Dwayne Pielech had a lengthy and successful career with Belmont County when he resigned from his post as director of Job & Family Services in July of 2013.
He started in May of 1999 and ran the county’s largest agency for more than a decade. During that time, Pielech helped oversee the transition of senior programs in the county into the DJFS family. Previously, a private company titled Belmont Senior Services, Inc., was contracted and funded primarily through levy dollars to run said programs.
Now after some time away, Pielech has returned to life as a government employee as he recently took the executive director of senior services position with DJFS.
When asked why he didn’t prefer to try for his old position, Pielech had a simple answer for the reasoning behind his choice.
“Senior services’ budget helps pay for 65 employees and is about $5 million per year,” Pielech said. “Job and Family Services has more than 100 employees and a $200 million annual budget. (SSBC) serves a couple thousand people a day through medical transport, meals on wheels, and at the senior centers. The population you deal with at Job & Family Services is at least triple that.”
Pielech, who also served as a village councilman in Shadyside during that span, previously wanted to get out of the public light for a while, spend more time at home and not face the hectic schedule of trying to manage multiple departments and more than 100 employees.
Whilst back in the private Sector, he obtained his CDL and joined a close friend in helping establish Ohio Valley Waste Systems. That business has established itself, and Pielech found himself ready to get back to work in the public sector.
“Senior services touches a lot of lives from a very important part of the population, and it’s never been as apparent as now how important that job is,” Pielech said, noting the disruption in the lives of the county’s seniors because of the pandemic. “Senior Services fills a vital role. This is a chance to get back in it. I know a lot of the faces from when I was here before.”
Temporary Changes by Necessity
The meal delivery services SSBC provides are one of its more vital missions. Daily the kitchen staff at the main office cooks up a number of meals that are distributed throughout the county. Traditionally, those meals were taken to residents’ homes, or to local senior centers in town and villages throughout the county. Those were the congregate meals senior could enjoy while visiting with friends at the area centers for socialization and entertainment.
Everyone’ favorite coronavirus and subsequent social distancing and gathering rules put a stop to that option. Many of those seniors, however, have elected to also receive their meals at home.
“We’re producing around 1,020 meals a day,” Pielech noted. “But because of the virus, all of the centers are closed. The staff and drivers assigned to some of those (centers) are doing other activities currently. Some are working here in the office, and right now, we’re preparing to ramp back up our medical transportation side.”
Pielech noted that with rules lightening somewhat as governors Mike DeWine in Ohio and Jim Justice in West Virginia work to reopen their respective states, demand for transport will increase.
“Wheeling (Hospital) is going to start allowing elective procedures again,” Pielech said. “And they are the primary provider of (medical) services to our Belmont County seniors. We’ve already started taking calls from people about transportation. We’ll use the same safety precautions that we have been using since this started.”
Pielech noted that transportation for critical routine procedures like kidney dialysis never ceased during the pandemic, but that more elective procedures were curtailed.
He also noted he doesn’t expect the senior centers themselves to open anytime soon as the easing of social distancing will likely be a slow rollback over a number of weeks.
In the Works
Pielech noted that some of the more popular programs put on by the senior centers, like the bus trips that leave from and are sponsored by the Bellaire Senior Center, are on hiatus for now.
But once the centers are able to be reopened, the county’s seniors will be able to return to enjoying the variety of activities and programs they’d grown accustomed to.
Pielech also touched on the farmer’s market voucher program for seniors that should be starting up within the next few weeks. Applications will be available electronically or via the telephone for a program that starts July 1.
“Anyone who meets the within 185 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, which is approximately $22,000 a year for a single individual, will receive a $50 voucher toward the local farmer’s market,” Pielech said. “We’re targeting a tentative start for July 1.”
Pielech has enjoyed his break but admits he’s ready to get to work helping the senior citizens of Belmont County
