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Commission approves $250K for Goodwill project, hears $100K request from Solid Waste Authority
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Kanawha County Commission approved a $250,000 request from Goodwill Industries of the Summit (formerly named Goodwill Industries of the Kanawha Valley) to help implement a work program for individuals in recovery.
The request, financed by monies from the county’s allotment of opioid settlement funds, will help bring a new education and work-based training program to the Kanawha Valley. The program will benefit up to 55 Kanawha Countians, Goodwill representatives said. It will be modeled after a similar program in Wood County, which officials said had an 81 percent success rate.
Danial Gum, Vice President of Mission Advancement for Goodwill Industries of the Summit, told commissioners on Tuesday that individuals in recovery often face barriers to employment, including with transportation and other basic needs. He said these individuals may also be “taken advantage of” when reentering the workforce.
To help overcome these barriers, Goodwill wants to implement a paid education and employment training program for people in recovery.
“[In the new program], they will have a 75 percent work component, as well as a 25 percent education component,” Gum said. “We will do a series of services with them, including self-advocacy, soft skills, and worker rights.”
After two weeks of soft skills education and 16 weeks of on-the-job paid employment training, enrolled participants will be ready to reenter the workforce.
“The goal is to move them on to full-time employment long-term with a living wage,” Gum said.
Even after training, Gum told commissioners, the participants would still benefit from Goodwill services.
“Employment is not the end for these individuals,” he noted. “We follow them for 120 days after their employment placement, so we know if there’s any barriers that they’re going to face during that time, that we are continuing to make those impacts.”
Commissioners voiced their approval for such a program.
“We talk a lot about treatment,” Kanawha County Commission President Lance Wheeler said. “I think there’s a full circle to this.”
Wheeler said while a lot of emphasis is placed on the therapeutic aspects of recovery, those recovering from addiction often receive little assistance with overcoming other barriers that prevent them from returning to the workforce.
“They [people in recovery] are going to have those barriers, but they’re trying to get back on their feet,” Wheeler said. “This program is helping those individuals coming out of addiction, working with them and getting those resources so that they stay clean, keep a job, and also provide for themselves and others.”
Officials with Goodwill said they’ve already raised more than $300,000 to start the new employment program in the county. The funds awarded by commissioners would be the “last money in” and helps to round out the monies needed to implement the program.
The $250,000 request was unanimously approved by all three commissioners.
Solid Waste Authority request
Also on Tuesday, the panel heard a request from the county’s Solid Waste Authority (KCSWA) for $100,000 in funds to help the agency build a new recycling facility on Slack Street.
Currently, KCSWA rents a 2,800-square-foot building in Sissonville to house a bailer and process recycling waste. Executive Director David Armstrong told commissioners the building costs the agency $300,000 to rent.
“With the landfill getting ready to close [in September 2025], there’s a possibility we’re going to lose our 50-cent assessment fee, which would be close to 33 percent of our budget, roughly $100,000,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong said he previously sent stakeholders a letter announcing the upcoming closure of the Charleston landfill, which is nearing capacity. Beginning in the fall of 2025, county trash will be packaged and sent to a landfill in Hurricane, he said.
That loss of the landfill -- and the subsequent 33 percent drop in the agency's budget -- means KCSWA would no longer be able to afford the monthly rent on the Sissonville bailer property. That, in turn, could lead to the discontinuation of the county’s recycling program.
To ensure the program’s continuation, KCSWA officials are looking to build a new facility in Charleston to house the recycling program and its bailer.
“Our goal is to get back to Slack Street,” Armstrong said.
A recycling building was previously housed on a property on Slack Street before the facility was demolished in the spring of 2015.
Building a new recycling center would also benefit workers, Armstrong said. Currently, there is no running water at the Sissonsville site, and employees are forced to use portable bathrooms, he said.
“The amenities are a little better [on Slack Street],” Armstrong said.
The KCSWA has already secured a $150,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection to build the new building, commissioners were told Tuesday, and construction bids have been sought.
The $100,000 KCSWA requested from the commission would guarantee all necessary funding for the building project, Armstrong said.
On Tuesday, commissioners recommended the KCSWA apply for an American Rescue Plan grant through the county for the project. The panel said the request would be added as an agenda item on the commission’s October 16 agenda.
Other business
Also on Thursday, commissioners:
- Issued a Proclamation honoring October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month;
- Approved the hiring of L. Thompson Price, a Charleston attorney in practice for 30 years, as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney;
- Swore in Jamie Robert Hurd as a deputy sheriff with the county sheriff’s department; and
- Approved $266,287.65 worth of purchase orders, among other item.
The next regularly scheduled Kanawha County Commission meeting is set for 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024.
Michael Ramsburg is a Kanawha County communities reporter. He can be reached at ramsburgreports@gmail.com or by calling 304-370-3067.
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