Norwich — Former Norwich Human Services Director Lee-Ann Gomes helped Norwich with COVID-19 relief fund planning and reporting, so she thought it was fate when she was approached on her last day about a new regional position to help communities plan for their relief funds.

Gomes is now the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments' regional recovery coordinator, a part-time position to help towns recover from the coronavirus pandemic, develop projects and funding plans that comply with the American Rescue Plan Act and help the communities with outreach to formulate the plans, according to a council of governments document.

Among the responsibilities, the coordinator will help the communities determine if projects are eligible and assist with ARPA documentation and requirements, coordinate with government agencies, and assist with potential ARPA-funded regional projects, the document states. Gomes also will coordinate communications with health districts and provide other pandemic recovery assistance, as needed, among other tasks.

“I’m very, very happy to work with many of the towns that I’ve had relationships with previously, and if there’s anything I can do to be of assistance to them, I’m happy to do that,” said Gomes, who started in her new position on Jan. 31.

Gomes, 57, retired as director of Norwich Human Services on Dec. 30, 2021, after eight years as director and a total of 36 years with the agency.

She called the ARPA funding a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for towns to really do some new and innovative projects to really help their citizens.”

In a June memo to Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments members, Executive Director James S. Butler proposed that each SCCOG member allocate, on a voluntary basis, 1% of their ARPA funds toward the position. SCCOG staff in discussions with the council had suggested ideas to help the council’s “22 cities, towns and boroughs in their efforts to identify eligible activities, in the administration of these funds, and with grant reporting and financial tracking.”

Butler described the work the council did over the pandemic, including weekly calls with regional health districts, assistance to human service agencies and mask distribution. The council also created a Regional Resource Recovery Steering Committee and working groups that represented “stakeholders and populations negatively impacted by the pandemic to identify unmet needs, and potential actions to address those needs."

He wrote that the ARPA funding being provided to SCCOG member municipalities “provides an opportunity for the SCCOG to fund a position dedicated specifically to assist the region’s municipalities and their residents in recovering from the devastation the pandemic has caused in our region.”

Gomes said she’s very appreciative of the opportunity. In her role in the Norwich Human Services department, she had worked with SCCOG and admired Butler and Deputy Director Amanda Kennedy and the work they do for the region.

Butler reported at Wednesday’s SCCOG meeting that nine members had contributed funding. As a result, while the position initially was envisioned as full time, SCCOG decided to retain a part-time contract consultant for the role.

The communities that contributed funding are: East Lyme, $8,965; Franklin, $932; Montville, $8,987; North Stonington, $2,523; Salem, $1,983; Sprague, $1,388; Stonington Borough, $429; Stonington, $8,583, and Windham, $11,927, according to Butler.

While the council will continue to help all towns, Gomes will focus on assisting the municipalities that provided contributions from their first-year ARPA funds, Butler said.

k.drelich@theday.com