Porter County Aging and Community Services continues to help Porter County residents with its Emergency Assistance Fund.
The agency was recently allocated $50,000 from the United Way of Porter County.
Bruce Lindner, executive director of PCACS, looks to impact as many individuals and families as the agency did last year. From July 2010 to June 2011, 143 clients received assistance from the $54,000 grant. The funds went to help clients with medical, mortgage, rent, housing, lodging, transportation and utility issues.
Since beginning the process in July, Lindner said there has been a steady flow of requests for assistance.
“We are looking to help as many people as possible and only have limited funds,” Lindner said. “In most cases, we are able to offer assistance in the form of hundreds, not thousands of dollars to meet each client’s individual emergency.”
Lindner said the agency was able to help an individual recover from an emergency situation for $50. The individual had traveled to the area after receiving a job, but when he arrived to the area, he found out the job was no longer available. The funds went to purchase him a bus ticket so he could return to family and friends.
“For this particular individual, we were able to truly make a difference in his life for such a small amount of money,” Lindner said.
He emphasizes the funds are for emergency situations such as these.
“We recommend those seeking assistance to solidify why they are facing an emergency situation and be able to clearly put that into words when they reach out to us,” Lindner said. “The better they are able to explain their challenges, the better we can determine if we can offer them assistance or not through this fund.”
To seek emergency funds, contact the PCACS staff at 464-9736.
PCACS’ mission is to extend a helping hand to seniors, those who are disabled and low-income residents by providing services to improve their quality of life, including transportation, nutrition programs, energy assistance and activity centers.