WARREN — The United Way of Trumbull County will be moving its offices to downtown Warren later in the summer.

Ginny Pasha, president of United Way of Trumbull County, said plans are to move to a commercial building off Harmon Avenue NW near the Family Fitness Center and Monroe Street NW.

The current offices have been located for many years off U.S. Route 422.

Pasha said the current building is 6,400 square feet and not only holds the offices but also a food pantry. She said during the coronavirus pandemic the food pantry was closed.

“Our current building is bigger than we need. We no longer have the food pantry but work with partner agencies that provide food to those in need,” Pasha said.

She said the new location was found and is ideal for what the United Way wants, with more of a presence downtown — like the offices once were in the 1980s and 1990s off Washington Street NE

Pasha said negotiations are currently underway on cost for the building.

“It is more in a central downtown Warren location. The building became available and is what works for us,” she said.

Harmon Avenue is a one-way street, and while it will not have the traffic of Route 422, the street is used by many in the downtown area.

A grand opening and placing of a sign at the location are planned for later this summer.

A RECAP

At the recent annual meeting attended by more than 170 guests, Pasha highlighted some of the work done by United Way in 2021.

Because of the jobs coming into Trumbull County, Pasha said that United Way of Trumbull County is exploring ways of supporting those companies through workforce development and job retention.

This year’s event was sponsored by the Cafaro Foundation, Paige & Byrnes Insurance and Potential Development.

Pasha provided a forecast of 2022 activities and changes that included announcing that Sallie Daugherty, the finance director for United Way of Trumbull County, will retire after 40 years of service.

Daugherty was surprised by being awarded a proclamation by Warren Safety Service Director Eddie Colbert for her devoted service to the community.

Pasha introduced Laureen Atkins of the Literacy Cooperative as the keynote speaker who shared research indicating 63 percent of adults in Trumbull County are not at a proficient reading level and 39 percent of kindergarteners are not on track to read at grade level. She went on to connect the importance of early literacy to adult literacy to workforce development and economic development.