Office on Aging gets new director
After more than four months without a director, the Franklin County Office on Aging has chosen a Grove City woman with hands-on and administrative experience helping seniors.
Michelle Missler, 37, is a licensed social worker who began her career at Columbus’ National Church Residences, which provides housing and other services for senior citizens. She worked with the vulnerable elderly living in the agency’s residences.
In her 12 years with the organization, she rose to director of the service coordinator program, where she led 600 of the agency’s service coordinators across the country.
Missler left there in January 2016 to become vice president of strategic initiatives for the Healthcare Collaborative of Greater Columbus, where she helped health-care systems across the region form partnerships to improve the area’s health.
She takes over the Office on Aging after the retirement of Director Antonia Carroll, who helped win a renewal property tax to fund the agency.
In May, 84 percent of voters approved a new levy to raise $233 million over five years. Franklin County voters have approved Office on Aging property taxes since 1992.
The money largely funds the services provided to an average of more than 9,000 Franklin County residents a year. The services include medical transportation, home-delivered meals and adult day care for residents 60 or older. That age group will account for almost 20 percent of the county’s population by 2020, the Office on Aging has said.
The county Office on Aging provides some services. It also contracts with a separate agency, the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging, to provide other senior services.
Missler’s starting annual salary is $96,117.
She received her undergraduate degree in social work and gerontology from Manchester University in Indiana. She also holds a graduate degree in sociology from Arizona State University.