Voice of Westmoreland organizer: Spend ARP funds on housing, mental health resources

The new organizer for the Voice of Westmoreland, a progressive citizens activist group, wants to increase its efforts “to hold our local officials accountable.”

Voice of Westmoreland, or VOW, wants Westmoreland County commissioners to spend some of the $105 million the county has received through the American Rescue Plan on initiatives to improve mental health resources and for affordable housing, said Amanda Rose Piern, 38, of Hempfield, who has been organizer since mid-February. She succeeded Celina Culver, who left the position last year.

The group met with Commissioners Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli Thrasher to offer input about how some of the federal funding should be spent to help people in need, Piern said.

She credited her involvement with VOW and fellow members with helping set her on a different path since she became an active volunteer with the organization in 2020.

“I found a real passion. They inspired me to do something different,” said Piern, who was a medical coder in the health care industry. She studied at Westmoreland County Community College and intended to pursue teaching.

Now, Piern is a paid staff member of Pennsylvania United, a Pittsburgh-based grassroots organizations with local chapters in the region, including Westmoreland.

Piern was selected as the new organizer because of her passion for the work and her experience with VOW, said Robert Errett of Greensburg, a member of the group.

Before becoming the organizer for VOW, Piern coordinated its Greensburg election efforts last year as part of the “Our Communities Can’t Wait” campaign sponsored by Pennsylvania United. It supported two candidates for Greensburg City Council and one for Greensburg Salem School Board. With little name recognition, they were able to get more than 1,000 votes, Piern said.

Although the efforts did not produce winners, Errett said it was just as important to become more active in local elections.

Piern is the daughter of two career military officers and recalls moving around a lot as her parents were assigned to different locales. She attended Greater Latrobe Area for part of her time in middle and high school.

From being forced to relocate several times growing up, Piern said she was able to learn from a variety of people and communities, which has helped in her new position.

“It opens you up to meeting more people and gives you the skills to relate to people,” she said.