About AOoA

Board of Directors

Chairman: Rev. Barbie Harrison
Vice Chairman: Jim Fails
Treasurer: Lewis Hilkert
Secretary: Alex Catchings

Background

The Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio, Inc. was founded in 1974 by the Community Planning Council of Northwestern Ohio, Inc., a United Way planning agency. The Area Office on Aging was initially established to operate as a planning division within that agency. In 1979, the staff approached the Board of Trustees of United Way, Community Planning Council, and Ohio Commission on Aging, aka, the Ohio Department on Aging, and requested permission to organize a free-standing, independent, private, non-profit corporation to better serve Northwestern Ohio's older adult population. Approval was granted by all parties and the original organizers of the new corporation were: Henry L. Morse, J. Frank Troy, Elliott Miller, Duane Stranahan Jr., and Billie Johnson.

In 1980, the agency was chartered under Ohio law as a 501(c)(3) corporation. The corporation was established as a comprehensive agency for older adults, responsible for planning, policy-making, funding, advocacy, and programs and services for a ten-county region in northwestern Ohio. This northwest Ohio area includes Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Sandusky, Williams, and Wood counties. This is a 4,928 square mile service area. There are 218,585 older northwest Ohioans residing in this service area. Of these older adults, 72% live in an urban area and 28% live in a rural area.

The corporation was not exclusively chartered as an "area agency on aging". Instead, it requested and received approval to retain the "area agency" designation previously granted by the Ohio Commission on Aging/Ohio Department of Aging but expanded to include a broader mission of service to all older persons, not just the targeted groups under the Older Americans Act.

The Area Office on Aging is responsible at the local level, for the development and implementation of a comprehensive and coordinated service delivery system for older adults residing in northwestern Ohio. It is also responsible for regional and local planning and development of programs and services. In carrying out its mission, the Agency is responsible for the following activities, as set forth under its Charter and Articles of Incorporation:

• Providing advocacy on behalf of older adults;
• Empowering older adults to realize their fullest potential;
• Coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating all senior programs and services;

• Serving as the focal point for leadership for regional planning and service development for programs on aging;
• Developing and maintaining a comprehensive and coordinated system of services for older adults in Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Sandusky, Williams and Wood Counties;
• Providing direct services to older adults in areas where services are needed, and not available;
• Developing and implementing a plan, approved by the Ohio Commission on aging (or its successor under the Older Americans Act);
• Granting or contracting funds and resources to qualified, non-profit, private or public agencies to operate services and programs for older adults; and,
• Seeking other grants and resources to enhance the quality of life for older adults.

Annual Reports

2023 ANNUAL REPORT

2022 ANNUAL REPORT

Defiance County

Fulton County

Lucas County

Paulding County

Williams County