Area families affected by the recession will soon receive more help to stay in their homes and keep food on their table through the second phase of the Family Aid initiative through the Lancaster County Community Foundation. Through the initiative, announced earlier this year, the Community Foundation is investing an additional $313,000 to the $250,000 already committed to meet the changing and growing needs of county residents affected by the recession. The expanding impact of the recession is creating a great need for area families. Local food banks are serving between 35-50% more clients, area families are waiting up to 9 months or more for state child care subsidy, and requests for health care services have increased 5% in the past six months. This second wave of support through Family Aid will continue to assist area families with housing and food needs, but will also expand to help with health care and child care costs; all emergent needs of the community as identified by area nonprofit organizations.
The Community Foundation will partner with several local nonprofit organizations to provide immediate assistance in these areas. Partner organizations were selected through a competitive grant process to identify the most emergent community needs. Using the existing infrastructure of well-established organizations has enabled the Community Foundation to respond quickly and in a targeted fashion. The partnering organizations include the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Community Action Program, Lancaster Day Care Center, SouthEast Lancaster Health Services, YWCA of Lancaster, and Tabor Community Services. - Central Pennsylvania Food Bank: The Food Security Network through the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank will work with 47 member agencies (food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, supplemental feeding programs, etc.) to distribute meals, produce, deli and dairy products to families impacted by the recession. Through the program, an additional 124,000 meals will be available and 250 children will receive nutritious evening snacks and meals at after school programs.
- Community Action Program: CAP supports 30 food pantries, 10 congregate feeding sites, and the Power Packs project. Annually, the program serves a duplicated 4,997 households and 16,030 individuals per month through pantries, and 16,561 individuals through congregate feeding. Through Family Aid, CAP will continue to work with partnering agencies to distribute food into the county, and an additional 20% of county residents will have access to nutritious food.
- Lancaster Day Care Center: Family Child Care Aid will provide scholarship funds for area families who have lost their jobs, took lower paying jobs or have had their work hours cut. With additional funding, the Lancaster Day Care Center will offer seventy weeks of scholarship to families at a 75 percent reduction in fees.
- SouthEast Lancaster Health Services: The Lancaster Health Safety Net Initiative is a collaborative of 9 Lancaster County non-profits/programs working together to coordinate health services for people and families negatively impacted by the current economic crisis.
- YWCA of Lancaster: The YWCA will utilize Family Aid funding to subsidize child care costs for individuals who have experienced a reduction in family income. Child care scholarships will be provided to those who are conducting job searches and interviews, attending programs to improve their skills and employability, and those who are returning to work but have lost existing subsidy due to a period of unemployment.
- Tabor Community Services: This project will help stabilize those in financial crisis due to the economic conditions by: 1) Establishing a $50,000 micro-loan fund for Tabor clients in financial crisis and/or homeless; 2) Providing an $18,000 match to enable Tabor to utilize $528,341 from the Federal Rapid Re-Housing Demonstration Project. Through the micro-loan program, 65 Tabor client households will maintain housing for the long-term and reach self-sufficiency goals prescribed at intake, and 63% of clients will increase their income or find employment.
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