Lucas County Children Services said they will be forced to cut a program that helps kids stay out of foster care and trim valuable staff if a levy they’re seeking on the November ballot fails.

Dean Sparks, executive director of LCCS, said the agency has already frozen enrollment and will eliminate the $180,000-a-year program that provides financial support to relatives who care for kids if the levy does not pass. The program’s end will force more children into the foster care system, Sparks said.

The agency is asking for voters to renew and extend its current 1.4 mill levy set to expire in 2016, and support an additional 0.35 mills, through 2018. The levy is a property tax that will cost the owner of a $100,000 house $54.25. Residents now pay $42 at the current millage.

Sparks said the agency has cut its spending this year from $46.5 million to $40 million in order to maintain its services and has had little help from the state and federal government. He has seen a “significant reduction” in state and federal dollars, placing the burden for financial support on local institutions.

“The State of Ohio is the 50th in the nation in support of child protection; and that’s something that we in Ohio are going to have to struggle with,” Sparks said. “We used to have 405, now we have 349 staff people. We can’t cut anymore. The next cut is staff and services.”

The renewal and additional levy will raise $11.8 million to meet its $42.5 million budget. The agency will see about 12,000 children this year and will handle 5,000 new reports of abuse and neglect in Lucas County.

Most of the children the agency serves are five years old and younger; however they are seeing more older kids due to the fact that they deal more with juvenile court by helping kids gain independent living outside of foster care.

The “faces” of the kids are changing: they come with more needs; they have more siblings; more require institutional care; LCCS keeps more kids until they are 21 years old to guide them through high school, college and into the workforce.

Many of the LCCS children have special needs such as autism, developmental issues or behavorial issues. Some children have parents who are victims of domestic abuse, have a mental illness or lack stable housing. Some 100-plus children were trafficked in Lucas County.

“We’re seeing 9-year-olds that are homicical and suicidal and kids getting suspended from kindergarten,” Sparks said.

The levy is also about kids who have been affected by heroin, either addicted at birth or with parents who are addicted.

Sparks said the agency is seeing success in its foster care program in which more kids are graduating high school than ever before and more kids are entering college from foster care than in the past. The figures are dim: a third end up homeless and another third in the criminal justice system.

LCCS has a “very dedicated” staff of 200 case workers, Sparks said. If the case workers are unable to help the children now then they will return in the criminal justice system later.

“The citizens of Lucas County have always been supportive,” he said. “They have always cared about kids.”

Senior Levy

Billie Johnson, president and CEO of the Area Office on Aging Northwestern Ohio, has requested a 5-year renewal of the agency’s 0.45 mill levy that expires at the end of the year, as well as an increase of 0.15 mills.

“It’s a modest increase of 0.15 mills. I say modest because last year we never got the money we were certified (by the auditor) to receive,” Johnson said. “That’s the reason we went out for more money.”

The auditor tells applicants what dollar amount they can expect to receive at a certain millage. Johnson said her agency received $3.5 million this year from its levy, a million less than expected.

The agency needs the money, Johnson said, to meet growing demand from an 11 percent increase in the Lucas County senior citizen population since 2010 and for its four main areas of service: nutrition, Alzheimer’s care, home care and senior center services.

“We use the levy to match federal and state dollars,” Johnson said. “When we don’t get the money, you can’t deliver the services.”

Ninety-two cents of every dollar goes toward program costs and eight cents toward operating costs, Johnson said.

“(The levy) is really very important,” Johnson said. “We have pretty close to 50 agencies that get this money and if they don’t get these dollars, they will really have to cut services and maybe eliminiate some. It’s not all of their funding, but a good portion. Most of the agencies’ funding were reduced since 2009, close to 15 percent, when at the same time, our population increased.”

Mental Health Levy

Mental Health Recovery and Services Board is seeking to renew a 10-year, 0.50-mill levy.

The agency said it anticipates about 26,000 Lucas County residents will receive treatment for mental illness or addiction in fiscal year 2014, a 4 percent increase over the previous year.

Executive Director Scott Sylak said he expects the levy, if it passes, will generate $3.4 million dollars.

Sylak said the agency lost $2.6 million in state and federal funds this year. Last fiscal year, the legislature put an additional $50 million in the budget of which the agency received a portion. That money was later retracted, Sylak said.

“We still have a tremendous need for services,” Sylak said. “Not only treatment but support that helps stabilize individuals on their meds and help them recover from their addiction.”

One in four families are affected by mental illness. A “significant” number are in jails and have contact with law enforcement, Sylak said.

“Voters have been generous in the past,” he said. “We want to keep that momentum moving foward and prove that the services are needed.”

The levy funds will help the agency address the heroin epidemic, allow them to continue to help people — 3,700 last year — negotiate a “significant crisis;” provide emergency shelter; help house 600 individuals who would be in a shelter, and fund training for law enforcement, among other services.

“We fund a network of 21 agencies that employ 1,600 individuals,” Sylak said. “We will loose services. If this levy is not renewed, we will cut $3.4 milion dollars out of our budget. That will absolutely affect people. We are trying to get the word out.”

The agency, in order to be a good steward of tax dollars, took an internal look at itself and lowered administrative costs in 2007.

Ninety-four cents of every dollar collected by the levy goes toward its network.

Sylak said they are seeing benefits from the levy money. More people are being released from hospitals and they are seeing a “good return” on treatment.

“We recognize we have a lot of work to do,” Sylak said. “Every service we fund has an outcome and we monitor that twice a year.”

If a 1.5-mill levy fails to pass at the ballot box, the Sylvania Fire Department said it may have to layoff firefighters and eventually close a fire station, said the department’s fire Chief, Jeffrey Kowalski.

“The next year’s going to be a challenge,” Kowalski said. “I have a deficit next year. I may have to lay off a few firefighters…. I won’t be able to maintain a fire station…. It’s not a threat; I’m not trying to pull one over on the public; it’s not a threat just the reality of it. We have done so much with so little for so long we’ve become good at it.”

The department currently has 56 fulltime firefighters/paramedics who staff four fire stations 24 hours a day.

The continual 1.5-mill levy would collect about $1.82 million annually and would cost the homeowner of a $100,000 house $53 a year.

In 2008, the fire department asked for a 2.5-mill levy and promised they would not come back for five years, Kowalski said. “It’s been seven years,” he said.

Kowalski cited a decrease in expected revenue from depreciating property values coupled with rising demands on his department as reasons why he needs the extra money.

The levy in 2008 was expected to bring in $1.8 million a year, but only generated $1.5 million due to re-evaluation of property tax values, he said. With that levy money, they replaced three fire stations that were falling apart — one 85 years old — and bought three engines and a truck. Kowalski said they spent money only on areas of need and tightened their belts when less money came to the door.

“We tightened our belts and did away with purchasing things we needed before going back to the voters,” he said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have another way of funding our department. We have no payroll tax and we don’t transport people so we don’t get any money for that.”

The fire chief said his department has been doing more with less for years now yet it remains No. 1 and No. 2 on its level of runs in a comparison with six other departments in the Toledo area. Few other departments protect a city and a Township, he said.

The demands have increased. Over the past 10 years, runs have gone up 47 percent and the population has increased 9.6 percent, yet Kowalski staff has decreased, he said.

“We’re doing more with less and trying to make it work,” he said.

The response to the levy has been mostly positive with some folks saying the Sylvania Department should go back to being a volunteer department. To that, Kowalski says they wouldn’t have the same level of response time.

“Response time is key to saving lives,” he said. “You have a better chance than anyplace else of being saved in Sylvania and the township. Each engine and truck that leaves the station has all the equipment.”

With the new levy money, Kowalski said he plans to put some firefigthers on full-time status because runs are going up. Since 2007, runs have gone up 2.7 percent every year. Last year, the department had 4,500 incidents with 7000 responses. Responses are the number of vehicles put into service for an incident. Most of the runs — 77 percent — are EMS and the rest are fire.

He wants to replace aging equipment, including radios, a 20-year-old fire truck and an aerial truck in 2020. He said he is setting money aside each year for new vehicles.

“We want to improve our basic life support system,” he said.

Kowalski said the department “did its homework” on the financials of building three new fire stations rather than renovating the old. He said it would have cost twice as much to renovate.

“Organ donation is something you never want to think about,” said Kelly and Monny Yakumithis, whose 6-year-old daughter, Elena, was killed in a car accident in June 2010. “But the hope you can give another family is immeasurable.”

The couple will participate in the inaugural Hero Hustle 5K on Nov. 1 at the Shops at Fallen Timbers in Maumee. The event, presented by Community Tissue Services of Northwest Ohio and Life Connection of Ohio, is designed to strengthen support, education, and recognition of organ, eye, and tissue donation in Northwest Ohio.

The event’s theme is “Be a Hero at Life’s Finish Line” because everyone has the potential to be a hero through organ, eye and tissue donation, said Kara Steele, director of community services at Life Connection of Ohio.

“We are inviting organ, eye and tissue donor families, recipients, living donors, supporters, friends, family, and anyone else in support of donation to participate in the Hero Hustle,” Steele said. “Recipients can walk or run because of the gift of donation they received, and donor family members can participate to honor their loved ones’ generosity. And we invite the community to participate to support the cause.”

The Hero Hustle will begin at 9 a.m., with a Kids’ Fun Run at 8:30 a.m. Kids of all ages are encouraged to wear superhero costumes for the event. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m. Check-in tents will be in the grass across from Rave Cinemas. The route starts near Barnes and Noble and follows the internal roads of Fallen Timbers, and then crosses out onto the bike trail before returning back to Barnes and Noble.Registration is online only until the day of the event (www.davesraces.com). Pre-race online registration is $20, and race-day registration is $25. This fee includes a T-shirt and goodie bag.

Organizers are not looking at the Hero Hustle as a fundraiser, but as a community event to raise awareness.

“We are always striving to increase the number of registered organ, eye, and tissue donors in northwest Ohio,” Steele said. “If there are any proceeds, that money will be put to good use educating the community about the importance of donation.”

According to Steele, more than 123,000 people are currently awaiting life-saving organ transplants in the U.S., including over 3,300 Ohioans.Thirty people die every day waiting for organ transplants because the need far outweighs the supply.One person has the power to save eight lives through organ donation and 50 more through tissue donation.More than 28,000 lives are saved through organ donation every year, and more than one million people benefit from tissue transplants every year.

None of these statistics were on the mind of Kelly and Monny Yakumithis on June 9, 2010, when Kelly was in a car accident with their son, Alex, and their daughter, Elena. Kelly and Alex weren’t hurt, but Elena sustained a traumatic brain injury. After learning their daughter would not recover, it was Monny who brought up organ donation to the doctors.

Kelly’s grandmother had been an organ donor recipient, as was Monny’s uncle; both received kidneys from family members. The Yakumithis family was familiar with organ donation, and both Kelly and Monny are registered donors. Although heartbroken about their daughter, they knew there was a chance Elena could help others.

Elena’s heart could not be donated because she had gone into cardiac arrest twice, but her kidneys and liver were viable. Elena’s kidneys have allowed a 40-year-old father of four to spend more time with his family, and her liver saved the life of a 13-year-old girl.

Kelly and Monny began volunteering at Life Connection of Ohio, which promotes and facilitates organ donation, to honor their daughter. Kelly has participated in Cleveland’s organ donation awareness walk, and she and Monny were happy to hear that Toledo would hold an event. They will walk as a part of Team Elena, which already has over 50 members, including about 15 from the Yakumithis family. They will all wear matching Team Elena T-shirts.

Other Team Elena participants include Elena’s kindergarten teacher and several of her classmates from Wayne Trail Elementary School, which the family finds heartwarming.

“Her classmates were so young when this happened, so we didn’t know how much they would remember about Elena,” Kelly Yakumithis said.

The Maumee High School girls’ cross country team will run the race in Team Elena shirts as well. Kelly said two of her brothers-in-law had signed up for the New York City Marathon that will take place the same day as the Hero Hustle, but if they had known about the local race sooner, they would have participated. Instead, they will wear their Team Elena shirts for the New York race.

Hero Hustle organizers decided to hold the event on Nov. 1 to kick off the month of Thanksgiving because there are countless grateful recipients in northwest Ohio who are here because of selfless gifts of donation.

“When you are faced with the darkest time of your life, the last thing you are thinking about is organ donation,” Yakumithis said. “But to see the lives that Elena has touched is an amazing thing.”

For more information about the Hero Hustle 5K Run/Walk, visit its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/NWOhioHeroHustle5K.

As a cast member on 92.5 KISS FM’s “The Morning Rush,” and husband to 13abc newscaster Shaun Hegarty, Sara Hegarty is used to sharing intimate details of her life with the listening public. But one day last year, she was terrified about the prospect of doing so.

Just a few weeks prior, Sara and Shaun’s son Gabriel had been delivered stillborn.

“I remember directly after having him, wanting to hide in the house for as long as possible and never have to talk about what had happened publicly,” Sara said in an interview with Toledo Free Press. “I hid away for quite a while. And when I felt like I was strong enough to go back to work, I never dreaded going on air as much as I dreaded it that day.”

Now, more than a year later, Sara is sharing her story as part of a drive to help other families who went through what hers did. Throughout October, the Hegartys, along with the March of Dimes Northwest Ohio Division, are holding a drive for Gabriel’s Gowns, a project that provides burial clothes for stillborn children or babies who die shortly after birth.

The idea for the gowns, which are crafted from donated wedding dresses, was inspired by a Texas group whose YouTube account caught Sara’s eye.

“It was one of those viral videos where you just couldn’t open up Facebook or YouTube without seeing it,” she said. “And so I watched it, and I watched it a few times. And then, I went back a week later and I watched it a few more times, and I sent it to people I thought would appreciate it. And one of those people was my husband.

“At night, after the kids would go to bed, I would tell him, ‘I just wish we had something like that here. … I wish we could have it everywhere — every family deserves something that special.’ I kept talking about it and talking about it and he would just listen and look at me. And all of a sudden, it dawned on me that if I wanted it here, I was going to have to do it here.”

Sara began to discuss the idea with Dawn Lyman, the executive director of the Toledo branch of March of Dimes. (Hegarty is on the group’s board of directors.)

“She jumped on it,” Hegarty said. “She had two little boys who died at 21 weeks — twins. And so this project means just as much to her as it does to me. And she said, ‘Of course, let’s do this.’ And so over the summer, she was the one who went out and spoke to the hospitals. And it didn’t take much convincing — the hospitals were ready to go.”

Every donated dress can be crafted into 10-12 burial gowns. ProMedica and Mercy hospital systems will distribute the garments upon their completion, which Hegarty estimates will happen sometime around the new year.

Hegarty said she has been amazed at the outpouring of support, from those who have donated dresses to those who have given their time and expertise to make the gowns.

“I’ve gotten emails upon messages, and emails through Facebook and people have called me to tell me their story. Because they thought, ‘She shared with me her story. I want to tell her my story, of my child.’ Whether they lived for a few hours, or whether they died and were born sleeping, like Gabriel was, they share these very personal stories with me, and I am so honored and touched. This has been more than I ever could have expected.”

The sharing of those stories — and her own — is a big part of what makes this project so important, Hegarty said.

“I can’t remember another time in my life where it felt like Shaun and I were the only two people in the world going through this pain. And in actuality, we’re not. One out of every 160 births is stillborn. That’s one baby every 20 minutes who is born sleeping. I mean, you don’t know that — that emotional time, you think that nobody else will ever feel this pain. So I just want them to know that they’re not alone.”

Dresses can be donated at March of Dimes, 3450 W. Central Ave., Suite 352. Drop-off times are 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays, 8 a.m. to noon Thursdays, or by appointment. For more information, visit gabrielsgowns.org.

The Most Rev. Daniel E. Thomas was installed as the eighth Roman Catholic Bishop of Toledo on Oct. 22, promising to follow the example of devotion to Jesus Christ set by the late pope, St. John Paul II, whose papal inauguration took place 36 years ago that same day.

Daniel E. Thomas was installed as bishop of Toledo during an Oct. 22 ceremony at Rosary Cathedral. Photo by Stephanie Schweller / courtesy Catholic Chronicle“I thought it was magnificent,” Thomas said in an interview with Toledo Free Press the following day. “The whole church was gathered together as one.”

The installation took place inside a filled-to-capacity Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral on Collingwood Boulevard, and was broadcast live on TV, radio and Internet both locally and nationally.

Catholic leaders from across the United States were in attendance, including New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Archbishops Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, and Cincinnati’s Dennis Schnurr were the installing bishops.

Former Toledo Bishop and current Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford and Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, along with Schnurr and Viganò, all concelebrated the Mass, with Thomas serving as the main celebrant.

Installation homily

Thomas, the former auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia, offered the homily and used a chalice and paten his parents gave him upon his 1985 ordination. St. John Paul II used the chalice and paten during a private 1995 Mass in Philadelphia, and Thomas frequently mentioned the former pope in his homily.

Thomas was overcome with emotion and had to pause when speaking about St. John Paul II, who during a Philadelphia visit was found prostrate alone, praying in front of the Eucharist after a long day when most had already retired for the night.

He also delivered a message to Pope Francis, via Viganò:  “Please tell Pope Francis that we love Christ, we love the church and we love him.”

Thomas also thanked his Toledo predecessor, Blair, who is now serving the Diocese of Hartford, Connecticut, as archbishop.

“Thank you archbishop, for 10 years of fidelity, apostolic zeal and witness,” Thomas said. “We are grateful.”

In addressing his fellow priests, Thomas referenced a rectory-owned stained glass window depicting Jesus as the “Good Shepherd,” and offered:

“I love you. I can’t wait to get to know you and I can’t wait for you to get to know me. The task of each bishop, together with the people, is to announce the good news and proclaim Christ. My dear brother priests, I am one with you in the priesthood. I pray that we may always be one in heart and mind in the priesthood.”

Thomas offered similar words of comfort to everyday lay Catholics, hoping to work together for Jesus.

“I love you, and I hope that in your daily lives as husbands and wives, moms and dads, sons and daughters, each day you will live in Christ so that together we might announce the new evangelization,” Thomas said.

The rosary, a popular form of Catholic prayer and meditation long promoted and beloved by previous popes, was also referenced by Thomas.

“To pray the rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his mother,” Thomas said. He also pledged to add a depiction of the relatively newer Luminous Mysteries to the Cathedral; the five mysteries focusing on the public ministry of Jesus were added to the Rosary by St. John Paul II in 2002.

He also specifically addressed the youth and elderly, asking the youth to be his “wings” and the elderly the “roots” of his ministry.

Background

Thomas said he first considered becoming a priest at as young as 7 years old, but the thought of becoming a bishop never entered his mind, even as a young adult.

“Never,” he said. “I certainly thought of being a priest. The one thing that I kept in my heart was being a priest. I answered that call as a senior in high school.”

Thomas was born and raised in Philadelphia, and attended Catholic schools through high school. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and later a licentiate in sacred theology in 1989 from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

He was ordained a priest in Philadelphia in 1985 and served as a parish priest until 1990, when he was assigned to serve the Holy See as an official of the Congregation for Bishops, the section of the Roman Curia that coordinates the selection of candidates for the episcopacy. There he also served as adjunct spiritual director at the Pontifical North American College seminary in Rome.

In 1995 he was named Monsignor by Pope John Paul II, who in 2005 also named him a Prelate of Honor. That same year he returned to Pennsylvania as a parish priest, and in 2006 was ordained auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia.

Thomas has also served on several archdiocesan boards and remains a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, the Ad Hoc Committee on Catechism and the Committee on Divine Worship. He is also a member of the National Advisory Council for the Saint John Vianney Center in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and the Episcopal Advisory Board for the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors.

Impression of Toledo

Bishop Thomas exits Rosary Cathedral Oct. 22 followign his installation eighth bishop. In the foreground is Master of Ceremonies Daniel Demski Flanked by the Knights of Columbus on the steps. Photo and Cover Photo by Scott Grau / Courtesy Catholic Chronicle

The Diocese of Toledo differs from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in many ways, the greatest of which may be the need for a reliable vehicle if Thomas plans to visit the diocese’s 319,907 Catholics as he intends.

In Toledo, he shepherds a flock smaller in size, yet much more widespread.

The Diocese of Toledo measures 8,222 square miles across 19 counties, compared to Philadelphia’s 2,202 square miles in just five densely populated counties; Toledo’s diocesan population is 1,465,561 residents, compared to Philadelphia’s 4,050,793.

Parishes and priests are also easier to come by in America’s fifth-largest city. Toledo has 124 parishes and 159 priests, compared to Philadelphia’s 235 parishes and 523 priests.

Toledo has 58 diocesan elementary schools and 10,778 students; Philadelphia has 128 schools with 45,613 students.

Certainly no two dioceses are the same, but Thomas said he embraces the switch in locale and believes Toledo and Philadelphia are more alike than it first may seem.

“I had an experience of moving to a foreign country,” he said. “Those differences weigh in comparison.”

Once, Thomas said, while having dinner in Italy with his parents and friends, his mother expressed regret for not being able to speak the local language. An Italian friend countered with an assurance that instantly made the world seem smaller: “No, no, we speak the language of love. We are a family of faith.”

A bishop for others

While the new bishop’s primary focus is to serve those who are Catholic, he is in a sense here for all of Northwest Ohio. Thomas said he was sent by Pope Francis to serve the local church — the Toledo Diocese — by caring for those who are Catholic and helping them “to get to heaven.”

But he also hopes to work with other denominations and share in the task of spreading the Gospel.

“For everyone else, [the bishop is] charged to proclaim the Gospel and be the face of Christ,” Thomas said. “My outreach is to every single person. The reality is my task is to treat them all as Christ would treat them.”

As for now, he said he’s excited to have a busy schedule, meet as many people as he can, learn the area and eventually enjoy some of the local sights, including Tony Packo’s, where he has already been asked to sign a hot dog bun.

“The best advice I was given when I came to Toledo was ‘Just be yourself,’” Thomas said. “Be the person God intended you to be.”