Meet Aging Lead Melissa Kimmel

January 12, 2022

Melissa Kimmel began her work with the OHIO Alliance for Population Health in October 2019. Prior to joining the Alliance, Melissa worked primarily in non-profits proving social services in roles ranging from Case Manager to Executive Director. In each of these positions, she encountered grandparents raising their grandchildren and saw the challenges these families faced every day. In addition, while working in the community with families, Melissa took note of the anti-aging sentiment pervasive in our society and worked to help change the narrative around older adults. 

During her work in the community, Melissa noticed that knowledge about regional resources was largely lacking, and that was especially true about services and programs for older adults. In order to begin to address this problem, Melissa created the Southeastern Ohio Older Adult Coalition, a regional group of providers and leaders in aging focused on the challenges of Southeastern Ohio. The Coalition has identified regional needs.   

Recently, Melissa utilized her grant and collaboration experience to assist the Jackson County Health Department in applying for an opportunity with the CDC to utilize Community Health Workers to promote COVID-19 resilience in eleven Appalachian Counties. The Jackson County Health Department, in partnership with Ohio University, was awarded $4.5 million over a three-year span.  Melissa is looking forward to working with the JCHD on this project.