The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley Jennifer Griggs of the Randolph County Housing Authority speaks to the Randolph County Commission.

The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley
Jennifer Griggs of the Randolph County Housing Authority speaks to the Randolph County Commission.

ELKINS — A Randolph County Housing Authority official is getting the word out that financial and educational help is available to local residents.

Speaking to the Randolph County Commission during its regular meeting Thursday, Jennifer Griggs, the grants manager for the RCHA, said Community Development Block Grant Cares Act funding is still available for residents in Randolph County who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19.

“We have recently helped two households who were potentially being evicted for a total of $3,746, and we helped two other households with utility assistance for a total of $609.84, so I can tell you we are getting a lot more requests,” Griggs said. “There are still people out there who have been affected by COVID-19 and we can help if they qualify.”

The project, which the RCHA has tabbed as the COVID Housing and Utility Assistance Program, is available to those in Randolph County only. It will be available for those who qualify through December or until the funds run out. It can be up to six month’s worth of assistance.

“We have hired a full-time person to start working on this project specifically and he is doing his training this week and next week,” Griggs said. “After that he is going to start going out into the community and reaching out to landlords, reaching out to apartment complexes to ensure that people know that if there are people who are struggling with rent or mortgage as a result of being directly or indirectly affected by COVID, they could potentially be eligible for some funding.”

For more information on the assistance program, contact the RCHA Covid Housing and Utility Assistance Department at 304-642-1414 or rrhelp@rchawv.org.

Another way the Housing Authority is helping residents in Randolph County is through its Learning Center, which is located on 125 Third Street in Elkins. The center has been open at this location since the end of February.

“We have been really kicking up our learning classes that the public can attend,” Griggs said. “We have a couple more classes happening this April, and on Monday we are actually having Eastern Community and Technical College come in and talk about our Clinical and Medical Assistant Program. This is going to be our first step to having college classes here in the City of Elkins. It will be in August and is for Clinical and Medical Assistant.”

Griggs said anyone attending the classes will be able to earn 10 college credits, and those who successfully complete the course will be able to sit for the National Certification Exams for Phlebotomy, EKG and Medical Assistance.

The center will be offering a Zoom Class on April 21 and a Public Speaking Class on April 29. Those wishing to attend the speaking class are asked to RSVP for the session.

“Our Learning Center is open to the public and we have computers and internet available to them, so if they are looking to search for jobs or if they are needing assistance building a resume, we are here to help them,” Griggs said. “And we also have our ‘Get Ready’ wood manufacturing course that we are still promoting. And we offer a variety of different classes that people can take to enhance their skills.”

For more information on the Learning Center, call 304-940-3966 or go online at RandolphWORC.com.