Warren County Community Services gives annual update, commissioners proclaim May 2025 Community Action Month

Dawn Fogarty, chief executive officer of Warren County Community Services (WCCS), gave an annual update to the Warren County Board of Commissioners and the board issued a proclamation designating May 2025 as Community Action Month in Warren County.

Fogarty described WCCS’s core programs—Head Start and early learning, community assistance (including HEAP), senior nutrition and Meals on Wheels, transportation, affordable housing ownership and management, adult literacy (branded as Literacy Connections) and AmeriCorps RSVP volunteer placements. She said WCCS served nearly 10,000 households in the last year, delivered about 375,000 meals (roughly 10,000 more than the prior year), and has a homebound caseload of about 2,730 older adults who receive care coordination and services.

WCCS described recent capital and program work: completion of a LIHTC rehabilitation at Springboro Commons and a near‑completion rehab at Sherman Glen in Franklin (scheduled finish in July), an ongoing effort to develop new 55+ apartments with a development partner (CBRE-related) near Colony Woods, and administration of county ERAP rental-assistance funds under agreement with county human services. Fogarty said WCCS started a nutrition program called Our Table and that its early learning centers served 447 children (260 in Head Start and 187 in Early Head Start/child-care partnerships); she told commissioners 92% of children served in those programs came from families at or below the federal poverty threshold, and that WCCS supported 59 foster children and 30 homeless children last year.

Fogarty summarized a community needs assessment WCCS completed in late 2023: 688 survey responses, focus groups and ranking of highest needs as housing, employment/workforce support, food and nutrition, health, children and youth services and education. She said WCCS submitted a Community Services Block Grant application guided by that assessment and that WCCS underwent the required organizational self-assessment for designation as the county’s Community Action Agency (scoring about 88% on the agency standards cited).

Commissioners asked for more granular data on homelessness and related service needs. The WCCS CEO said that WCCS served about 30 homeless families in its early-learning programs in the most recent program year and that the agency’s approach is a time-limited, wraparound model intended to stabilize families and reduce repeat use; she agreed to provide follow-up metrics about lengths of homelessness and service trajectories. Commissioners said they preferred clearer breakdowns that distinguish renters and other housing choices from those who are actually unhoused.

Commissioners thanked WCCS for its work, accepted the presentation and signed the proclamation. Quotes in this article come from Dawn Fogarty during the WCCS presentation and from board members during the proclamation and follow-up discussion.