EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – Barb Kliner considers herself a lifelong learner and one thing she has learned is East Palestine’s older population needs support.
EPGO, or East Palestine Getting Older, is a nonprofit organization founded by Kliner in response to some of the gaps in services for older adults.
As her parents aged, Kliner recognized that she was handling more of their needs, like bringing her mom leftovers.
But who was helping those East Palestine area residents whose families were not local?
“I remembered when I was younger, we had a Meals on Wheels program here,” Kliner says. “What happened? Well, the people who ran it did a very good job, but they all died and they didn’t bring young people in to take over, so it just stopped.”
Her parents died a few years ago, but Kliner kept thinking about the unmet needs of the older community.
Kliner says she believes a lot of programs changed or disappeared when East Palestine was downgraded from a city to a village a few decades ago because of population decline. That meant no more city health department nurse. And she notes many in East Palestine isolate themselves.
After retiring as Austintown Local Schools treasurer, followed by a stint overseeing grants for the district, Kliner decided to become a personal trainer. Through her Stick to it Fitness programs, she teaches Silver Sneakers classes, including Cardio Drumming. The Cardio Drumming group has performed at a Senior Health and Wellness event at Covelli Centre, East Palestine festivals and at nursing homes.
Through her fitness groups, Kliner also met more aging East Palestinians and saw firsthand the lack of information reaching them, especially during the pandemic and the aftermath of the February 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment.
“There was a very big lack of care communication here. The older people weren’t getting the information because everyone was putting it on social media,” Kliner says.
Overcoming Isolation
According to the National Institute on Aging, older adults are more likely to be at risk for loneliness and social isolation, which long term can lead to a list of health problems and mental challenges.
Kathy Duncan came to East Palestine in 1955 and spent most of her life working at home as a secretary for her husband’s company, Duncan Brothers. It could be isolating, she admits. At 75, she retired and decided to join Kliner’s exercise classes at the village park.
“I hesitantly opened the door and went in over there,” Duncan says. “It was the best decision I ever made.”
Not only did Duncan join the exercise groups, but she developed friendships and became involved in other EPGO events.
“It’s just a great organization,” Duncan says. “Because if you’re at home, you don’t know what’s happening in East Palestine. We have so much fun drumming and it’s just made such a difference in a lot of people’s lives here in town.”
When the pandemic happened, Duncan and many who attend Kliner’s class felt they needed to exercise and socialize. But as the park and other locations closed, it became difficult. Kliner held exercise events in larger spaces where people could spread out and some would meet in her basement to watch learning programs from the library on her big screen TV.
Lifelong Learning
Kliner even taught herself how to produce a podcast.
Her weekly “Claybrook Chats with Barb” – named for the street where she lives – are on Spotify. She interviews local historians and businesspeople, and features local topics and information aimed at seniors. She planned to produce 10 and has completed more than 90.
Kliner formed EPGO as a nonprofit earlier this year, because she wanted to ensure it would continue into the future. A board, comprised of people with interests in EPGO projects, was named. The group also conducts fundraisers.
“My original goals were information,” Kliner says, “because during Covid and the train derailment, we learned there was a bad flow of information for older people. They did not know what was going on, because everything was on Facebook, so they were missing out on a lot of stuff.”
EPGO produces a newsletter, delivering stacks of paper copies to doctor’s offices, churches, nursing homes, organizations and businesses to try to keep older people informed about available services. It includes information about the schools and events scheduled downtown, in the park and throughout the community.
Kliner says EPGO has made connections with organizations like the Moose and Eagles clubs, the police and fire departments, the library and others. By working together, she says they can accomplish more.
“We’re out there and we’re for everybody and we’re going to work on this as a group,” Kliner says, adding EPGO holds monthly gatherings where people learn and partner to make the community better.
By partnering with Direction Home of Eastern Ohio, Kliner learned there is an annual resource guide for older adults that lists options for people to receive home delivered meals as well as information about transportation, charities, medical equipment, home health and socialization programs. Yet Kliner says she and others she spoke to had never heard of the guide, so EPGO distributed it around East Palestine.
Kliner says over 50 people who participate in her exercise classes signed a letter of support this year, when East Palestine aimed to attract a pharmacy to locate in town following the closure of Rite Aid. Elite Pharmacy is set to open Oct. 1.
What’s Next?
And EPGO’s efforts continue to grow, Kliner says. A phone buddy program is being created through RSVP, a senior volunteer program, which will make daily phone calls to check on participants.
“We’re trying to market it to the older people, the people who need to be called,” Kliner says, adding the program is almost ready to launch and needs both volunteers and call recipients. “We have this attitude here in town that ‘I don’t need help. I’m strong. I can do it.’ But they’re falling down or they’re not getting their medicine or they’re lonely.”
Volunteers will receive training, including what steps to take if the person does not answer at the appointed time.
EPGO participated in the recent 150th celebration of the incorporation of East Palestine, but Kliner wants to ensure history isn’t lost to future generations, so the group launched a book writing project.
Village residents are being asked to write or tell their stories – just a few paragraphs about their memories living in East Palestine. Those who do not live in the village, but who have fond memories of the town or its people, also are being asked to contribute.
Kliner says they want to hear it all – from a first care and shopping at downtown stores to technology changes they have witnessed and memories from the derailment.
Over the next year, group members will edit the shared memories, creating a book, “East Palestine Remembers,” which may be purchased in time for Christmas in 2026.
“Because what better Christmas present could you give your grandparents or your children, as a story that you’re in or your mother wrote or your grandparents are in,” Kliner says.
Kliner though has more goals for EPGO. She would like to see a senior citizens center in East Palestine where older people can gather, play cards, do puzzles, craft and tell stories.
To reach even more people, Kliner would like to start a little local radio station, encouraging young and old to provide local content and important information.
Pictured at top: Barb Kliner, founder of East Palestine Getting Older (EPGO), leads programs aimed at keeping the village’s older residents active, informed and connected.