03/21/2009

OSU Extension Offers Information, Assistance to Ohioans Facing Unemployment

Writer:

Martha Filipic
filipic.3@cfaes.osu.edu
(614) 292-9833

Source:

Nancy Hudson, OSU Extension
hudson.2@cfaes.osu.edu
(330) 202-3555 ext. 2831

Susan Shockey, OSU Extension, Franklin County
shockey.3@cfaes.osu.edu
(614) 866-6900 ext. 206

Susan Holladay, OSU Extension, Clinton County
holladay.5@osu.edu
(937) 382-0901

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With Ohio's unemployment rate reaching 9.4 percent in February, a 25-year high, Ohio residents can turn to Ohio State University Extension for information and assistance in fine-tuning their money management skills and overcoming other hurdles associated with job loss.

"Many people automatically associate Extension services with agriculture, gardening and 4-H, but we also offer many resources in community development, family finances and other family- and consumer-related areas," said Keith Smith, director of OSU Extension. "In these harsh economic times, Ohioans need Extension more than ever."

Nancy Hudson, family finance specialist with OSU Extension and co-leader of Extension's Healthy Finances Team, said OSU Extension offers many free fact sheets and bulletins on http://ohioline.osu.edu (click on "Home" and scroll through the offerings to download free information). Plus, inexpensive bulletins are available through county offices of OSU Extension and on Extension's online bookstore, http://estore.osu-extension.org/.

In addition, eXtension (pronounced e-X-tension) a national interactive web environment, offers the best research-based resources the nation's land-grant universities offer. Go to http://www.extension.org/pages/Financial_Crisis_and_Individuals for information on a long list of finance-related topics.

One of the resources linked to the eXtension site is the University of Minnesota Extension Web site, http://www.extension.umn.edu/MoneyEveryDay/ which includes a fact sheet on "Adjusting to a Suddenly Reduced Income."

"I often direct people to that site because it takes into account both the financial and the emotional aspects of dealing with a sudden loss of income," Hudson said.

A similar resource Hudson recommends is an eight-page bulletin, Job Loss, from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). Hudson said the publication can help people get through the initial aspects of losing a job and help them move forward -- to download it, go to http://www.smartaboutmoney.org and search for "job loss."

Susan Shockey, OSU Extension educator in Franklin County, encourages Ohio residents to seek information on food budgeting, often available through the Family Nutrition Program and Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program offered through Extension offices.

"Unemployment affects the entire family and the community," Shockey said. "We are emotional, social, physical and mental beings. The lack of money affects all of this."

In southwestern Ohio, five county offices of OSU Extension banded together when DHL announced its closing in late 2008. Extension educators in the five counties most affected by the closure, Clinton, Greene, Fayette, Montgomery and Highland, collaborated to develop resources and educational materials and make these tools available to their communities. Susan Holladay, family and consumer sciences educator for OSU Extension in Clinton County, said the goal was to offer a single gateway to resources to help people cope. The Web site, http://5countysolutions.osu.edu/, offers:

• A link to each county’s social agencies such as food banks, utility assistance, Community Action partnerships, and foreclosure help.
• Tools for financial planning.
• Tips for avoiding scams (e.g., financial predators).
• Tools residents can use, including resume hints and tips; links to family finance resources on Ohioline; links to food preservation information; instructions for making your own "green" (and less expensive) home cleaners, and a home study course on managing your money.

OSU Extension itself going through budget reductions, Smith said. A process is under way to restructure the organization's 88 county offices into nine Extension Education and Research Areas. Under the plan, every county will retain some kind of Extension presence, said Smith, but resources across the organization's four program areas (Agriculture and Natural Resources; Family and Consumer Sciences; Community Development; and 4-H Youth Development) will be shared across county lines within each area to stretch specific programs and expertise across wider geographic areas.

"We understand what people are going through, with fewer resources and more demands than ever," Smith said. "We're undergoing a similar experience within our organization. But by pulling together, we can get through this even stronger."