer.

Leake said that she hopes to eventually do the event again.

sujhelyi@mojonews.com