News: UWGC allocates funding for emergency assistance

Six local agencies on the front lines of the economic crisis have been awarded grants totaling $60,000 from United Way of Greenville County to help meet the community’s increased demand for emergency basic needs assistance.

Assistance programs provided by United Ministries, The Salvation Army, Golden Strip Emergency Relief, Foothills Family Resources, Greer Relief and Harvest Hope Food Bank will each receive $10,000 in emergency funding to help address the growing need prompted by record unemployment and the home foreclosure crisis.

In December, 2008, United Way provided $90,000 in emergency funding to these same six agencies. As the national economic recession continued to take hold locally over the past 12 months, United Way staff monitored the demand for services and saw some programs reporting increases as high as 200 percent in the number of individuals and families seeking assistance. Available resources have failed to meet the rise in demand, forcing programs to turn away up to 300 people in need each month.

“The programs have also seen their client base dramatically change,” said Ann Robinson, chair of United Way’s Community Impact Cabinet. “The majority of clients served over the past 12 months were newly homeless and had already exhausted every potential avenue of assistance.”

UWGC’s Community Impact Cabinet evaluated how the organization could best respond and moved to provide the additional funding, which is designated for direct service to the community in the form of rent/mortgage assistance, utilities assistance and/or food assistance.

“We know that unprecedented times have created unprecedented need in our community,” said Margaret Clark, 2010 United Way Board Chair. “United Way will continue to work with these local agencies to ensure that these critical emergency assistance programs are in place to help individuals and families.”