Community Action Agency in Hocking-Athens-Perry assistance programs.
The regional Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action Agency administers several food programs as well as offers application to government aid, such as weatherization. The resources available from this non-profit are intended to solve a short term crisis while the family participates in long term support, even including the David V. Stivison Appalachian Scholarship Fund.
Locate food for children, seniors, and families in poverty
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a partnership of Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action as well as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Together they furnish free commodity foods at no cost to low-income residents of the counties served who are in need of short-term hunger relief.
This federal government USDA funded program serves a number of highly vulnerable groups in the community. Commodities are available for the elderly, working poor families, residents with young children, single mothers, and the homeless. Food as well as boxes of groceries are distributed through the Southeastern Ohio Food Bank pantry network.
CSFP also provides monthly food boxes. This service is for nutritionally at-risk, income-eligible households, and the formal name of the Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action program is Commodity Supplemental Food.
Canned and healthy food boxes are assembled at Southeastern Ohio Food Bank, and delivered to local sites for monthly distribution. The packages provided from the facility contain a variety of USDA-donated commodities, and may include Pasta, Cereal, Grits, Canned Meat and/or Poultry, Peanut Butter, Powdered Milk, Cheese, Dry Beans, Evaporated Milk/Formula and Fruit Juice.
Children from Ohio counties such as Perry can enroll into the BackPack Program. In some areas, the program includes extra food for younger siblings, and some programs, including our Summer Feeding Program, are in operation during the summer break.
This helps meet the nutritional needs of teenagers and even younger children from low-income families by providing them with nutritious groceries. The backpacks are given to them so they can take the items home over the weekends and during school vacations, when lunches and other USDA resources are not available. Children that are able to enroll are sent home each weekend and extended school break with back packs filled with child-friendly, vitamin-fortified, nonperishable and easily prepared foods.
Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action uses volunteers and trained staff for Meals-On-Wheels. The service will provide direct delivery of warm, freshly prepared and nutritious meals to the homes of elderly residents of Athens, Hocking and Perry Counties.
Meals are prepared in the non-profits state-of-the-art kitchen facility or outsourced to local restaurants. Once prepared, they are driven hot and fresh to clients' homes in Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action Meals-On-Wheels Hot Shot Trucks, which are equipped with heating and cooling units to ensure that food arrives at safe and healthy temperatures. Not only is free food passed out, but for many of seniors as well as the homebound, the drivers are their only human contact from day to day.
Therefore the mostly volunteer drivers do much more than bring food. For example, they also serve as safety nets for the clients, notifying emergency contacts (such as a doctor or family members) if anyone appears to be underfed, injured or ill.
Last, but not least, the Meals-on-Wheels program also delivers food as well as groceries to sites in Athens and Hocking County. The locations are known as Congregate Meals sites, where seniors with greater mobility can gather to eat and socialize with their peers.
Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action Agency financial aid
With the increasing costs of renting and buying a home, high closing costs and down payments prevent many prospective residents from realizing their dreams of owning a home. The community action agencies Home Buyer Assistance Program helps eligible applicants gather the funds or apply for loans that they need to make the purchase. There are different parts of this, including loans for seniors on social security, HUD sponsored programs, and others.
Depending on credit scores and other factors, the applicant can get up to $7000 toward moving costs, down payment and/or closing costs. There may also be separate loans for the disabled or seniors. Once it's determined that an applicant qualifies for money, Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action conducts an inspection to make sure that the home is up to safety codes and that it is a good investment. During this process, if it's found to be necessary, clients are provided with access to Home Repair, Weatherization or Home Rehabilitation services. This will both make sure the property is safe (including for seniors) and also energy-efficient.
The state of Ohio Home Energy Assistance Program Winter Crisis Program (WCP) provides financial assistance with paying heating bills of income-eligible applicants in Perry and other counties. Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action Agency will assist those who are in the scary and dangerous position of having their service disconnected during the cold winter months. Also known as Emergency HEAP, WCP offers grants as well as financial help in the form of one-time payments or credits made to the utility provider on the client's behalf.
The Ohio SCP - Summer Crisis Program is a special component of HEAP. The key difference is this program helps income-eligible households pay for the electricity required to cool their homes in the summer. Or it may pay for fans or air conditioners.
This cash benefit is provided as a one-time payment made by Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action directly to the utility company. The grant paid out to the client is only for the purpose of ensuring that individuals who may be susceptible to the dangerous as well as unhealthy effects of extreme heat have access to air conditioning.
To be eligible for financial assistance from SCP, applicants must be over age 60, have a total household income must be below 175 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, and families in Athens County will also be required to submit a physician's statement that the applicant or someone in the household has a serious as well as proven medical need for financial aid to enable them to have an air conditioned environment.
The goals of the Home Weatherization Assistance Program are to keep a home warm or cool. HWAP can relieve the financial burden of heating a drafty household for low to moderate income households by reducing home cooling as well as heating bills.
The team from Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action will also partner with contractors to improve the safety of homes to ensure the well-being as well as health of the occupants. The fact is that drafts in older or inefficient properties often lead to high energy costs and heating bills that can cause financial hardship. Home improvements that are the result of weatherization are provided to eligible clients at no cost to them.
The Community Action Housing Division's assists income qualified residents of Athens, Hocking and Perry Counties with paying for home repairs. The aid is limited in scope to at most to one or two tasks to improve health and safety. This may include minor Foundation Repair, Furnace Replacement, Electrical Repair, Insulation, Roof Replacement, Plumbing Work, or Window Replacement.
The SafeLink Telephone Assistance Program provides free cell phones and minutes to income-eligible applicants. This is a resource created for the purpose of keeping them connected with health care providers, current or potential employers, children and other family members, and emergency services like 911. What people can find at the office ranges from information, applications, brochures, and income guidelines for SafeLink. Find additional government telephone assistance programs.
Programs for children
FDCM - Family Day Care Mentor Program works in partnership with local home day care providers in Perry or Athens to offer Head Start programming for three to five-year-olds. This is paid for using government grants. As part of this, a mentor visits the children in the provider's home, while also providing guidance and advice to the day care owner.
High school seniors can apply for the David V. Stivison Appalachian Scholarship Fund. There is funding to help students from working-poor families in Hocking, Athens, and Perry Counties enhance their career opportunities by attending college. Qualifying applicants for this scholarship may also receive other financial help in the form of referrals to the Coalition of Appalachian Development (COAD) for possible additional funding!
Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action Agency also collaborate with the Ohio Buckles Buckeyes Program to offer free child safety seats as well as installation tips to low income families as well as single parents. The program's purpose is to prevent injuries that occur from a lack of knowledge about how to properly install a car seat. This is combined with the seats, which will ensure that all family members (in particular children) are safe when in their vehicles. The non-profit can help those residents that are unable to afford a car seat or that just need education on how to use and install them.
Hocking, Athens, Perry Community Action has a main office at 3 Cardaras Dr., Glouster, OH 45732-0220. For information on the non-profit, call 740-767-4500.
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