Trumbull officials moving meals program to four SCOPE sites

Staff report

WARREN

The Trumbull County commissioners are hoping to save money and offer older county residents more activities by moving a meals program to four new locations where no rent will be charged.

Effective Jan. 3, the county’s Office of Elderly Affairs will no longer offer its Nutrition Program for the Elderly at sites in West Farmington, Newton Falls, Johnston Township and Kinsman Township.

Instead, it will move those programs to the SCOPE centers in Cortland, Howland, Lordstown and Warren.

One reason for moving the meals program to the SCOPE centers is that the SCOPE centers will allow the county to run the meal programs from those sites rent-free, Commissioner Dan Polivka said.

Three other sites will continue to operate the meals program. They are the Girard Multi-Generational Center, Hubbard Senior Center and Robert A. Morrison Village on Burton Street in Warren.

By encouraging people to visit the four SCOPE centers, the elderly will be exposed to more activities because the SCOPE centers offer more activities than existing meal sites, Polivka said.

Brandi Greenwood, manager of nutrition services for the Office of Elderly Affairs, said another reason for moving the meals programs from some of the existing sites is that there is a low usage at some of them.

Greenwood said the Office of Elderly Affairs will be changing its name to the Trumbull County Senior Nutrition Program in a couple of weeks because the office’s only focus now is nutrition.