Mayor Smith emphasized the importance of collaboration in meeting residents’ needs. “So one of the things that I heard today is that if an individual signs up that lives near to Apollo, then they're referred to Apollo, but if they live near Lima City Schools, they're referred to Lima City Schools. And so it's important to have different on-ramps for services in our communities, for individuals,” she said.
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"This NRSA tool allows communities to carve out a boundary or an area and say, well, as long as this boundary and area qualifies under HUD terms, we no longer have to certify each individual project, each individual person, and ultimately, it allows us to do the revitalization work faster.” said Mayor Smith.
"It's important to keep ongoing dialog between our counterparts and county government,” said Lima Mayor Sharetta Smith. “As we said before, our residents don't know, you know, when the city stops and the county line starts. And so being able to come together in these joint meetings, discuss issues that are of concern to our residents, but also to celebrate successes that we've been able to have together is very important."
Even though Allen County and the City of Lima are separate governments, they collaborate in a lot of areas. Through numerous meetings and projects, the county and the city find ways to continue the positive momentum of this region. They meet and talk regularly to discuss projects like the Riverfront One building that the city owns and is working with the county to get Brownfield money to help revitalize the property. Lima and Allen County officials continue to work to help the residents that they serve.
The Junior Historian program is a collaboration of the elementary school and the Cridersville Historical Society, Starting with six students the program ended with 16 students wanting to take time and learn about the history of the area from the Shawnee Indians, to the pioneers, and how Cridersville became a village. The students enjoyed the hands-on learning that the Junior Historian program provided.
On Thursday, Blanchard Valley Health System (BVHS) and the University of Findlay (UF) announced a new collaborative effort to ensure excellence in healthcare services from well-prepared professionals for families in the region. The effort will aim to encourage more students from Northwest Ohio to consider healthcare majors, as well as retain them for local employment. The health system and university say they will achieve this by providing opportunities for students for more clinical experiences at numerous BVHS facilities. The plan includes the utilization of a simulation laboratory, located on the main campus of the hospital.