April 11, 2025 • 35 mins
Jonathan Vrabel- Morgantown Municipal Airport Director on increasing enplanements with the addition of SkyWest Airlines
Greg Clutter from the Chestnit Mountain Ranch on CarePortal, a way to connect those in need with churches and others for assistance. The program bypasses government and relies on community support.
Greg Clutter from the Chestnit Mountain Ranch on CarePortal, a way to connect those in need with churches and others for assistance. The program bypasses government and relies on community support.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
At the Morgantem Municipal Airport, and since the beginning of
the year, the playments have increased dramatically. Now there's a
possibility that the city could earn their essential air Service
allocation this year. And at nine point fifteen, Airport Director
Jonathan Rabel joins us to talk about the new carrier,
the numbers, and what will mean to win that EAS
(00:23):
allocation back for the first time in many years for
the airport. Now, as of right now, the microgrid bill
is the first on the agenda for the State Senate.
Now the Senate gavels in at eleven o'clock this morning.
That bill funnels tax revenue from the proposed data centers
that it would create, primarily to the state. Now that
(00:46):
raises the ire of some county commissions across the state.
Coming up at nine point thirty, I've got Steve Catlett,
he's the vice president of the Berkeley County Commission, and
we're going to talk about their position on that bill
and the maybe what's next. Well, and now Thursday at
the Hotel Morgan, a brand new community program the Portal
(01:07):
was unveiled. This is a very interesting app and you
could go out to Careportal dot org and take a
look at it. But this app connects churches and community
champions and we'll learn about what those are with those
in need now. Greg Clutter, he's the director of the
Foster of Foster Care Initiatives at the Chestnut Mountain Ranch.
(01:31):
Greg was just one of the many point people that
made Mond County the first to offer that program. We'll
spend a few minutes with Greg. He's got a great
story because we're going to hear about the other key
driver of this program who passed away just about a
week before it was unveiled. We're going to do that
at nine to forty today, let's take a look at
(01:52):
a couple of headlines. The sixty day legislative session ends
at midnight on Saturday, and in the eleventh hour the
it's backed off the bill providing religious exemptions to school
vaccine programs. Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Laura Wakem
Chapman conceded in the evening session the influence of big
drug companies was the driving factor in pulling that other
(02:16):
bill that would give the state legislature final approval power
over rules and policies from state boards of education. That's
a step closer to passage in the legislature. The state
Senate approved that bill that was opposed by Mond County
Senator Mike Oliverio, and how delegates has agreed to a
(02:36):
compromise state budget with now just a Senate vote away
from sending that bill to the Governor's desk for his signature.
House floor session that is gaveling in as we speak,
the cent floor session. They'll get underway at eleven this morning,
and we've got details on all those stories and everything
that's happening at the state Capitol at wv metronews dot com.
(03:03):
President Trump has named West Virginia Division of Corrections and
Rehabilitation Commissioner Billy Marshall as the new director of the
Federal Bureau of Prisons. That's a move that groups like
the American Federation of Government Employees Union Local four twenty,
headed by Hazelton Guard Justin Terravisky, are likely very happy about.
(03:26):
Marshall's been running prisons in West Virginia for just the
last two years, and under his leadership, as you might remember,
he was able to bump up staffing levels and I
guess improve some of those questionable conditions that had been
reported around the state and Bridgeport City Council's appointed Joe
(03:47):
Shuttleworth as the interim city manager. Shuttleworth takes the place
pat Ford, recently terminated after dust up over an investigation
into workplace culture out Requests for comment from mayor and
Lang have not been answered. Lang himself facing a state
police investigation alleging that he got into a heated verbal
altercation with another city employee, and state police say the
(04:11):
findings of that investigation will be transmitted to the Harrison
County Prosecutor, Rachel Romano. It is nine to twelve. We're
gonna take a quick break, and when we come back,
we're gonna talk about sky West and in plainments at
the Morgantown Municipal Airport with Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
That's coming up next.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Join the conversation at one hundred and seven to sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Good Friday morning, some fog, plenty of clouds, forty two
ukus in the University City the back.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
At the beginning of the.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Year, sky West was added as the primary air carrier
from the Morgantem Municipal Airport and the results have been
pretty quick. Have got airport director Jonathan Vrabel with us
this morning. Jonathan, Good morning, sir. How are you.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Good morning, Mike. How you doing.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
You know, months ago when SkyWest was added, you were
very very optimistic, and that optimism is bearing fruit.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
It is it is.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
They're doing very well. We've had significant improvements over Southern
Airways that was here prior.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Now, I guess is what's driving the increase? Is it
the destinations? Is it the plane size? Is it maybe
a little bit more enthusiasm about travel post pandemic?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
What's playing endo this well?
Speaker 4 (05:52):
I think it's a little bit of all those, but
I think primarily it's more so the type of aircraft
we have and the nations you know we have. You know,
we're you know, flying jet service, which we haven't in
a while. You know a lot of folks were skeptable
about flying a single engine aircraft. You know, now we're
on a typical jet and we have connectivity through Chicago now,
(06:15):
so you know, you know Chicago being you know, between
it and Atlanta. You know that either the first or
the second busiest airport in the US. There's a lot
of connectivity out of Chicago, and with it being a
United Hub, you can pretty much go anywhere. So we
have a lot of folks that are really taking advantage
of it, especially going westward. If you're going like out
to the West Coast, many of those western locations really
(06:39):
easy connections out of morgan Town to get there.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
It's got the director of the Morgantown Municipal Airport talking
about their switch from Southern Airways to Skye West. That
has really kind of changed things at the airport. So
I guess you start to peel that onion back and
looking at the numbers. What are the numbers say?
Speaker 4 (06:58):
So, so far this year, from January through the end
of March, sky West has flown two thousand, nine hundred
and sixty pastors out of Morgantown. They've total passengers is
six thousand, so that's coming and going. In comparison last
year with Southern they flew on six and thirteen passengers,
(07:24):
quite a bit of difference.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So now tell us what needs to happen in order
to meet the essential air service requirements, and then once
we meet those requirements, what happens then?
Speaker 4 (07:38):
So to keep essentially air service here in Morgantown. We
have to maintain ten thousand passengers a year, so once
that is maintained, and you know, based on what we're
seeing so far, we're projecting we'll probably be over that
ten thousand.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Sky West.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
When they initially met with our committee and we made
the decision back in the fall, they projected twenty thousand
the first year, So right now, you know, projections are
lower than that. But we haven't hit the busy travel
much yet. So typically our busiest travel months are June, July,
(08:16):
and August obviously when when you kids are out of
school and families have more time to have vacations. So
we're kind of expecting that to go up, but you know,
we're very excited about kind of what we're seeing so far.
And then you know, once we have that ten thousand
passioner employments, it kind of solidifies eas staying here. So
(08:40):
we lose our we have the chance of not losing
it and keeping it going. The other thing it helps
us is our federal entitlements from the Airport Improvement Program
through the FAA, which is completely funded by aviation users
in our country. So there's a there's a trust that
(09:02):
that fund all those funds go to that users pay
and that money gets sold back out to airports across
the country, and we each get entitlements based on the
number of passengers that we carry every year.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
So what this will do.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
For us having ten thousand employments in a year, it
will guarantee that we'll get one thousand dollars or a
million dollars in entitlements every year. So that helps us.
And that those entitlements are are for capital projects, so
like you know, we're in the runway extension project, that
(09:34):
those million dollars in titlements will go right into that project.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Morgantown Municipal Airport Director Jonathan Rabel is with us, and
we're talking about sky West, the Essential air Service Program,
and the runway extension because they're all really kind of
intertwined together. How will that because the costs have continued
to rise for the airport extension just because as an
(10:00):
economic factors surrounding the times that we're in, how will
that million dollars help? And then what else do you
need to get that airport runway extension project? I guess
maybe back on schedule.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
Well that's a good, very good question. So the million
dollars a year goes directly towards it. So right now,
over funding we've beginning is either through discretionary funds so
basically funds that are left over from other projects throughout
the country, or through supplemental funding, which is money that
was extra available that wasn't planned to be used. So
(10:39):
that's kind of where our funding has been coming from
up until next year. Next year, you know, if we
get the ten thousand playments like we anticipate, we'll get
that million in entitlements and that will immediately go through
that project. So we know we'll have a minimum of
one million plus whatever discretionary or supplemental funding that we
receive to keep the project going. We are looking at
(11:03):
many different options of funding, trying to find ways to
get the funding done quicker, even if it means, you know,
looking at a bond in the future, we may we
may go down that path where it work. Exploring a
lot of different options with funding, looking at a lot
of different federal programs that are available, and seeing what
(11:24):
we can do to help get everything moving quicker.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Now, when we start to think about a completion date,
well before we talk about that, where are we at
currently Phase three?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
We are in Phase four, and so what we're currently
working on we have it's kind of a kind of
a critical path item. So we have an unnamed tributary
that runs along the edge of the property along wolf
Run Road, and that tributary ties into wolf Run Creek.
We are working on enclosing that tribute Cherry At the moment,
(12:03):
we're putting a very large piece of concrete culford in
that that stream will then flow through, and then all
the durable rock will be stacked on top of it,
so the runway embankment extension embankment will be on top
of that creek. The creek will be below it, so
that way that that creek can still flow, still does
a drainage it needs to, and that that part will
(12:23):
be taken care of. The great thing about this part
of the project not only is it, you know, a
critical path item for us that we're going to complete,
but we're also going to clean up the water in
the creek because in that area we're not sure what's
causing it, but there's something that creates a sudging factor
and the creek is really dirty there and it's coming
(12:45):
from the ground that the creek is flowing over. Well,
now that we're going to be digging that out and
putting it in a concrete pipe. That disturbance goes away,
So whatever is causing that water to be bad there
will be taking out. We'll actually clean the water up
in that area too, which is also a great piece
for our environment. We have clean and clear water that
(13:06):
eventually flows into Deckers Creek.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
So got the Morgantem Municipal Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel with us,
and now that project, the phasing has been extended and
more phases have been added to break the project up
into less expensive phases because of inflation and the overall economy.
So how many phases are we at to complete the
(13:28):
project and maybe what are we looking at in terms
of money that we need in the future to get there?
Speaker 4 (13:36):
Yep, So the number of phases is really dependent on
the funding that comes in. So we're we're looking at
probably if we stay on kind of where the track
we've been on about ten million per phase, we're probably
looking at four more phases and we'll be completed somewhere
around twenty twenty nine twenty thirty. But if we get
(14:01):
the funding like we're hoping and get more funding up front,
then we'll be done in two maybe three years max.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
And could continued increase in applainments. Obviously that won't drive
enough money to get the job done, but does it
maybe give you the justification to go to the ff
FAA and get more money that way?
Speaker 4 (14:26):
It does because it shows right now, just having SkyWest here,
it's a larger aircraft carrying passengers on it at automatically changed.
They change the dynamic and the FA is now looking
at it more favorably to help us get additional funding.
So it has made a difference. And as long as
(14:49):
those flights stay positive and we keep the pastors going
like what we're hoping for, the FA will keep supporting it.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Is there a rate if passenger traffic continues at the
current rate, is there a projected date that we would
reach ten thousand enplainments.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
We're thinking kind of based on what the carrier kind
of expects, and especially with peak travel over the summer,
we're thinking we'll probably hit that ten thousand pastures probably
around October.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Okay, okay, now talk just a little bit about the aircraft.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
What kind is it? How many people does it hold?
Speaker 4 (15:27):
So it's a it's a CRJ two hundred which is
a fifty seat regional jet. They also fly occasionally a
CRG five fifty, which is also a fifty seat regional jet.
It is two by two seating, so with with an
aisle in the center. Very comfortable, but a typical regional
jet has the smaller overhead bins, so you can't put
(15:50):
any larger carryons in it. But your storage undernature seats
is about the same. And it does have a flight attendant,
so you do you do have services on it. Now,
the flight from Morgantown to Washington, DC typically doesn't provide
service because it's such a short flight. By the time
the flight attendant is able to get up and actually
(16:13):
come through the cabin, we're already starting the landing cycle,
so they have to go sit backcause they don't have
enough time to get through the cabin for full service.
But the Chicago flight does. You'll get full service on
the Chicago flight.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
And we've said sky West SkyWest. Sky West sky West
is actually part of United Airlines, correct that they are.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Flying as United Express, so it's through the whole United system.
So if you're coming to if you want to book
a flight, you don't go to SKYWST. You go to
United dot com or if you have the United App,
you can use the United app to take care of
anything you need. It even includes a baggage service. If
your bag happened to become lost, United will take care
(16:54):
of it. Just contact United. They'll follow right through. So
you're getting the best of both worlds. I'm getting a
first class carrier that can provide great service to anybody
who's flying perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Morgantown Municipal Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel. Jonathan will keep in
touch with you and we'll be watching those numbers right
along with you.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Great. Great, thanks Mike.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Hey, appreciate your time, sir. Have a great day and
a better weekend.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Thank you have great weekend.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Absolutely stay dry.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Jonathan Vrabel, Morgantown Municipal Airport Director, in plainments on the
way up, which means the essential air service one million
dollar allocation is definitely on the table this year. Coming
up next, we'll talk with Steve Catlett. He's the vice
president of the Berkeley County Commission. We're going to be
talking about the micro grid bill that is before the
(17:47):
State Senate this morning at eleven am. This is Talk
of the Town on AM fourteen forty FM one oh
four point five wajar.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Well, good Friday morning. It is nine thirty four.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Don't know if it's weatherword, but we'll just call it
blah and forty two And it looks like blah will
continue today in the form of clouds. And I have
fifty two degrees according to Metro News Aciweather. And it
looks like there also is a chance for a shower
late today on Thursday. In the city of Morgantown over
(18:38):
at the Hotel Morgan.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
The care portal was rolled out.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Now you can check out the care Portal at caareportal
dot org. Now, this is a method of connecting those
in need with churches and what are referred to as
community champions. On the phone, I've got the director of
Foster Care Initiatives at the Chestnut Ridge Mountain, Greg Clutter
with us.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Greg, good morning, How are you, sir?
Speaker 5 (19:05):
I am doing great. Mike, good morning. Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure to have you on. I guess
give us what is care portal in your words.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
So care portal, it is a care sharing technologies how
we describe it, that actually drives actions for local kids
and families that are in crisis. The best way to
describe it is at Chestnut Mountain Village, which is the
ministry that I'm part of, which was actually launched by
Chestnut Mountain Ranch right here in Morgantown. We are going
(19:39):
throughout the state. We're a statewide ministry and we're guiding
and equipping churches to step in and care for vulnerable
children and families. There are people in churches as communities
all across the entire state of West Virginia that would
love to help with the child welfare issues. In West Virginia.
We'd lead the nation on a per capita basis in
(19:59):
terms of number of kids in foster care. State of
West Virginia removes children at a rate that's about four
times the national average. We're in a, you know, a
very dire foster care situation, and there are people in
churches every Sunday that are actively engaged in the faith
based community that would love to help kids and families
(20:21):
in crisis if they only knew what to do. Care
Portal is a way that the frontline, folks. We have
people mic in our community that work for child protective services,
that work for you know, family support centers and nonprofits
that see the needs of kids and families very regularly,
(20:42):
but they aren't able to communicate it to those people
that could meet those needs, like those people in churches.
Care Portal fills that gap. The folks in the front
line are able to put in, here's a need, here's
a family that has a physical need, maybe a bed,
maybe they have utilities have been shut off, maybe they're
something else that they can put in, and that need
(21:05):
automatically goes to every church volunteer and every church that's enrolled.
We already have fourteen churches in mont County that have
stepped up, and we have four child serving agencies that
are part of this. So it's a way to fill
that gap between people that see the needs and people
that are out there and they're willing to meet the needs.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Now, let me try to paint this picture. Or we're
talking with Greg Clutter from the Chestnut Mountain Ranch about
care Portal. During the program on Thursday, you were able
to come up with a need. It was a mother
who was looking to reunite with her daughter and.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
She needed a bed.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
And of course, ye as we sat there, we really
didn't think about it. But when you need a bed,
you need a bed, you need a frame, you need
a mattress, you need pillows, you need blankets, and you
need a comforter, and you're able to designate all those items.
And as we sat there in that room and that
request was made, cell phones.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Began to chime.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
That belonged to churches in the community that are part
of the program.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Yes, absolutely so the churches we had, we had several
people there, we had pastors, we had people that are
that are our point people at those churches, and literally
their emails started chiming. Care Portal UH is also an
app UH. So their notification started going off and they
were able to do something very easy, which is just
(22:34):
to click UH on that notice that yes, I can
help UH, and and that instantly goes back to that
frontline child serving professional UH to say you've got a
church that's willing to help, and then they make a connection. Mike.
The more the more important part of care Portal is yes,
we could meet that need with that family that was
trying to be reunited. We could meet that need of
(22:56):
getting that bed so the child would have a place
to sleep that was safe when they got home. But
it also connects that family with people in the community
that are concerned, that really want to help. And very
often these vulnerable children and families that are impacted by
foster care or kinship care, or maybe they're adoptive families,
(23:18):
or maybe they're just struggling vulnerable families. They consistently report
they feel isolated, they don't have social structure, they don't
have support. So this meets the physical need, but it
also introduces them to someone in the community that cares.
That's not government, it's just neighbors helping neighbors. Care Portal
just comes down.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
To that, and that is absolutely awesome. And I'll tell
you the other awesome part about this, Greg, in my view,
is the individual aspect in this. And I'm talking about
community champions.
Speaker 5 (23:48):
Would you explain this, Yeah, so community champion. So primarily
when we sign folks up for care Portal, So if
someone happens to be listening and they're part of a
cheer church, they're they're part of a church that wants
to sign up and then go to Careportal dot org.
This is only in Mond County right now, where we
are a pilot project. Chesnut Mountain Village is working with
(24:12):
the Department of Human Services. We're a pilot project here.
So if a church wants to sign up and start responsing, responding,
then go to Careportal dot org. But if you're a
business or for example, there may be hvac companies that
are listening right now that say we would love to
be part of that. They can sign up as a
(24:32):
as a community champion. Other businesses, other individuals can sign
up as community champions that that can actually help meet
these needs. Also, so carpenters, car mechanics, there are so
many things that we see these families facing. The community
champion aspects gives other people outside of outside of churches
(24:54):
and other organizations that can help and just want to
know how to help an ability to see these needs
and respond to them.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Also, absolutely, we've got Greg Clutter with us and we're
talking about care Portal and now, Greg, if it's okay
with you, I'd like to work in a break and
when we come back, I want to tell the folks
about the journey to get this started and the touching
story about well I'll let you tell the story, but
the story about how this all got started, how about.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
That wonderful We'd love to do it.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Okay, beautiful, We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
We are talking about your town now, back to the
talk of the.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Town clouds in forty two degrees in Morgantown.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I'm Mike Nolting on the phone.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Have got Greg Clutter with the Chestnut Mountain Ranch and
we're talking about care Portal. Mon County is a pilot
location for care Portal.
Speaker 5 (25:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
That's a way to connect churches and community champions like
weal with those in need.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
Now.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
The journey to get here, well, it was a I
don't know, Greg, the journey to get to this point
was a journey.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
It absolutely was so Mike. We you know, at Chestnut
Mountain Village Ministry, which has been launched out of Chestnut
Mountain Ranch, we work with churches across the state and
we guide and equipped them to help vulnerable children and families.
We have this, we have this belief here that almost
every community in West Virginia already has more than enough resources,
(26:36):
more than enough willing people, more than enough willing families
to solve local foster care issues and child welfare issues.
So about gosh, mid twenty three, the team here at
Chestnut Mountain Village and two churches people from two churches
in the area, Chesnut Rich Church and CMA Church at Morgantown.
(26:58):
We began this journey. We said, we really think in
our backyard here in mont County, there are great strengths
that we have, and we took this journey where we
started looking and saying what's out there. And it took
us a few months to kind of go through and
meet with nonprofits, meet with agencies, talk to people at
(27:20):
our local schools, talk to people at churches, and we
really looked and we said, you know, we've got amazing
resources right here in our county. We have amazing people
who really want to help, but they don't know what
to do. And that's been the story for a lot
of what we do here at Chestnut Mountain Village. We
(27:41):
walk into churches and we say are you involved and
are We have no idea what to do, so we
guide and equipped them to do things. When we saw
all the activity and all the capabilities and everything the
resources here in Mont County, we said, wow, if we
could just connect those people who are willing to help well,
those people that see the needs, we could do something great.
(28:02):
And we started learning about care Portal at that time
Mike and we looked care Portals in is in thirty
seven states. It's been around for a long time. It's
a national organization. We picked up the phone and we
started calling care Portal and we said, Uh, we're from
West Virginia. We're trying to figure out how to implement this,
maybe to get started in a small way.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
And their first reaction was, we don't have anybody to
cover the West Virginia area. We don't have an area director.
We're really not sure where to put you, guys, because
no one had really called from West Virginia to start
the Eventually we connected with some folks out of southwestern Virginia,
argued our Appalachian neighbors there who linked us up with
(28:44):
a lady named Claudia Fletcher. And Claudia was the area
director for Virginia for care Portal. And Claudia got us started,
she got us trained, she figured out how to get
a certified. Now Chestnut Mountain Village is actually the implementing
partner for careports here in West Virginia. Claudia really just
kind of drug us through all the details to get
(29:07):
us to get us started, and we ultimately ended up
doing a very small pilot project. We started with Compass
Women's Center here in Morgantown and just said, Compass, you
see needs, can you put those needs in and let
churches help? And it worked, Mike, it really worked. We
started seeing churches step up and like ninety plus percent
of the needs that the women's center was bringing, they
(29:29):
were being met. And it was at that point that
the Department of Human Services at the state said, gosh,
that seems to be working. We can we work together
and try something to do this and maybe in mon
and Mike, we're going to be launching Preston County right
behind this on May thirteenth, can we try and Mond
in Preston County? Just a pilot project to see if
(29:49):
this will work in West Virginia. So we announced that
pilot project, you know, a year after we started this
in November twenty twenty four with Department Human Services, and
we had those there yesterday and we put all this together.
Now we have four agencies and fourteen churches in Mont
County that are part of this, and we launched it
yesterday after a lot of work, and you know, the
(30:14):
whole community's rallying. But if you remember, in part of
that story when we started reaching out the Care Portal
and we really didn't have a home, and we have
this area director at Care Portal named Claudia Fletcher stepped
up and said, I'll help you guys get started well.
On Sunday, March sixteenth, Claudia, who lived in Lynchburg, was
(30:36):
part of very active part of her church. Claudia had
adopted our foster twelve children. She had like fifteen grandchildren
through foster care and adoption. Just an angel here on Earth.
One Sunday, one Sunday afternoon, she became unresponsive and unfortunately
Claudia passed at the end of March twenty at the
(30:57):
end of March on March twenty sixth, so she never
got to see what she helped start here in West
Virginia come to fruition. I'm convinced she saw us Mike
sitting there yesterday and Hotel Morgan with this being launched
here in West Virginia. But it was just a moment
where you look at how people step up and really helped.
(31:18):
She had such a passion for vulnerable children and families
and the work she did with Care Portal all over
Virginia to get at launched she was always always helping,
but she ended her journey here on Earth before we
launched it. So yesterday at the event, we took a
moment and just said, we would be remiss if we
didn't remember our dear friend Claudia Fletcher from the Other
(31:39):
Virginia who stepped up and said, don't care about West Virginia,
let's help get this launch. So we were here. She
was one of those people behind the scenes kind of
helping us through the muck and meyer and learn everything,
and we're just we're eternally grateful for what she did.
And now we're convinced that mont County is going to
lead the way in the state. What we see in
(32:01):
other states is that we're care portals implemented, that the
number of children going into foster care goes down because
we're able, We're able to help families before they get
to that point. We think Mond County and right behind
at Preston County can lead the way, so we hope
we can. We can do this throughout West Virginia eventually
and really change change everything about foster care and vulnerable
(32:25):
children and families in this state because of the community
being involved. These issues are too big for government to
solve alone. They can't do it by themselves. The church
has to step up.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Greg Clutter, it's our job, Greg Clutter with the Chestnut
Mountain Ranch. And I tell you, I think care Portal
has certainly got a lot of momentum coming out of
the gates, and I hope that we can help you
sustain that momentum or even increase it.
Speaker 5 (32:54):
Wonderful. We appreciate your support, Mike, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Absolutely, Greg, I hope you have a good day and
great weekend.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (33:01):
Wonderful you too, Tat you.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Take care check this out online. It is at careportal
dot org. And just to reflect back on the press
conference Thursday afternoon at the Hotel Morgan, it really was
kind of surreal. Maybe not, that's not a good word,
but it was really enlightening, that's a better word. Very
(33:24):
enlightening to watch those requests be put into the website
and it operates in real time, and all the other
cell phones in the room start to chime, and one
by one people step up and say, okay, I've got that,
and I've got this, and then before you know it,
(33:46):
the person that made the request gets a notification back
that says, you know what you're good, We've got you.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
It's careportal dot org. Check it out.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
It's also in the form of an app that you
can put on your phone, tell your church about it,
or maybe anybody else you know. Forty two degrees and
clouds in Morgantown. We'll be back to wrap things up
right after this.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
Good Friday morning, clouds and forty two degrees. It'd be
a good day for a walk tomorrow, I hope that
is for the folks at the Rape and Domestic Violence
Information Center. They're hosting their walk with survivors. That is
tomorrow the Morgantown Farmers Market on Spruce Street. They're going
to get things started at three pm. Considered joining them.
(34:52):
The cost is twenty dollars per person. They will have food, music,
and a chance to win prizes and take a walk
and share some time with survivors. Don't forget about care Portal.
You can check that out atkareportal dot org. I'm sure
you're going to be hearing about that program again in
the future. Senate floor session that starts at eleven AM,
(35:16):
and the bill on the pole position in that poll
in that Senate session is the microgrid bill, so we'll
be watching that throughout the day and all other things Charleston.
It's time now for Metro News talk Line on the
Voice of Morgantown WAJR.
At the Morgantem Municipal Airport, and since the beginning of
the year, the playments have increased dramatically. Now there's a
possibility that the city could earn their essential air Service
allocation this year. And at nine point fifteen, Airport Director
Jonathan Rabel joins us to talk about the new carrier,
the numbers, and what will mean to win that EAS
(00:23):
allocation back for the first time in many years for
the airport. Now, as of right now, the microgrid bill
is the first on the agenda for the State Senate.
Now the Senate gavels in at eleven o'clock this morning.
That bill funnels tax revenue from the proposed data centers
that it would create, primarily to the state. Now that
(00:46):
raises the ire of some county commissions across the state.
Coming up at nine point thirty, I've got Steve Catlett,
he's the vice president of the Berkeley County Commission, and
we're going to talk about their position on that bill
and the maybe what's next. Well, and now Thursday at
the Hotel Morgan, a brand new community program the Portal
(01:07):
was unveiled. This is a very interesting app and you
could go out to Careportal dot org and take a
look at it. But this app connects churches and community
champions and we'll learn about what those are with those
in need now. Greg Clutter, he's the director of the
Foster of Foster Care Initiatives at the Chestnut Mountain Ranch.
(01:31):
Greg was just one of the many point people that
made Mond County the first to offer that program. We'll
spend a few minutes with Greg. He's got a great
story because we're going to hear about the other key
driver of this program who passed away just about a
week before it was unveiled. We're going to do that
at nine to forty today, let's take a look at
(01:52):
a couple of headlines. The sixty day legislative session ends
at midnight on Saturday, and in the eleventh hour the
it's backed off the bill providing religious exemptions to school
vaccine programs. Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Laura Wakem
Chapman conceded in the evening session the influence of big
drug companies was the driving factor in pulling that other
(02:16):
bill that would give the state legislature final approval power
over rules and policies from state boards of education. That's
a step closer to passage in the legislature. The state
Senate approved that bill that was opposed by Mond County
Senator Mike Oliverio, and how delegates has agreed to a
(02:36):
compromise state budget with now just a Senate vote away
from sending that bill to the Governor's desk for his signature.
House floor session that is gaveling in as we speak,
the cent floor session. They'll get underway at eleven this morning,
and we've got details on all those stories and everything
that's happening at the state Capitol at wv metronews dot com.
(03:03):
President Trump has named West Virginia Division of Corrections and
Rehabilitation Commissioner Billy Marshall as the new director of the
Federal Bureau of Prisons. That's a move that groups like
the American Federation of Government Employees Union Local four twenty,
headed by Hazelton Guard Justin Terravisky, are likely very happy about.
(03:26):
Marshall's been running prisons in West Virginia for just the
last two years, and under his leadership, as you might remember,
he was able to bump up staffing levels and I
guess improve some of those questionable conditions that had been
reported around the state and Bridgeport City Council's appointed Joe
(03:47):
Shuttleworth as the interim city manager. Shuttleworth takes the place
pat Ford, recently terminated after dust up over an investigation
into workplace culture out Requests for comment from mayor and
Lang have not been answered. Lang himself facing a state
police investigation alleging that he got into a heated verbal
altercation with another city employee, and state police say the
(04:11):
findings of that investigation will be transmitted to the Harrison
County Prosecutor, Rachel Romano. It is nine to twelve. We're
gonna take a quick break, and when we come back,
we're gonna talk about sky West and in plainments at
the Morgantown Municipal Airport with Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
That's coming up next.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Join the conversation at one hundred and seven to sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Good Friday morning, some fog, plenty of clouds, forty two
ukus in the University City the back.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
At the beginning of the.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Year, sky West was added as the primary air carrier
from the Morgantem Municipal Airport and the results have been
pretty quick. Have got airport director Jonathan Vrabel with us
this morning. Jonathan, Good morning, sir. How are you.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Good morning, Mike. How you doing.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
You know, months ago when SkyWest was added, you were
very very optimistic, and that optimism is bearing fruit.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
It is it is.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
They're doing very well. We've had significant improvements over Southern
Airways that was here prior.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Now, I guess is what's driving the increase? Is it
the destinations? Is it the plane size? Is it maybe
a little bit more enthusiasm about travel post pandemic?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
What's playing endo this well?
Speaker 4 (05:52):
I think it's a little bit of all those, but
I think primarily it's more so the type of aircraft
we have and the nations you know we have. You know,
we're you know, flying jet service, which we haven't in
a while. You know a lot of folks were skeptable
about flying a single engine aircraft. You know, now we're
on a typical jet and we have connectivity through Chicago now,
(06:15):
so you know, you know Chicago being you know, between
it and Atlanta. You know that either the first or
the second busiest airport in the US. There's a lot
of connectivity out of Chicago, and with it being a
United Hub, you can pretty much go anywhere. So we
have a lot of folks that are really taking advantage
of it, especially going westward. If you're going like out
to the West Coast, many of those western locations really
(06:39):
easy connections out of morgan Town to get there.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
It's got the director of the Morgantown Municipal Airport talking
about their switch from Southern Airways to Skye West. That
has really kind of changed things at the airport. So
I guess you start to peel that onion back and
looking at the numbers. What are the numbers say?
Speaker 4 (06:58):
So, so far this year, from January through the end
of March, sky West has flown two thousand, nine hundred
and sixty pastors out of Morgantown. They've total passengers is
six thousand, so that's coming and going. In comparison last
year with Southern they flew on six and thirteen passengers,
(07:24):
quite a bit of difference.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So now tell us what needs to happen in order
to meet the essential air service requirements, and then once
we meet those requirements, what happens then?
Speaker 4 (07:38):
So to keep essentially air service here in Morgantown. We
have to maintain ten thousand passengers a year, so once
that is maintained, and you know, based on what we're
seeing so far, we're projecting we'll probably be over that
ten thousand.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Sky West.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
When they initially met with our committee and we made
the decision back in the fall, they projected twenty thousand
the first year, So right now, you know, projections are
lower than that. But we haven't hit the busy travel
much yet. So typically our busiest travel months are June, July,
(08:16):
and August obviously when when you kids are out of
school and families have more time to have vacations. So
we're kind of expecting that to go up, but you know,
we're very excited about kind of what we're seeing so far.
And then you know, once we have that ten thousand
passioner employments, it kind of solidifies eas staying here. So
(08:40):
we lose our we have the chance of not losing
it and keeping it going. The other thing it helps
us is our federal entitlements from the Airport Improvement Program
through the FAA, which is completely funded by aviation users
in our country. So there's a there's a trust that
(09:02):
that fund all those funds go to that users pay
and that money gets sold back out to airports across
the country, and we each get entitlements based on the
number of passengers that we carry every year.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
So what this will do.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
For us having ten thousand employments in a year, it
will guarantee that we'll get one thousand dollars or a
million dollars in entitlements every year. So that helps us.
And that those entitlements are are for capital projects, so
like you know, we're in the runway extension project, that
(09:34):
those million dollars in titlements will go right into that project.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Morgantown Municipal Airport Director Jonathan Rabel is with us, and
we're talking about sky West, the Essential air Service Program,
and the runway extension because they're all really kind of
intertwined together. How will that because the costs have continued
to rise for the airport extension just because as an
(10:00):
economic factors surrounding the times that we're in, how will
that million dollars help? And then what else do you
need to get that airport runway extension project? I guess
maybe back on schedule.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
Well that's a good, very good question. So the million
dollars a year goes directly towards it. So right now,
over funding we've beginning is either through discretionary funds so
basically funds that are left over from other projects throughout
the country, or through supplemental funding, which is money that
was extra available that wasn't planned to be used. So
(10:39):
that's kind of where our funding has been coming from
up until next year. Next year, you know, if we
get the ten thousand playments like we anticipate, we'll get
that million in entitlements and that will immediately go through
that project. So we know we'll have a minimum of
one million plus whatever discretionary or supplemental funding that we
receive to keep the project going. We are looking at
(11:03):
many different options of funding, trying to find ways to
get the funding done quicker, even if it means, you know,
looking at a bond in the future, we may we
may go down that path where it work. Exploring a
lot of different options with funding, looking at a lot
of different federal programs that are available, and seeing what
(11:24):
we can do to help get everything moving quicker.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Now, when we start to think about a completion date,
well before we talk about that, where are we at
currently Phase three?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
We are in Phase four, and so what we're currently
working on we have it's kind of a kind of
a critical path item. So we have an unnamed tributary
that runs along the edge of the property along wolf
Run Road, and that tributary ties into wolf Run Creek.
We are working on enclosing that tribute Cherry At the moment,
(12:03):
we're putting a very large piece of concrete culford in
that that stream will then flow through, and then all
the durable rock will be stacked on top of it,
so the runway embankment extension embankment will be on top
of that creek. The creek will be below it, so
that way that that creek can still flow, still does
a drainage it needs to, and that that part will
(12:23):
be taken care of. The great thing about this part
of the project not only is it, you know, a
critical path item for us that we're going to complete,
but we're also going to clean up the water in
the creek because in that area we're not sure what's
causing it, but there's something that creates a sudging factor
and the creek is really dirty there and it's coming
(12:45):
from the ground that the creek is flowing over. Well,
now that we're going to be digging that out and
putting it in a concrete pipe. That disturbance goes away,
So whatever is causing that water to be bad there
will be taking out. We'll actually clean the water up
in that area too, which is also a great piece
for our environment. We have clean and clear water that
(13:06):
eventually flows into Deckers Creek.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
So got the Morgantem Municipal Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel with us,
and now that project, the phasing has been extended and
more phases have been added to break the project up
into less expensive phases because of inflation and the overall economy.
So how many phases are we at to complete the
(13:28):
project and maybe what are we looking at in terms
of money that we need in the future to get there?
Speaker 4 (13:36):
Yep, So the number of phases is really dependent on
the funding that comes in. So we're we're looking at
probably if we stay on kind of where the track
we've been on about ten million per phase, we're probably
looking at four more phases and we'll be completed somewhere
around twenty twenty nine twenty thirty. But if we get
(14:01):
the funding like we're hoping and get more funding up front,
then we'll be done in two maybe three years max.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
And could continued increase in applainments. Obviously that won't drive
enough money to get the job done, but does it
maybe give you the justification to go to the ff
FAA and get more money that way?
Speaker 4 (14:26):
It does because it shows right now, just having SkyWest here,
it's a larger aircraft carrying passengers on it at automatically changed.
They change the dynamic and the FA is now looking
at it more favorably to help us get additional funding.
So it has made a difference. And as long as
(14:49):
those flights stay positive and we keep the pastors going
like what we're hoping for, the FA will keep supporting it.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Is there a rate if passenger traffic continues at the
current rate, is there a projected date that we would
reach ten thousand enplainments.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
We're thinking kind of based on what the carrier kind
of expects, and especially with peak travel over the summer,
we're thinking we'll probably hit that ten thousand pastures probably
around October.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Okay, okay, now talk just a little bit about the aircraft.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
What kind is it? How many people does it hold?
Speaker 4 (15:27):
So it's a it's a CRJ two hundred which is
a fifty seat regional jet. They also fly occasionally a
CRG five fifty, which is also a fifty seat regional jet.
It is two by two seating, so with with an
aisle in the center. Very comfortable, but a typical regional
jet has the smaller overhead bins, so you can't put
(15:50):
any larger carryons in it. But your storage undernature seats
is about the same. And it does have a flight attendant,
so you do you do have services on it. Now,
the flight from Morgantown to Washington, DC typically doesn't provide
service because it's such a short flight. By the time
the flight attendant is able to get up and actually
(16:13):
come through the cabin, we're already starting the landing cycle,
so they have to go sit backcause they don't have
enough time to get through the cabin for full service.
But the Chicago flight does. You'll get full service on
the Chicago flight.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
And we've said sky West SkyWest. Sky West sky West
is actually part of United Airlines, correct that they are.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Flying as United Express, so it's through the whole United system.
So if you're coming to if you want to book
a flight, you don't go to SKYWST. You go to
United dot com or if you have the United App,
you can use the United app to take care of
anything you need. It even includes a baggage service. If
your bag happened to become lost, United will take care
(16:54):
of it. Just contact United. They'll follow right through. So
you're getting the best of both worlds. I'm getting a
first class carrier that can provide great service to anybody
who's flying perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Morgantown Municipal Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel. Jonathan will keep in
touch with you and we'll be watching those numbers right
along with you.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Great. Great, thanks Mike.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Hey, appreciate your time, sir. Have a great day and
a better weekend.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Thank you have great weekend.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Absolutely stay dry.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Jonathan Vrabel, Morgantown Municipal Airport Director, in plainments on the
way up, which means the essential air service one million
dollar allocation is definitely on the table this year. Coming
up next, we'll talk with Steve Catlett. He's the vice
president of the Berkeley County Commission. We're going to be
talking about the micro grid bill that is before the
(17:47):
State Senate this morning at eleven am. This is Talk
of the Town on AM fourteen forty FM one oh
four point five wajar.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Well, good Friday morning. It is nine thirty four.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Don't know if it's weatherword, but we'll just call it
blah and forty two And it looks like blah will
continue today in the form of clouds. And I have
fifty two degrees according to Metro News Aciweather. And it
looks like there also is a chance for a shower
late today on Thursday. In the city of Morgantown over
(18:38):
at the Hotel Morgan.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
The care portal was rolled out.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Now you can check out the care Portal at caareportal
dot org. Now, this is a method of connecting those
in need with churches and what are referred to as
community champions. On the phone, I've got the director of
Foster Care Initiatives at the Chestnut Ridge Mountain, Greg Clutter
with us.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Greg, good morning, How are you, sir?
Speaker 5 (19:05):
I am doing great. Mike, good morning. Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure to have you on. I guess
give us what is care portal in your words.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
So care portal, it is a care sharing technologies how
we describe it, that actually drives actions for local kids
and families that are in crisis. The best way to
describe it is at Chestnut Mountain Village, which is the
ministry that I'm part of, which was actually launched by
Chestnut Mountain Ranch right here in Morgantown. We are going
(19:39):
throughout the state. We're a statewide ministry and we're guiding
and equipping churches to step in and care for vulnerable
children and families. There are people in churches as communities
all across the entire state of West Virginia that would
love to help with the child welfare issues. In West Virginia.
We'd lead the nation on a per capita basis in
(19:59):
terms of number of kids in foster care. State of
West Virginia removes children at a rate that's about four
times the national average. We're in a, you know, a
very dire foster care situation, and there are people in
churches every Sunday that are actively engaged in the faith
based community that would love to help kids and families
(20:21):
in crisis if they only knew what to do. Care
Portal is a way that the frontline, folks. We have
people mic in our community that work for child protective services,
that work for you know, family support centers and nonprofits
that see the needs of kids and families very regularly,
(20:42):
but they aren't able to communicate it to those people
that could meet those needs, like those people in churches.
Care Portal fills that gap. The folks in the front
line are able to put in, here's a need, here's
a family that has a physical need, maybe a bed,
maybe they have utilities have been shut off, maybe they're
something else that they can put in, and that need
(21:05):
automatically goes to every church volunteer and every church that's enrolled.
We already have fourteen churches in mont County that have
stepped up, and we have four child serving agencies that
are part of this. So it's a way to fill
that gap between people that see the needs and people
that are out there and they're willing to meet the needs.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Now, let me try to paint this picture. Or we're
talking with Greg Clutter from the Chestnut Mountain Ranch about
care Portal. During the program on Thursday, you were able
to come up with a need. It was a mother
who was looking to reunite with her daughter and.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
She needed a bed.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
And of course, ye as we sat there, we really
didn't think about it. But when you need a bed,
you need a bed, you need a frame, you need
a mattress, you need pillows, you need blankets, and you
need a comforter, and you're able to designate all those items.
And as we sat there in that room and that
request was made, cell phones.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Began to chime.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
That belonged to churches in the community that are part
of the program.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Yes, absolutely so the churches we had, we had several
people there, we had pastors, we had people that are
that are our point people at those churches, and literally
their emails started chiming. Care Portal UH is also an
app UH. So their notification started going off and they
were able to do something very easy, which is just
(22:34):
to click UH on that notice that yes, I can
help UH, and and that instantly goes back to that
frontline child serving professional UH to say you've got a
church that's willing to help, and then they make a connection. Mike.
The more the more important part of care Portal is yes,
we could meet that need with that family that was
trying to be reunited. We could meet that need of
(22:56):
getting that bed so the child would have a place
to sleep that was safe when they got home. But
it also connects that family with people in the community
that are concerned, that really want to help. And very
often these vulnerable children and families that are impacted by
foster care or kinship care, or maybe they're adoptive families,
(23:18):
or maybe they're just struggling vulnerable families. They consistently report
they feel isolated, they don't have social structure, they don't
have support. So this meets the physical need, but it
also introduces them to someone in the community that cares.
That's not government, it's just neighbors helping neighbors. Care Portal
just comes down.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
To that, and that is absolutely awesome. And I'll tell
you the other awesome part about this, Greg, in my view,
is the individual aspect in this. And I'm talking about
community champions.
Speaker 5 (23:48):
Would you explain this, Yeah, so community champion. So primarily
when we sign folks up for care Portal, So if
someone happens to be listening and they're part of a
cheer church, they're they're part of a church that wants
to sign up and then go to Careportal dot org.
This is only in Mond County right now, where we
are a pilot project. Chesnut Mountain Village is working with
(24:12):
the Department of Human Services. We're a pilot project here.
So if a church wants to sign up and start responsing, responding,
then go to Careportal dot org. But if you're a
business or for example, there may be hvac companies that
are listening right now that say we would love to
be part of that. They can sign up as a
(24:32):
as a community champion. Other businesses, other individuals can sign
up as community champions that that can actually help meet
these needs. Also, so carpenters, car mechanics, there are so
many things that we see these families facing. The community
champion aspects gives other people outside of outside of churches
(24:54):
and other organizations that can help and just want to
know how to help an ability to see these needs
and respond to them.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Also, absolutely, we've got Greg Clutter with us and we're
talking about care Portal and now, Greg, if it's okay
with you, I'd like to work in a break and
when we come back, I want to tell the folks
about the journey to get this started and the touching
story about well I'll let you tell the story, but
the story about how this all got started, how about.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
That wonderful We'd love to do it.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Okay, beautiful, We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
We are talking about your town now, back to the
talk of the.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Town clouds in forty two degrees in Morgantown.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I'm Mike Nolting on the phone.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Have got Greg Clutter with the Chestnut Mountain Ranch and
we're talking about care Portal. Mon County is a pilot
location for care Portal.
Speaker 5 (25:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
That's a way to connect churches and community champions like
weal with those in need.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
Now.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
The journey to get here, well, it was a I
don't know, Greg, the journey to get to this point
was a journey.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
It absolutely was so Mike. We you know, at Chestnut
Mountain Village Ministry, which has been launched out of Chestnut
Mountain Ranch, we work with churches across the state and
we guide and equipped them to help vulnerable children and families.
We have this, we have this belief here that almost
every community in West Virginia already has more than enough resources,
(26:36):
more than enough willing people, more than enough willing families
to solve local foster care issues and child welfare issues.
So about gosh, mid twenty three, the team here at
Chestnut Mountain Village and two churches people from two churches
in the area, Chesnut Rich Church and CMA Church at Morgantown.
(26:58):
We began this journey. We said, we really think in
our backyard here in mont County, there are great strengths
that we have, and we took this journey where we
started looking and saying what's out there. And it took
us a few months to kind of go through and
meet with nonprofits, meet with agencies, talk to people at
(27:20):
our local schools, talk to people at churches, and we
really looked and we said, you know, we've got amazing
resources right here in our county. We have amazing people
who really want to help, but they don't know what
to do. And that's been the story for a lot
of what we do here at Chestnut Mountain Village. We
(27:41):
walk into churches and we say are you involved and
are We have no idea what to do, so we
guide and equipped them to do things. When we saw
all the activity and all the capabilities and everything the
resources here in Mont County, we said, wow, if we
could just connect those people who are willing to help well,
those people that see the needs, we could do something great.
(28:02):
And we started learning about care Portal at that time
Mike and we looked care Portals in is in thirty
seven states. It's been around for a long time. It's
a national organization. We picked up the phone and we
started calling care Portal and we said, Uh, we're from
West Virginia. We're trying to figure out how to implement this,
maybe to get started in a small way.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
And their first reaction was, we don't have anybody to
cover the West Virginia area. We don't have an area director.
We're really not sure where to put you, guys, because
no one had really called from West Virginia to start
the Eventually we connected with some folks out of southwestern Virginia,
argued our Appalachian neighbors there who linked us up with
(28:44):
a lady named Claudia Fletcher. And Claudia was the area
director for Virginia for care Portal. And Claudia got us started,
she got us trained, she figured out how to get
a certified. Now Chestnut Mountain Village is actually the implementing
partner for careports here in West Virginia. Claudia really just
kind of drug us through all the details to get
(29:07):
us to get us started, and we ultimately ended up
doing a very small pilot project. We started with Compass
Women's Center here in Morgantown and just said, Compass, you
see needs, can you put those needs in and let
churches help? And it worked, Mike, it really worked. We
started seeing churches step up and like ninety plus percent
of the needs that the women's center was bringing, they
(29:29):
were being met. And it was at that point that
the Department of Human Services at the state said, gosh,
that seems to be working. We can we work together
and try something to do this and maybe in mon
and Mike, we're going to be launching Preston County right
behind this on May thirteenth, can we try and Mond
in Preston County? Just a pilot project to see if
(29:49):
this will work in West Virginia. So we announced that
pilot project, you know, a year after we started this
in November twenty twenty four with Department Human Services, and
we had those there yesterday and we put all this together.
Now we have four agencies and fourteen churches in Mont
County that are part of this, and we launched it
yesterday after a lot of work, and you know, the
(30:14):
whole community's rallying. But if you remember, in part of
that story when we started reaching out the Care Portal
and we really didn't have a home, and we have
this area director at Care Portal named Claudia Fletcher stepped
up and said, I'll help you guys get started well.
On Sunday, March sixteenth, Claudia, who lived in Lynchburg, was
(30:36):
part of very active part of her church. Claudia had
adopted our foster twelve children. She had like fifteen grandchildren
through foster care and adoption. Just an angel here on Earth.
One Sunday, one Sunday afternoon, she became unresponsive and unfortunately
Claudia passed at the end of March twenty at the
(30:57):
end of March on March twenty sixth, so she never
got to see what she helped start here in West
Virginia come to fruition. I'm convinced she saw us Mike
sitting there yesterday and Hotel Morgan with this being launched
here in West Virginia. But it was just a moment
where you look at how people step up and really helped.
(31:18):
She had such a passion for vulnerable children and families
and the work she did with Care Portal all over
Virginia to get at launched she was always always helping,
but she ended her journey here on Earth before we
launched it. So yesterday at the event, we took a
moment and just said, we would be remiss if we
didn't remember our dear friend Claudia Fletcher from the Other
(31:39):
Virginia who stepped up and said, don't care about West Virginia,
let's help get this launch. So we were here. She
was one of those people behind the scenes kind of
helping us through the muck and meyer and learn everything,
and we're just we're eternally grateful for what she did.
And now we're convinced that mont County is going to
lead the way in the state. What we see in
(32:01):
other states is that we're care portals implemented, that the
number of children going into foster care goes down because
we're able, We're able to help families before they get
to that point. We think Mond County and right behind
at Preston County can lead the way, so we hope
we can. We can do this throughout West Virginia eventually
and really change change everything about foster care and vulnerable
(32:25):
children and families in this state because of the community
being involved. These issues are too big for government to
solve alone. They can't do it by themselves. The church
has to step up.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Greg Clutter, it's our job, Greg Clutter with the Chestnut
Mountain Ranch. And I tell you, I think care Portal
has certainly got a lot of momentum coming out of
the gates, and I hope that we can help you
sustain that momentum or even increase it.
Speaker 5 (32:54):
Wonderful. We appreciate your support, Mike, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Absolutely, Greg, I hope you have a good day and
great weekend.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (33:01):
Wonderful you too, Tat you.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Take care check this out online. It is at careportal
dot org. And just to reflect back on the press
conference Thursday afternoon at the Hotel Morgan, it really was
kind of surreal. Maybe not, that's not a good word,
but it was really enlightening, that's a better word. Very
(33:24):
enlightening to watch those requests be put into the website
and it operates in real time, and all the other
cell phones in the room start to chime, and one
by one people step up and say, okay, I've got that,
and I've got this, and then before you know it,
(33:46):
the person that made the request gets a notification back
that says, you know what you're good, We've got you.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
It's careportal dot org. Check it out.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
It's also in the form of an app that you
can put on your phone, tell your church about it,
or maybe anybody else you know. Forty two degrees and
clouds in Morgantown. We'll be back to wrap things up
right after this.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
Good Friday morning, clouds and forty two degrees. It'd be
a good day for a walk tomorrow, I hope that
is for the folks at the Rape and Domestic Violence
Information Center. They're hosting their walk with survivors. That is
tomorrow the Morgantown Farmers Market on Spruce Street. They're going
to get things started at three pm. Considered joining them.
(34:52):
The cost is twenty dollars per person. They will have food, music,
and a chance to win prizes and take a walk
and share some time with survivors. Don't forget about care Portal.
You can check that out atkareportal dot org. I'm sure
you're going to be hearing about that program again in
the future. Senate floor session that starts at eleven AM,
(35:16):
and the bill on the pole position in that poll
in that Senate session is the microgrid bill, so we'll
be watching that throughout the day and all other things Charleston.
It's time now for Metro News talk Line on the
Voice of Morgantown WAJR.
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