The Leadership Tuscarawas Board of Directors are pleased to announce the selection of Jessica Kinsey, MSW, LISW-S, Founder and CEO, Access Tusc as their choice for the prestigious 2024 Alumni Award of Excellence winner.
According to her nominator, Dr. Mariann Harding, Interim Nursing Program Director at Kent State University at Tuscarawas, “In 2013, Access Tuscarawas (AT) was just a dream. Jessica Kinsey was part of a group of community leaders that had a vision to provide a common resource to our community.” Ms. Kinsey took that vision and founded Access Tusc, and over the past 10 years, and since her graduation from Leadership Tuscarawas, has been the instrumental driver in building that organization to what it is today.
Today, Access Tusc is a thriving 501(c)3 organization. Their mission is to help people in our community, and those communities surrounding, who need help understanding and accessing services they need such as health care, transportation, housing, mental health care, and education. Both the Bridges to Wellness and Access Tusc Transit programs were created to help connect community members with the services they need. Access Tusc Transit is rural public transportation service that area residents can use, regardless of income or age. In 2023 they provided 263000 miles of transit mile services.
Bridges to Wellness is a care coordination agency that serves several counties, including Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Monroe, Muskingum, Noble, Tuscarawas, and Washington. Through the services of community health workers, they link persons to community resources. Last year, they served 1800 under resourced clients.
Jessica has devoted her career to improving access to care for the most vulnerable. A licensed social worker, Jessica has worked at Union Hospital in the Social Services and Behavioral Health Departments. Most recently, she was nominated to serve as the Secretary for the Ohio HUB Association. In this role, she advocates, coordinates and works to grow the success of HUBs, which are care organizations similar to Access Tusc, in Ohio.
Jessica lives in New Philadelphia with her husband Matt, and children Jackson, Julia and Madilyn.
For more information, please contact William H. Beisel at 330-308-7437 or by email at wbeisel@kent.edu.