Commissioners Corner 

 Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine appoints Com-missioner, DeAnna Hol-liday to the Governor’s Council on Juvenile Jus-tice. 

On March 19, 2021, Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine’s office announced 22 new appointments to his list of State Committee’s. Law-rence County Ohio Com-missioner, DeAnna Hol-liday was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Juvenile Justice. Commis-sioner Holliday will serve a two year term (March 19, 2021 – October 31, 2023) The federal Office of Juve-nile Justice and Delinquen-cy Prevention (OJJDP) provides annual Title II Formula Grant funding to Ohio to assist the state in  preventing and reducing delinquency as well as address juvenile crime. DYS awards this funding, through a competitive pro-cess, to community-based youth-serving agencies to provide direct services to youth. Programs selected for funding must intend to prevent or reduce delin-quency and must promote positive youth develop-ment. DYS is the agency responsible for managing the Title II Formula Grant. As such, the agency must ensure that Ohio complies with requirements outlined in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (OJJDP) and amended by the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018. 

 Project First Impression

You may have heard … 

“You never get a second chance to make a  first impression.” 

There is so much truth in such a simple statement. 

Support and collaboration from Elected County Offi-cials, Township Trustees, City/Village Mayors, Council Members, Community Service Crews, Civic & Faith Based Organizations, Schools & Volunteers provide an opportunity to make Lawrence County shine! 

It is our civic duty to clean, beautify and promote safe and welcoming neighborhoods for families & businesses. 

We are calling on you to help make a positive statement. Take pride & join our team! 

For more information on how you can be part of this exciting effort & opportunity call (740) 533-4300, please reference Project First Impression 

Easter 2021

Easter weekend begins April 2nd with Good Friday. For Christians, it’s the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life. For others, this time of year is a reminder of renewal and represents the pivot from winter to true Spring as the foliage begins to gain color. 

The holiday is a good time for families and friends to gather, and share a meal. Children anxiously await the arrival of the Easter bunny and look forward to coloring and hunting Easter eggs. It is a joyous occasion for young and old. 

Easter is also the time for reflection. It is a great time to get priorities in order and begin living by principles that matter. It is a time of renewal in both hope and faith. 

Whether traveling near or far, staying at home or taking a break from our daily lives, we want to wish you a happy and safe holiday weekend. 

Community Spotlight… Hometown Love

In 2019 a group of volunteers came together with the hope to be part of the solution to en-hance, beautify, and unveil the charming small town of Chesapeake, Ohio. 

Over the past two years Hometown Love, along with local businesses have helped with litter control, restored historical buildings, hung boulevard banners, created beautiful flower pot groupings, cleaned the stone bases and painted the light pots on the Symmes Creek Bridge, among many other projects. 

Hometown Love, Chesapeake encourages other villages, towns, and townships throughout Lawrence County to organize their own Hometown Love groups, there is no better compli-ment than to recognize the groups work & gain enthusiasm to do the same wherever you call HOME! 

Whether you bleed Green, Purple, Red, Orange, Black or Blue, Hometown Love is something we can all do! 

Health & Wellness

Preventative care focuses on maintaining your health and es-tablishing your baseline health status. This may include immun-izations, vaccines, physical evalu-ations, lab work, and medically appropriate health screenings. Preventive screenings are deter-mined based on factors such as age, gender, overall health status, personal/family health history and current symptoms. Maintain-ing or improving your health is important. Routine checkups and screenings can help you avoid serious health problems, and help you reach your personal and well-ness goals. 

For information regarding the Lawrence County Employee Health & Wellness program, please contact Summer Riley, program coordinator at (740) 533-4300.

Lawrence County Health Department COVID Report

MYTH BUSTERS:

COVID-19 vaccines aren’t safe… 

FACT-safety has been a top priority throughout the vaccine development and approval process. All vac-cines were proven to be effective at preventing seri-ous illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. 

COVID-19 vaccines will be mandatory for every Ohioian… 

FACT-The state of Ohio will NOT require anyone to get the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Once I get a vaccine, I can stop wearing a mask and social distancing… 

FACT-You should continue to wear a mask and practice social distancing after being vaccinated, it is not known if individuals can carry and spread the virus to others. 

The Lawrence County Health Department encourages residents to visit the new state website to register for the vaccine. gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov 

Georgia Dillon, Lawrence County Health Commissioner would like to encourage each resident to consider getting vaccinated. Presently, Lawrence County is approximately at 18% vac-cination rate, those numbers are in-creasing each week. The Health De-partment offers walk-in clinics, in addi-tion to appointments. Please follow social media and news media for infor-mation on vaccination sites/times. 

International Children’s Book Day

ICBD is celebrated each year on or around April 2, Danish author and poet Hans Christian Anderson’s birth-day. 

The purpose of the day is to recognize the power of reading and the role books play in the development and education of children. The day aims to inspire the love of reading among chil-dren. 

Books set the tone for imaginations and bring comfort to children. 

HOW TO CELEBRATE:

Register children in your life to receive a FREE book by mail each month through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library pro-gram. imaginationlibrary.com 

Go to the library & check out some pop-ular children’s book. 

Encourage the children in your life to read & write their own tales. 

Attend a storytelling workshop.