Delaware

Legislators, officials tour Springboard Village

Published

10 months ago

February 17, 2024

Legislators, officials tour Springboard Village

The Delaware League of Local Governments hosted a tour of the Springboard Collaborative Pallet Village for legislators and town officials Feb. 9.

The resounding message of partners in the collaborative was the need for operational funds for day-to-day expenses for the homeless shelter with 40 cabins in Georgetown.

Judson Malone of Georgetown, Springboard co-founder and executive director, said the village continues to receive some additional funding and donations, but a more sustainable funding source is needed.

“In the long term, we are asking the state to work with us and fund operations going forward,” he said.

Malone led the tour and talked about how the village came to fruition and what is planned for the future.

Start-up funding

Springboard used $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds from the Town of Georgetown to purchase the cabins. Malone said they were pre-approved for $998,000 in state ARPA Community Reinvestment Funds.

“But we had to get final approval from the U.S. Treasury, and the funds were just recently released,” he said.

Those funds will be used to build a new village community center.

A grant of $800,000 from the Longwood Foundation funded initial operating costs.

The collaborative also received $365,000 for construction costs from Preston Schell, Discover, Del-One Federal Credit Union and the Crystal Trust.

Volunteers painted each of the cabins, and several companies have provided in-kind work.

About the village

The village now has a temporary food preparation building as plans for a community center begin to take shape. The center will include a commercial kitchen, multipurpose room, classrooms, a computer lab and offices. Springboard is in the process of soliciting bids for the project.

Each self-contained shelter has its own microwave and mini-refrigerator. The day’s main meal is provided by volunteers and staff. A free store is open daily to residents.

Malone said wellness checks are conducted at least once each day, and there are at least two staff members on site at all times.

“This is a gated community. We do allow visitors, but they can’t go in the cabins,” he said.

A lot has happened over the past few months at the village. Several new prefabricated buildings have been added to provide office space for case workers and staff, a pantry, a classroom and storage.

The village has been open just over a year and has been filled to capacity every day. Malone said mostly single people live in the 40 cottages, which are on land owned by First State Community Action Agency.

Springboard pays $1,200 per month to lease the property from First State.

The cost per individual per day is about $73, which includes a private cabin, around-the-clock supervision, comprehensive care coordination and meals. Residents have access to financial training, gardening, health services and referrals.

Each cabin has electricity with heating and air conditioning. The village has bathrooms and showers for residents.

Officials on the tour

Government officials attending the tour were Sen. Russ Huxtable, D-Lewes; Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown; Rep. Jeff Hilovsky, R-Millsboro; Rep. Sophie Phillips, D-Bear; Rep. Valerie Jones Giltner, R-Georgetown; Georgetown Mayor Bill West; Milford Mayor Archie Campbell; Georgetown Police Chief Ralph Holm; and Georgetown Town Manager Gene Dvornick.

Delaware League of Local Governments Executive Director Kevin Spence coordinated the tour.

Goal is a hand up

Jeff Ronald, co-founder and board member, said it’s not only a moral duty to help those in need, but also makes good business sense.

“It’s smart to empower people who can now live in a dignified dwelling and receive wrap-around services. Our goal is to provide a hand up to help people lead successful lives,” he said.

And, he said, the program is working. He talked about people who were living in the woods who are now working to become professional chefs and trade workers.

Randall “R.L.” Hughes of Millsboro, who is Springboard Collaborative president, said for years he was looking and not seeing what was really happening in his community. Now, he said, he understands the reality of the homeless situation.

“If we do what we have always done, we should expect nothing new,” he said, referring to the village. “This is not a panacea, but we can fix one or two things and try to do better the next day.”

Hughes is a retired Delaware State Police trooper, former Georgetown chief of police, and worked at the Delaware Department of Safety & Homeland Security. He is currently Beebe Healthcare emergency management coordinator.

Dvornick played a key role in making the dream a reality.

“This is one solution to a very complicated problem. There is not reason we couldn’t have villages in other towns,” he said.

Holm said the homeless problem is not new; it’s something he has watched increase over the past 25 years. He said the village allows people to think about living and not just surviving day to day.

“I wish there were more of these villages because, at the end of the day, the homeless problem is not going away,” he said.

He said there are still people living in the woods around Georgetown.

West, who has been a strong supporter of the village and is now a board member, said, “We have to do what is right for people, and here we have a great success,” he said.

West, who visits the village frequently, said he was speaking with one resident recently who has saved enough money to look for his own place.

“There is no security in the woods. Their lives are unstable. They are happy to be here,” he added.

Residents are getting support

Of the 58 people who have left the village: 15 are permanently housed; 34 have been referred to medical providers; 33 to mental health treatment; 32 to substance abuse programs; 14 are employed and nine receive benefits; and another 25 have received financial training.

The majority of residents are male, aged 25 to 59, with 14 residents over 60 years of age.

So far, case workers have helped residents receive 15 birth certificates, 41 identification cards and seven Social Security cards.

Springboard Collaborative, based in Wilmington, is a nonprofit building dignified dwellings and communities that foster well-being for Delawareans in greatest need – those experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity and economic hardship – concurrently connecting compromised populations with community resources to build a better life.

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Delaware

These new health care laws are coming to Pa., N.J. and Del. in 2025

Published

14 minutes ago

December 16, 2024

Press Room

These new health care laws are coming to Pa., N.J. and Del. in 2025

Abortion insurance coverage

A new law requires most private health insurance plans, state-regulated plans and Delaware’s Medicaid insurance program to cover abortions and related health care.

Health insurers are required to cover up to $750 for abortion services, which state lawmakers said should fully cover the cost of care for most patients.

There is an exemption for churches, religious businesses and employers to seek a waiver from the new requirements.

Insurance coverage for abortion begins Jan. 1 for people enrolled in Medicaid. Coverage for people with other types of health insurance plans will begin the following year, on Jan. 1, 2026.

New Jersey

Medical debt consumer protections

Parts of the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act already took effect this past summer, and more consumer protections are scheduled to kick in this coming July.

Right now, people in New Jersey who have unpaid bills and debt from hospital stays, health procedures and other kinds of care will not see their credit scores impacted as they figure out how to pay off their debt or dispute charges.

“Medical debt is incurred involuntarily, and it can result in exponential economic harms,” said Laura Waddell, health care program director at New Jersey Citizen Action. “So it wasn’t like, ‘Should we work on this?’ It was, ‘We have to work on this.’”

Debt collectors can no longer report a person’s medical debt to credit bureaus and agencies, which determine a person’s credit score. If someone’s score drops because of their medical debt, they may find it more difficult to secure a car loan, get approved for an apartment rental, apply for credit cards and even get a job.

If a bill collector does report a person’s medical debt to a credit bureau or agency in violation of the new state law, the amount of debt that is reported is voided, meaning, the patient will no longer have to pay it.

Beginning this July, all notices to patients about medical debt and billing must also notify them of their rights and new consumer protections. Interest on medical debt will be capped at 3% and debt collectors will be banned from using wage garnishment — when a portion of a person’s paycheck is withheld to pay off debt — for people earning up to 600% of the Federal Poverty Level, which is about $90,360 a year for a single person, or $187,200 for a family of four.

Waddell said the new consumer protections may not apply to people who are using medical credit cards to pay for services, copays and other charges (these are different from debit cards used for Health Savings Accounts).

Efforts to reduce the burdens of medical debt and regulate collection practices even more is ongoing, Waddell said.

“In the coming year, we want to try to bring more protections so that these aggressive debt collection practices, really try and curb some of those,” she said.

Postpartum health care planning

Later this spring, health care providers will be required to make a care plan with pregnant patients and new mothers for the postpartum period, which is a time after when women can experience complications after labor and delivery.

These postpartum care plans must include the review of future health care appointments; recommended testing or procedures for any ongoing health issues; guidance on the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression, anxiety and other mental health needs; breastfeeding support services; contraception options; and recommendations for other common postpartum health issues.

Plans and guidance must also be offered to patients who’ve experienced stillbirth and pregnancy loss.

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Delaware

Delmarva Power redesigns its bills | Delaware LIVE News

Published

8 hours ago

December 15, 2024

Press Room

Delmarva Power redesigns its bills | Delaware LIVE News

Delmarva Power redesigned bill

Delmarva Power has reformatted its bills to make them easier to understand.

The new design started in November for all of the utility’s hundreds of thousands of residential and commercial customers in Delaware.

Zach Chizar, a senior communications specialist, said the redesign is based on feedback from customer focus groups. “It’s all about how to understand the bill better, in a visual approach,” he said.

The most dramatic addition, at the top right of the first page, is a colorful ring-shaped chart that splits the bill into delivery, electric supply, and (if used) gas supply.

Delmarva, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Exelon, the nation’s largest utility company, is only in the delivery business and does not generate power, he noted.

Some text on the top left of the first page adds a new breakdown of the monthly charges: total delivery, electric delivery, gas delivery, electric supply, and gas supply. By contrast, the old bill only listed electric and gas charges.

The amount due, below these breakdowns, is in more prominent type.

The new bill drops the bar charts covering daily electricity and gas usage. It refers customers to the utility’s website, where they can already see usage broken down by the hour for their account.

The sample bill that Delmarva posts on its website runs four pages, down from a typical five for an electric and gas customer.

In another customer-friendly move, Delmarva recently opened its call centers on Saturday mornings to handle the number of calls it gets. “No one enjoys being on hold,” Chizar said.

(A helpful landing page titled “Understanding my bill” might answer questions.)

The new design generated some grumbling on social media. “They always just add extra charges and make it too confusing to figure out,” one post complained.

There are no new charges and no delivery rate increases involved now, Chizar said, noting that the cost of gas and electricity varies.

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Delaware

Which Kent County restaurants had the most violations in the past 30 days?

Published

15 hours ago

December 15, 2024

Press Room

Which Kent County restaurants had the most violations in the past 30 days?

Is your favorite Kent County restaurant or food establishment among the places with the most health and food safety guideline violations in the past 30 days as of Dec. 15?

See the chart below to find out. At the top of the chart is Bangkok Thai Cuisine with 12 violations on Nov. 26.

Or see how well food establishments in all three Delaware counties are complying with regulations by searching Delaware Online/The News Journal’s restaurant inspection database.

Restaurants, food trucks, church kitchens, grocery stores, delis, concession stands, ice cream parlors, pizzerias, schools, hospitals, bakeries, fitness centers, hotels, and golf clubs are among the more than 3,500 permitted Delaware food establishments that prepare and serve food to the public and are included in the database.

The database is updated using information from the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. Most places are inspected twice per year, using the State of Delaware Food Code, a science-based regulation similar to the national model from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The database is meant to be a tool for consumers to be informed, however, it is only one measurement of a food establishment’s operations and does not provide a full picture of any business’s overall standards or offerings.

If you have questions regarding a food inspection report, whether currently reported or for a prior reporting period, please contact the Office of Food Protection at 302-744-4546.

🔗 Bookmark data.delawareonline.com/restaurant-inspections to always find the latest reports.

Previous Delaware food establishment inspection reports

Which food establishments had the most violations during previous 30-day periods? Click on the links below to find out.

New Castle County for periods ending: Dec. 1, 2024 ∎ Oct. 27, 2024 ∎ July 29, 2024 ∎ June 30, 2024 ∎ April 20, 2024 ∎ March 2, 2024 ∎ Feb. 3, 2024 ∎ Jan. 6, 2024

Kent County for periods ending: Nov. 17, 2024 ∎ Sept. 9, 2024 ∎ July 27, 2024 ∎ June 28, 2024 ∎ March 9, 2024 ∎ Feb. 10, 2024 ∎ Jan. 13, 2024 ∎ Dec. 9, 2023

Sussex County for periods ending: Nov. 24, 2024 ∎ Oct. 7, 2024 ∎ July 28, 2024 June 29, 2024 ∎ April 13, 2024 ∎ Feb. 17, 2024 ∎ Jan. 21, 2024 ∎ Dec. 16, 2023