The Delaware Public Health District announced on March 14 three separate funding awards recently received from the state of Ohio to help build up programming for Delaware County youth, older adults, and recycling and litter prevention within local parks.
Youth Suicide Grant: $40,000 for year one of planning, $70,000 for three years of implementation
The Health District was awarded funding from the Ohio Department of Health’s Bureau of Health Improvement and Wellness, Violence and Injury Prevention section for the Youth Suicide Prevention grant with the goal to reduce injuries and deaths of Ohio youth (ages 10-24) through comprehensive, multi-faceted, population and evidence-based programs that address the risk associated with these injuries and deaths.
Only certain local health departments across Ohio were asked to apply for funds from ODH due to their counties’ high burden for youth suicide. Delaware County was one of 21 counties eligible to apply for one of the six awards the state health department was projected to fund. The federal Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Grant supports the local initiatives and the Health District has been awarded $40,000 for year one planning, with an additional anticipated $70,000 for three additional years for implementation. The grant period for activities is March 1, 2024 – September 14, 2027.
The Health District will work with community partners, mainly Helpline of Delaware and Morrow Counties, Inc.’s Delaware County Suicide Prevention coalition to implement strategies to reduce injuries and deaths specific to the needs and infrastructure already in place across the county. Specific grant activities include:
• A focus on reducing access to lethal means among residents as risk and work specifically with gun shops and gun owners.
• A focus on providing suicide gatekeeper training, to high school and college students enrolled in health-related academic programs at area schools/institutions.
• A focus on teaching coping and problem-solving skills by implementing the evidence-based program Signs of Suicide for middle and high school students.
The implementation of these strategies is meant to enhance the work of the established community coalition to which the Health District has been a member for over 10 years. Grant dollars will also support Helpline’s funding streams to further their suicide prevention efforts across the county. For more information on suicides in Delaware County, please visit DelawareHealth.org/Data to access the 2019-2022 Delaware County Suicide Report.
Injury Prevention Grant: $110,000 each year for 5 years
The Ohio Department of Health’s Violence and Injury Prevention section awarded the Health District the Falls Among Older Adults grant. The goal of this grant is to reduce unintentional fall injuries and injury-related fatalities for Ohioans aged 60 and above. Through this grant funding, the Health District will work with community partners and the Stepping Up to Prevent Falls coalition to reduce the number of falls and injuries among older adults in the county. The Health District will also work to enhance the Stepping Up to Prevent Falls coalition, integrate Medical Reserve Corps volunteers into a fall risk assessment implementation process, increase the access to and availability of evidence-based balance and mobility trainings throughout the county, and work with partners such as SourcePoint to streamline home modification programs to reduce falls in the home. For more information, visit the Stepping Up to Prevent Falls coalition Facebook page.
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Special Venue Grant: $21,056
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency awarded a special venue grant to the Health District’s Keep Delaware County Beautiful program, which will team up with Preservation Parks of Delaware County to use the funds to purchase 16 animal-proof recycling and trash units to be used within their park system. One recycling unit will be placed at every kiosk and two units will be placed at each shelter house at each open park within Preservation Parks.
In 2022, more than 740,000 people visited Preservation Parks of Delaware County. With so many visitors, it is expected that the units will double the amount of materials collected for recycling at the parks. Preservation Parks of Delaware County is committed to recycling and sustainability and is an active participant in the Keep Delaware County Beautiful Coalition activities.
For more information, visit DelawareHealth.org.
This story was submitted by the Delaware Public Health District.
