NORWICH – Over 13 percent of families in Chenango County are living below the poverty level. Some have hard times meeting their most basic needs, but thanks to programs funded by the Chenango United Way, services are in place to help families through the hard times and help them toward achieving their goals of self sufficiency.
In March of 2005, the Chenango United Way did a community needs assessment and identified four categories of need in Chenango County: poverty issues of housing and hunger, programs for the aging population, programs for children and youth and access to healthcare.
Programs that address the basic needs of obtaining shelter and food fall into the poverty focus area.
“As one of the four main focus areas identified in the needs assessment, the issues addressed by programs funded in this focus area (poverty issues of housing and hunger) are assisting people with some of the most basic needs we have – shelter and food,” said Community Co-Chair Karen Sastri.
Following the 2006 CUW campaign, $93,746 was allocated to fund six programs that addressed the poverty issue in Chenango County.
One of those programs was the Transitional Housing Program through Opportunities for Chenango. “The Transitional Housing Program serves working families with dependent children who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless,” said Gary Quarella of OFC. Although homelessness doesn’t seem to be as prevalent in rural areas like Chenango County, a point-in-time survey of homelessness in the county identified at least 73 homeless individuals in Chenango County on one specific date. Quarella pointed out that the face of homelessness is not what people may think. “Two years ago, over 40 percent of families at risk of becoming homeless were households where at least one of the adults was working,” Quarella said.
The Transitional Housing Program sees many individuals who are at risk of becoming homeless, identifies the barriers to success for each of them and attempts to help them find solutions. For some people, referrals to different community agencies are enough. They refer people to WIC or food stamps for help paying for food, HEAP to aid in the cost of heating fuel in the winter, and help them get assistance where they are eligible. The program has a component for financial management courses to ensure that individuals do not find themselves in the same situation again. Courses on foreclosure and eviction prevention are available, and for individuals who need more help, the program has a few transitional housing units for families to occupy.
The Transitional Housing Program identified five goals for the program and projected how many people they could help in the 2007 year as part of their application to the United Way.
They projected they would see 125 housing-insecure families come into the office, and that by following up on the referrals given by the program, 40 of those families would stabilize their situation within three months. When the United Way Mid Year reports were released, 448 customers had been seen, and 111 of those had secured their situation by utilizing the referrals they had received. Quarella and OFC projected that three families would receive transitional housing and become self sufficient enough to move on from the program. At mid year, two families had already gone through the program. Approximately 110 low to moderate income families attended the financial fitness workshops to improve their budgeting skills, and 18 renters and four mortgage holders have avoided eviction and foreclosure with the help of the program.
“We just wouldn’t be able to do this without the United Way funding,” Quarella said. “We wouldn’t be able to support the move to self sufficiency.”
Catholic Charities Roots and Wings is also funded through the CUW poverty focus area. Roots and Wings provides a food pantry, used clothing and furniture for those in need.
