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Meeting Basic Needs/Safety Net Council special initiatives addressing the root causes of these critical issues.
Emergency Fuel Assistance Meetings:
In the Fall of 2005, our communities showed growing concern for how low income community members were going to be able to stay warm with the costs of home heating oil increasing daily. United Way of Mid Coast Maine convened a meeting of town, city and state officials, emergency services providers, human services agencies, emergency services, businesses, interested community members and those who currently receive heating assistance or were potentially at risk of needing assistance in the coming months. Participation was very strong, including representatives from the Speaker of the House, Speaker of the Senate and Senator Snowe's offices. The group was able to learn the scope and limitations of the available heating assistance programs, strategies beyond financial assistance to help meet heating demands, collaborate on supplementing existing assistance programs and explore new avenues of assistance. Participants said these Community Meetings helped them make appropriate referrals and distribute limited fuel assistance funds more effectively.
Emergency Heating Assistance Fund:
In response to the critical demand for heating assistance funds in the Fall of 2005, the United Way of Mid Coast Maine made a special allocation of $15,000 which was distributed to Coastal Economic Development, Lincoln County Emergency Energy Fund, Salvation Army, and Warm Thy Neighbor for use in local communities.The UWMCM Emergency Heating Assistance Fund was able to help 73 households stay warm during the holiday season.
Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP):
The UWMCM administers the Emergency Food and Shelter Program for Lincoln and Sagadahoc Counties facilitating the distribution of $10,000 to Lincoln County and $12,144 to Sagadahoc County to supplement emergency food and shelter programs.
2-1-1 Maine:
Beginning July 2006, Maine callers in need of health or human services assistance, will be able to connect with friendly and knowledgeable call specialists - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, simply by dialing 2-1-1, or you can search on-line for a needed service in the database at
www.211Maine.org -and its free and confidential.>>
more info
EITC:
United Way of Mid Coast Maine distributes information on the availability of the Earned Income Tax Credit program, the largest federal aid program for the working poor, to low-income individuals and families so they can take advantage of this crucial benefit.
The Meeting Basic Needs/Safety Net Council has several special initiatives in the Mid Coast region that get to the root causes of critical issues facing our community.
Affordable Housing Forum:
United Way of Mid Coast Maine is partnering with Mid Coast Business Development and Planning to host a forum of Affordable Housing to be held Thursday, May 11th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick. The meeting will focus on the current state of affordable housing in the mid coast, who can actually afford to live in these communities and presentations from area groups that have worked on innovative strategies to address this problem.
Aging and Disabilities Resource Coalition:
United Way convenes and staffs this Coalition, whose goal is "to have the best possible community system to help seniors and other adults who need long term services find the help that's right for them."
Local agencies providing a wide range of services to seniors and people with disabilities came together for training on important issues, so they could better serve their clients. They also educated each other on local formal and informal services, so they could coordinate effectively and refer people seeking help to the best program or person.
To ensure continuing quality in referrals, the Coalition helped ensure that the new statewide 2-1-1 Maine system has complete information on supports that help people live as independently as possible.
The Coalition also supported the launch of the Greater Bath Elder Outreach program, developed by United Way volunteers. Trained volunteers are matched one-to-one with an isolated older person. In addition to being a friend, the volunteers can help link elders to needed services.
The Coalition is in its third year of funding by a grant from the Administration on Aging/Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, managed by the state of Maine Office of Elder Services.
Learn more at:
Meeting Basic Needs/Safety Net -
