Below are a few of the resources we discussed during last month’s Success Coach Catch-up meeting that I wanted to share via email:

Assurance Wireless: Federal Lifeline Assistance- https://www.assurancewireless.com/

• Eligibility- receiving SNAP, Medicaid, or Food Card assistance and/or income based

• Benefit- Free cell phone, 350 minutes, unlimited text and payment options to purchase additional minutes

• Other phone assistance info- https://www.211summit.org/MatchList.aspx?k;Akron,%20Summit%20County;37135;;N;0;1403497;Cell%20Phones;Cell%20Phones;Partial

Society of Saint Vincent De Paul (SVDP): Automotive Repair & Maintenance-  https://www.211summit.org/MatchList.aspx?k;Akron,%20Summit%20County;37135;;N;0;1403504;Automotive%20Repair%20and%20Maintenance;Automotive%20Repair%20and%20Maintenance;Partial

• Eligibility- lives in Summit County, proof of employment, has not received assistance from SVDP in the last 2-years

• Benefit- car repair assistance up to $500, once individual pays the first $100 of the repair

NEED HELP PAYING HEATING BILLS?

Heating assistance program launches

Anthony Thompson

Akron Beacon Journal USA TODAY NETWORK

Help is available for Summit County residents who may struggle to pay their heating bills this upcoming winter season.

Community Action Akron Summit announced the launch of Home Energy Assistance Winter Crisis Program (HEAP), a program created to help income- eligible Summit County residents pay their energy bills.

Starting Friday, eligible residents who have been disconnected, are threatened with disconnection, need to pay to transfer service or want to set up a percentage-of-income payment plan can do so with the help of HEAP. The program will run from through the end of March.

How can to apply for HEAP

Interested residents must schedule an appointment with Community Action staff by calling 330-436-0261 or going online at capappointments.com to apply for the program.

Bring the following information to the appointment:

● Copies of most recent energy bills.

● List of all household members.

● Proof of U.S. citizenship or legal residency for all household members

● Proof of income for the last 30 days (12 months in some cases) for every household member age 18 and older.

● Social Security cards and birth certificates for all household members.

● Lease or landlord name, with address and telephone number.

● If utility service is off, needs to be transferred, or a new account is being established, the client must call the utility company to get a pending account number.

If any of the required documentation is missing at the appointment time, assistance will be delayed until all the necessary documents are received.

A household can only apply once. Residents are advised to write down the confirmation number given and to listen carefully to determine if the appointment is in person or on the phone.

What assistance does the HEAP program offer?

Eligible households can receive up to $175 if they are a client of a regulated utility, or $750 if they are a client of unregulated utilities, including municipal utilities.

The primary heating sources must meet one of these situations: ● Be in disconnect status.

● Have been terminated.

● Need to establish new service.

● Need to transfer service.

● Have a percentage of income payment plan (PIPP) in default or require a first PIPP.

● Have 25% or less of bulk fuel supply remaining.

● Heating unit repair/replacement needed.

The financial assistance will be applied to the utility bill or heating system repair costs.

What are the requirements to be eligible for HEAP?

Residents must have a gross income at or below 175% of the federal poverty guidelines for households with up to seven members and 60% State Median Income (SMI) for households with eight or more members to qualify for assistance, the press release stated.

For example, a family of four may have an annual gross income of up to $54,000.

HEAP officials emphasize that not all winter crisis customers will be eligible for the entire $175 because the amount of assistance give depends on individual circumstances.

Where can I learn more about HEAP?

For more information, residents cab contact Community Action by calling 330-253-8806, texting HEAP to 33030 or visiting energyhelp.ohio.gov.

The HEAP Winter Crisis Program in Summit County has been active since 1984. During the 2023-2024 winter season, 3,051 Summit County households received assistance payments totaling more than $418,600

Here’s what you can do if your landlord refuses repairs or maintenance

Doug Livingston

Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK

Help is available if you are a tenant or a neighbor of a rental house where the owner has refused to address anything from tall grass, trash or missing gutters to broken windows, water leaks and more.

Neighbors can call the police at 911 for criminal activity or 311 so a housing inspector can document unsafe or unsanitary conditions. Renters should never stop paying rent, which is grounds for an eviction, unless the landlord has been served with a list of repairs and fails to address them. Only

then, after the tenant goes to court, can rent be put in an escrow account and withheld from the landlord until the situation improves.

Below are three ways tenants and neighbors can hold property owners in their neighborhoods accountable for the upkeep of rental and other units.

How can I get a house inspected or file a housing complaint?

The Akron Department of Neighborhood Assistance takes housing complaints over the phone, in person or online.

The form can be downloaded at tinyurl.com/ sbs5dncy. Once filled out, email the form to Housing-CodeComplaints@akronohio.gov or return it to the Department of Neighborhood Assistance, 166 S. High St., 8th Floor, Akron, OH 44308.

Residents also are encouraged to report violations by calling 311 or 330-375-2366.

Inspectors will investigate and, if violations are confirmed, give property owners time to address the issues. If that deadline is not met, the Housing Compliance Division will coordinate with the Law Department on potential legal action, including fines and mandatory inspections.

For more information, including links to housing resources for landlords and tenants, visit the website for the Department of Neighborhood Assistance at tinyurl. com/4nwt27kf.

How do I escrow my rent?

Do not withhold rent until a judge approves it. Only tenants who are current on their rent payments can begin the process of escrowing their rent with a court, which can include lowering the monthly rent payment due to poor living conditions.

In Akron, the process is detailed on the Akron Municipal Court’s website at tinyurl.com/4wmm79yz. The following is a shortened version of the necessary steps:

h Sign and date a list of needed repairs and give it to your landlord. If in person, bring a witness. If by mail, make it certified so you have proof of delivery. Keep copies to file later with the court. Tell your landlord that you intend to escrow your rent if major issues like lack of heat in the winter, no running water or no hot water or electricity aren’t resolved in five days or all other repairs in 30 days.

h Request a housing inspector (see above) or call Summit County Public Health at 330-926-5600 to get someone to investigate and document the situation. Inspections are free.

h Continue to pay rent. If the problems still aren’t resolved after five or 30 days, depending on the situation, go to the Civil Clerk’s Office at the Akron Municipal Court, 217 S. High St., before the next month’s rent is due. Bring the full amount of the next month’s rent, a copy of the dated and signed notice to your landlord and certified mail receipts. Fill out an Application to Deposit Rent.

Once rent is escrowed, it may only be released to the landlord or tenant for repairs. Funds may not be released to pay property taxes. If the landlord does not make all repairs in a reasonable time, a judge may award the tenant the balance of the escrow account, at which point the tenant may find another place to live.

How can I complain about an unsafe property or activity in the neighborhood?

When it comes to housing complaints in Akron, residents generally have two options: Go to the city’s 311 call center or go to the police.

Both have different avenues to get property owners to comply with the rules, either through education or by hitting their wallets.

Criminal activity should be directed at police, while housing code issues should go to 311. Residents should only call 911 in emergencies.

The city of Akron receives about 4,000 complaints of tall grass and 1,500 housing complaints annually.

Calls to 911 or routed to police after being received by 311 are then assigned by police commanders to Neighborhood Response Teams who investigate. If confirmed, the city may cite the property and its owners for a violation of the city’s nuisance ordinance.

There are 17 criminal violations in the ordinance that range from loud music and assaults to criminal damaging and weapons violations. If there are three or more of those violations in a six-month period, a property can be declared a nuisance.

Beacon Charitable Pharmacy Secret Gem

Latrice Snodgrass, the new executive director of the Beacon Charitable Pharmacy, says one of her main goals is to make more people aware of the place she calls “a hidden gem.”

The nonprofit, which started in 2002 as the Prescription Assistance Network, specializes in providing prescriptions and other medical services to underserved and uninsured clients.

“What sets us apart is we’re a charitable licensed pharmacy that serves people living at 250% or better below the federal poverty guidelines,” Snodgrass said. “The majority of them reside in Stark or Carroll counties. We also serve some patients in Lorain and some that are in Summit County.”

At the end of the month, Beacon will move from the Goodwill Community Campus to 2525 13th St. NW, a former medical building gifted by Cleveland Clinic Mercy Medical Center.

Snodgrass said the nonprofit surveyed patients who said they preferred the new location, which is on the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority bus line. The new site also will enable the agency to expand its operating hours.  “There’s this belief that underserved people can come at any time, but 30% of our patients are the working poor,” she noted.

Licensed by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, Beacon is the only nonprofit pharmacy in Northeast Ohio and one of just three in the state. The others are in Cincinnati and Columbus.

Before joining Beacon Charitable Pharmacy, Snodgrass worked as senior director of the Children’s Health Collaborative at Akron Children’s Hospital.

“I was born and raised in Canton. I’m a (1991) graduate of Timken Senior High School,” she said. “When this opportunity became available, I realized the huge gap there is with pharmaceutical access. The inequities in health care have always been near and dear to my heart because folks are dying from preventable health reasons, and pharmaceuticals are one of them.

“I’ve talked to people in my church and community, and folks are skipping pills or cutting pills in half because they can’t afford them. It was an opportunity to return to my hometown to serve in a capacity that was greatly needed, and Beacon is a hidden gem.”

How does the Beacon Charitable Pharmacy work?

Though the pharmacy has been open for 22 years, many still aren’t aware of it, Snodgrass said.

“We do not bill insurance,” she said. “If you can’t access your benefits or you don’t have benefits, we can help you.”

The fee scale for uninsured persons is $2 for one prescription, $4 for two medications, or $5 for three or more.

“We have folks that are on maybe 10 medications a month; all they pay us is $5,” Snodgrass said. “People who are underinsured pay $5 for one (prescription), $10 for two, $15 for three, and once they hit four, they pay $20, and that’s for four or 54. If they tell us they can’t afford it, we give it to them.”

In 2022, the pharmacy served 2,300 patients and dispensed 25,000 prescriptions.

The majority of Beacon’s medications come from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy’s Drug Repository program, which receives donations from inpatient nursing facilities, and some from individuals thanks to a new state law that permits such donations.

“One of my top three goals this year is to expand our reach. There are so many more people that need our services. I’m really working hard on trying to build partnerships and collaborations.” Latrice Snodgrass

Executive director of the Beacon Charitable Pharmacy

“We do not dispense expired medications,” Snodgrass said. “We are held accountable to the rules and regulations of the Ohio Board of Pharmacy.”

Councilwoman Christine Smith, D-4, who serves on the pharmacy’s board of directors, said Snodgrass is the perfect person for the job.

“I have traveled with her through her life as she acquired education and knowledge, and this job fits her because she’s always been willing to help someone, even if they can’t help themselves,” she said.

Snodgrass said 97% of Beacon’s funding comes in the form of grants from the Sisters of Charity, Stark Community, Massillon and Austin Bailey foundations, and the United Way.

It also receives some funds from local city and county government agencies, she said.

“We do have one grant from the CDC, which focuses on COVID,” she said. “We also recently were awarded ($176,000) from the Community Development Block Grant for Healthy Aging.”

The remainder of funds comes from patients who pay for their medications, and individual donors and organizations.

‘There are so many more people that need our services’

“One of my top three goals this year is to expand our reach,” Snodgrass said. “There are so many more people that need our services. I’m really working hard on trying to build partnerships and collaborations.”

Her other goals, she said, include financial sustainability and forming good partnerships with other nonprofits in a community which has a wealth of charitable organizations.

Under Snodgrass, the pharmacy successfully conducted a $1 million capital improvements campaign for renovations at its new building. Beacon also has purchased a sprinter van which Snodgrass calls “POW,” or Pharmacy On Wheels, making the nonprofit pharmacy portable.

Snodgrass said Beacon will be doing prescription deliveries because one of the major barriers in accessing health care is transportation.

“We’re also going to be forming partnerships with, for example, the Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority to go out to their senior housing units with our ‘Pharm D,’ which is a doctorate-level pharmacist, who will do education programs, medical screenings, and digital literacy programs with folks, just to have a presence in those areas,” she said.

Other plans include connecting with other medical providers to help drive healthy outcomes.

Beacon Charitable Pharmacy opened a satellite office in Alliance in collaboration with the University of Mount Union last year. Snodgrass said it is also working with Massillon Municipal Court Judge Edward Elum to secure space for a satellite in that city.

Smith said she’s approached the Rev. Don Ackerman, director of Canton for All People, about the possibility of a Beacon Pharmacy satellite at My Community Health Center’s new clinic at the Southeast Market Plaza at 1318 Gonder Ave. SE.

“We’ve got some space in there,” she said. “What an awesome thing that would be. A resident could walk to a doctor, then walk a few steps to get their prescription. Don Ackerman said he likes the idea, so hopefully we can get that space. We just hope people will continue to support it so we can do it.”

Snodgrass said she’s working with the Northeast Ohio Medical University in Portage County to revive the pharmacy’s residency program, as well as medical-student rotations in 2025.

Volunteers also are needed to help sort medications. No medical experience is necessary.

“I think it’s critical that we have folks who work in these spaces to work with the underserved, to build that compassion, that awareness that not everyone has the same privileges,” she said. “Our folks who come through here are at a different place in life.”

Snodgrass said it’s important that Beacon Charitable Pharmacy stays true to its mission.

“I grew up in housing projects and on public assistance, and there was a time I was in these spaces and wasn’t always treated with that level of compassion,” she said. “So, being able to be here and serving folks and creating a space where you’re able to get what you need with some dignity, that’s what I love about being here.”