ELKINS — The Elkins-Randolph County Public Library is currently in the midst of spearheading a Healthy Grandparents Program, coordinated by West Virginia State University, which will run through the month of January.

The program, initially scheduled to begin back in late 2019 but delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, recently offered its first session, which officials deemed a success.

“We actually started the program back in 2019 and had three sessions before COVID shut us down,” Ruth Mitchell, Elkins-Randolph County Public Library assistant director, told The Inter-Mountain. “So recently we began the process of getting it started again and we had our first session back on Oct. 18. The first one went great and we are excited about the remaining ones we have scheduled through January.”

The Healthy Grandparents Program is designed to help grandparents and their families to connect and learn about resources through sessions with community experts on various topics.

“We are trying to help grandparents who are raising children by giving them resources that they can use in their lives,” Mitchell said. “Even after the program ends we are giving them a social worker for three months that will work with them and provide them with additional resources that they can use.”

The sessions are offered on Zoom, with three scheduled for the month of November — Monday, Nov. 1, Nov. 15 and Nov. 29, running from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. each session. In December the sessions will be on the Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, while January’s dates are Jan. 3 and Jan. 10.

“During the next meeting we have the health department talking to them about healthy lifestyles,” Mitchell said. “We have one coming up after that on technology and social media, then one on navigating the school system. Each time we go over different topics to update the grandparents on what’s going on.”

Other topics that will be discussed in upcoming sessions include health literacy, self-care, family relations and response to addiction. Because the library received funding for the program, it is also able to provide resources such as meals and school supplies to participating families.

U.S. Census data for 2019 states that 56.9 percent of grandparents in Randolph County are responsible for their grandchildren. Close to 35,000 children reside in the primary custody of their grandparents in the state of West Virginia.

Moving forward, Randolph County Public Schools will take the lead on the program for families in the county. To participate in a future program, please contact Schell Hopwood at the Randolph County Board of Education office at 304-636-9150 (ext 172).