Mount Vernon News

MOUNT VERNON — There are many organizations in Knox County to help families in this economic recession meet their rent, utilities, food, clothing and other needs. Eligible persons who have been laid off or who are struggling can seek assistance from Interchurch Social Services, The Salvation Army, the United Way, Angel Food Ministries, the Hot Meals program, Knox County Job & Family Services, among others.

“We have the food pantry and they are eligible to have food once every 30 days,” said Linda Robinson, administrator assistant for ISS of Mount Vernon.

Interchurch also offers financial aid. How much is given is based on a monthly budget, so sometimes aid is on a first-come, first-served basis. A lot of times these funds could be gone within the first few days of the month.

“They can be helped with financial aid two times a year in 12 months with rent, utilities, and maybe a deposit. And that is limited; we have a budgeted amount,” Robinson said.

ISS also tries to assist families with other expenses, such as medical costs, clothing and personal items of need.

“And we try to keep taxable items such as laundry detergent, dish washing liquid, and we do try to keep diapers and hygiene items, so we always ask them what it is that they need,” said Robinson.

“We have a clothing store, a thrift store, on Vine Street,” she said. “We allow our clients to have two complete outfits for each member of their family once a month, and they can come here and get a voucher for the clothing store.”

The Salvation Army also has a food pantry.

“I do know that the assistance of the food pantry for us has increased over previous years from 2007. 2008 was a tough year for a lot of people,” said Maj. Robert Bender, commanding officer. “We’ve seen a lot of new folks that never had to use our services before in ’08. So those are folks that never had to come through our doors, but now they have to.

We have The Harbor, which we give vouchers for free meals; [there] families can get a hot meal,” he said. “We provide some limited assistance with housing, rent, mortgage assistance, and we try to help folks with prescriptions. A lot of it depends on whether the funds are available, because it goes quick every month. And the prescription help we do give is like life support, life sustaining — heart medication and diabetes — those types of medications that are expensive.”

Although the program is based on the family’s income, The Salvation Army also tries to provide emergency assistance to anyone in need.

“We do help with emergency housing, from time to time, when there is a need for whatever reason,” he said. “In general, we try to provide emergency assistance.”

Many assistance organizations are on monthly budgets, which requires that some of what is offered be limited, but they do look at the needs of the family.

Knox County Job & Family Services helps families with medical, housing, food stamps and financial assistance.

“Most of what we offer is income based, so you have to qualify by virtue of your income,” said Roger Shooter, director. “And the other criteria is whether or not you have children. If your hours [of work] are reduced, you may or may not qualify, depending on how much you make.

“And, of course, we help people find jobs. At Opportunity Knox, that is what they totally do out there [help people find jobs],” he said. “The goal is to help people up the ladder.”

In some cases, the person may not lose a job, but, due to company cutbacks, production work hours may have decreased, causing a shortage in available income for employees.

“Its possible that a person in this situation might qualify for Medicaid, if they fall into eligibility as an aged, blind, and disabled person, or through the Covered Families with Children program,” said Traci Bell-Thomas, spokeswoman for Ohio Department of Job & Family Services. “A person can qualify for Medicaid if they meet the income eligibility or is determined disabled by SSDI. Most likely, if they are just having hours cut, they won’t qualify. However, if one is pregnant or eligible for any of our waivers, they can get Medicaid.

“A person in this situation also might be eligible to receive food stamps. A person may qualify for benefits if the household’s gross monthly income is within 130 percent of the federal poverty guidelines and within 100 percent of the poverty level after all allowable expenses [net adjusted income], and if the person’s resources such as cash, savings, stocks etc., do not exceed $2,000,” she said.

The limit is $3,000 if a person is at least 60 years old or disabled.

Other assistance programs located throughout the county include Hot Meals and Angel Food Ministries.

With the Hot Meals program every day of the week, members of the community can eat a meal at local churches around Mount Vernon.