People keep asking us about the Salvation Army Emergency Financial Assistance, so we decided to write this post to provide some help. Many people think that the Salvation Army only serves armed forces families, but that is not necessarily the case.
Everybody has that hard time at some point in their life. When they do, they need any help that they can get, especially to cover the basic needs of the family. Salvation Army offers temporary financial assistance so that the family can have short-term support while they wait until they get back on their feet.
Needless to say, there are many types of basic needs for low-income families, including housing or rental assistance, food and nutrition assistance, utility and heating bills assistance, clothing assistance, and emergency cash assistance. Just as you may have expected, the Salvation Army’s fund is limited, hence they have to carefully examine all of the applicants to ensure that the money they allocated goes to the right hands.
It is also important to remember that due to the same limited funds reason, the programs offered by the Salvation Army are seasonal or short-term and unavailable throughout the year. Here are some of the financial assistance programs offered by the SA:
Salvation Army Emergency Financial Assistance – The Options
Housing and Rent Assistance – In order to prevent the increased number of homeless in the community, many SA offices offer some form of help for those who need it. People who are in danger of eviction from their house due to inability to pay monthly mortgage or rent may contact the SA office in their local area. If there is money to spare, they will spare it. Even if there’s no current program for housing, contacting the SA office is a good move because they may be able to connect you to the housing assistance programs in your area.
The SA also provides transitional housing and also some degree of help for employment and trainings for people who need an immediate shelter for a short period of time. Many of the people benefiting from this service were recently kicked out of their homes or have family break-up problems.
Food and nutrition assistance – Aside of temporary housing assistance, many SA offices throughout the country provides food pantries or food shelves, available for the elderly, the disabled, and the homeless. Typically they open throughout the year, although they often open for limited hours. How much you can get depends on your current condition, including the income and the number of people in the family.
Utility bills assistance – In case of emergency, the SA provides assistance for paying the utility and heating bills for people facing the dangers of disconnection during emergency situation such as winter storm, etc. Typically this assistance is given for families with at-risk members, including the disabled, elderly or children.
Other assistance – the SA also provide a wide range of other assistance, including basic health care, basic dental procedures, prescription vouchers; transportation assistance, school supplies assistance, winter months assistance, back to school programs, holiday programs, and disaster assistance.
Remember, all of the assistance is typically short-term so you can’t really rely on them forever. The Salvation Army emergency help should be used as a complementary assistance after you get your emergency financial assistance from the government such as SNAP or TANF.
References:
- State Aid and Assistance Program (http://www.needhelppayingbills.com/html/state_aid_and_assistance_progr.html#local)
- Image: salvationarmy.ca
