2 Valley women to be recognized for service

Pincham will be inducted into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame; Chambers will receive an Elder Caregiver Award.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — The Ohio Department of Aging and the Ohio General Assembly will recognize two area women, Edna D. Pincham of Youngstown and Anita Chambers of Struthers, for service to their community.

The ceremonies are Tuesday in Columbus.

Pincham, along with 12 other senior Ohioans, will be inducted into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.

Chambers and 14 other caregivers in the state will be recognized at the 16th annual Elder Caregiver Awards for their dedication and compassion in dealing with older citizens.

Those inducted into the Senior Citizens Hall of Fame embody the productivity and enjoyment that should be a part of every person’s older years, said Barbara E. Riley, director of the Ohio Department of Aging.

“Ms. Pincham has given her heart, her time and her resources to community volunteerism,” the director said.

Pincham is the first woman to be named to a Youngstown mayor’s Cabinet, the first black woman to run for mayor of Youngstown and the first black woman elected to the Youngstown City Board of Education, on which she served for 16 years.

She created the Pincham Initiative Resource Center, a volunteer organization that helps children pass the Ohio Graduation Test and boasts a 99.9 percent graduation rate.

She is a member of Third Baptist Church in Youngstown and was the first black woman to serve as state president of American Baptist Churches and has served on the national board of directors of the denomination.

She has been inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame and received the Elizabeth C. Stanton Award from The National Association of Working Women.

Pincham, 72, described the latest honor as “awesome and totally unexpected. Service should be given freely, and no matter how difficult it is when you are doing it, at the end of the day, it’s a good feeling. It’s also a good feeling when people notice what you do.”

In praising Chambers, Riley noted: “Family members and informal caregivers truly are the backbone of our long-term care system, providing 80 percent of all home care, nationally. In Ohio, informal caregivers voluntarily provide care each year that would cost in excess of $12.1 billion.”

Anita Chambers is one of that cadre of caregivers who also dedicate time to their church and community, Riley said.

Chambers has been a volunteer caregiver in the Mahoning Valley’s Volunteer Service to Seniors Faith in Action program since 2005. Her care recipient, Julie, is 90 years old, lives alone and calls Anita her “gift from God,” Riley said.

“Julie’s family lives hundreds of miles away, so Anita’s visits lessen her loneliness. Every time she visits Julie, Anita tries to make her laugh and help her remember that she is still a part of the world,” Riley said.

Chambers, a retired certified public accountant, said she took Julie grocery shopping, made sure she got her hair done and took her along on trips to do her own errands.

However, Chambers said Julie went to the hospital this week and will not be coming home. Instead, she will be going to a nursing home.

“It makes me sad. I needed Julie as much as she needed me,” said Chambers, who looked after Julie for four years. “We became friends,” she said.

Chambers, a 1952 graduate of Chaney High School, has numerous other volunteer activities, many at her church, Struthers Presbyterian, where she sings in the choir and is treasurer of Eastminster Presbyterian Women. For a number of years, she has been preparing taxes for AARP.

“What a satisfying activity that is. I volunteer with a great group of people, and I kind of like the good feeling that I am worth something. Those people really make you feel appreciated and wanted,” she said.