United Way of Greenville County to Provide Emergency Assistance Funding to Six Local Agencies

Over the last six months the Greenville County community, along with the rest of the country, has been in an economic downturn. Recent job losses and the growing mortgage and credit crisis have increased demand on emergency assistance programs.

Local agencies that are providing these services have reported higher than average requests for food, mortgage/rent and utility assistance over the past several months. Agencies have reported increases as high as 70% in the number of individuals and families seeking assistance.

In response to the growing crisis, United Way of Greenville County surveyed six local agencies (United Ministries, Foothills Family Resources Center, Greer Relief & Resources Agency, The Salvation Army, Golden Strip Emergency Relief and The Harvest Hope Food Bank) to assess the increased need. Based on this assessment, United Way is providing a one-time grant of $90,000 to provide additional assistance to these critical programs.

Emergency assistance programs at United Ministries, Foothills Family Resources Center, Greer Relief & Resources Agency, The Salvation Army, and Golden Strip Emergency Relief will receive $15,000 each to be used to fund assistance in rent/mortgage and utilities. Additionally, Harvest Hope Food Bank will receive $15,000 to help offset the loss of contributions and provide gap funding for providing food to local pantries and soup kitchens. 

"So many in our community are hurting," said Tami McKnew, 2008 United Way Board Chairman. "United Way will continue to work with these local agencies in the coming months to monitor the needs, brainstorm, and develop strategies to help ensure that programs and services can continue to be provided. As needs continue to grow, ensuring that emergency assistance programs are in place to help individuals and families in crisis is crucial."