TRUMBULL COUNTY Group misses deadline to seek training grant

The committee that was supposed to ask for the grant never did.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- As a result of a bureaucratic snafu, a Trumbull County-wide volunteer corps missed out on a grant to train about 100 more volunteers to help during natural disasters.
The county Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, evolved from a committee that formed in the aftermath of 2003 flooding to coordinate the efforts of churches and nonprofit organizations. It was awarded a $20,500 grant last year from the state office of homeland security to train volunteers.
The group has about 50 people still waiting to for training, and it gets about five phone calls a day from people who want to join, said coordinator Ruth Cline.
But it will not get second year funding, because a committee organized through the Trumbull County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management never acted on the grant application.
"It was just a whole snowball of things," said Mike Wilson, who became head of the Citizens' Corps Committee three weeks ago. "It was no one person's fault, it just didn't get done."
About the committee
The committee was formed at the beginning of the year to administer volunteer programs and sign off on grant requests. However, the committee's first chairman resigned and the it never got off the ground, said Linda Beil, head of the county homeland security office and the group's director.
"We never got the attendance," Beil said.
The application to fund further volunteer training was due in June. Beil said she didn't find out the deadline had been missed until last week.
"She could have sent the application down as the director of the Citizens' Corps," Wilson said. "She was just stretched in too many directions, too."
He said that missing the grant may not be much of a loss, because the committee had not established itself to the point where it could really administer a program.
Voted to dissolve
At a meeting Wednesday, the committee voted to dissolve and become part of another board which has been more active.
CERT had planned to use the grant of about $12,000 to train 100 more volunteers. Patrick Cline, who coordinates CERT with Ruth, said it will seek other homeland security funds.
"We will still get things done," he said. "Maybe a different number of things, but we will still get things done."
Training classes for volunteers are being planned in Warren and Howland. Information can be obtained from the CERT office at (330) 392-7928 or the county homeland security office at (330) 675-2666.
siff@vindy.com