ValleyConnect to Transform How the Mahoning Valley Connects People to Care, Resources, and Opportunity

YOUNGSTOWN— Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries and regional partners will launch ValleyConnect on Oct. 27, creating a shared network to help organizations across Mahoning and Trumbull counties strengthen pathways and better connect individuals and families to resources and opportunities.

Powered by Unite Us, ValleyConnect is a regional Social Information Exchange Network connecting partners across healthcare, behavioral health, human services, workforce development, education, government, and other sectors through a secure, closed-loop referral platform.

A core initiative of the Assembly for Workforce Solutions (AWS), ValleyConnect has grown through collaboration with regional coalitions, organizations, and community partners. Its purpose is not to reinvent the wheel or duplicate the tremendous work already happening throughout the Valley. Instead, it creates stronger pathways between existing resources.

For example, someone seeking behavioral health or food assistance may also need employment. Through a more connected network, that person can be linked not only to immediate supports but also to workforce partners such as OhioMeansJobs, which already serves as a door to many doors for employment, training, and other opportunities. ValleyConnect helps connect those doors and creates a clearer pathway for addressing the whole picture of what someone may need to move forward.

“ValleyConnect is really about how we move forward together as a Valley,” said Carol Holmes-Chambers, Vice President of Community and Workforce Development at Goodwill. “We already have tremendous resources, expertise, and organizations doing this work. Our opportunity is to create stronger pathways between them — making connections easier for people, helping partners work across systems, and creating a more coordinated way for our community to respond to what people need.”

That potential extends across sectors.

“For helping families find child care that meets their needs and quickly connect them to multiple resources, a connected system makes a real difference,” said Maria Smaldino-Spencer, Director of Early Care and Education Services at the Early Childhood Resource Center. “Our experience with Unite Us in other counties shows how simple and effective it is, and ValleyConnect brings that same strength to families in the Valley by providing faster referrals, clearer pathways, and a more coordinated network of support.”

Theresa Berkenyi, BA, QMHS, CWIP, Workforce Development Director, sees similar potential across behavioral health, workforce and other systems.

“Through our work at COMPASS and CCA, we see firsthand how behavioral health, employment, housing, reentry, and other life needs are often interconnected,” Berkenyi said. “ValleyConnect will give agencies an opportunity to stop working in silos and start working together more intentionally. By strengthening the connections between organizations, systems, and resources, we can make it easier for individuals to get the support they need without having to navigate multiple systems on their own. Ultimately, that collaboration can create better opportunities for stability, employment, and long-term success.”

Regional funding secured by Goodwill is helping remove cost as a barrier to participation. Non-clinical nonprofits and Federally Qualified Health Centers can access Unite Us at no cost, while ValleyConnect funding will provide sponsored access for organizations that would otherwise have licensing costs, including government and educational institutions. Hospitals may receive up to five sponsored licenses.

The network will also help the region better understand its needs. Aggregated data can reveal patterns in referrals, unmet needs, and service gaps, giving organizations, coalitions, funders, and community leaders better information to guide programs, partnerships, and investments.

Similar coordinated referral efforts are underway in neighboring Ohio counties, providing lessons that can inform a network shaped specifically for the Mahoning Valley. Help Network of Northeast Ohio, with its longstanding expertise in 211 and information and referral, is among the regional partners bringing valuable experience to this work.

Ultimately, ValleyConnect will only be as strong as the partnerships behind it.

“The technology gives us the infrastructure, but partnership is what will make ValleyConnect transformative,” Holmes-Chambers said. “Every organization that joins brings another resource, another connection, and another opportunity to create a pathway forward. When we connect what each of us does well, we can build a system that is stronger than any one organization could create alone.”

Ahead of the Oct. 27 launch, organizations are invited to attend one or all of three ValleyConnect Info Sessions: Crisis Response, exploring pathways for extended support following a crisis; Across the Continuum, highlighting how organizations, coalitions, and systems can strengthen coordination; and Data in Action, exploring how shared information can identify needs, resources, and gaps. Each session will also include a Unite Us overview and demonstration, onboarding information, and launch details.

Organizations interested in attending an information session or becoming a ValleyConnect partner can contact Carol Holmes-Chambers at c.chambers@goodwillyoungstown.org or visit goodwillyoungstown.org.