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More Resources for our Conferences and Neighbors
Conference Assistance Fund (CAF)
We, together, extended approximately $821,000 in total FY2022 CAF assistance for the fiscal year ended 9/30/2022, including nearly $80,000 to 181 households in September. The comparable CAF total for the prior year FY2021 was $712,000 (15% increase).
Our October activity:
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You submitted 92 fresh applications
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We approved 146 applications (many carried over from Sept) totaling $64,685 and declined 0
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You withdrew 8 applications
And for November to-date:
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You've submitted 34 fresh applications
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We've approved 37 applications and declined 0
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We have 38 applications currently in process
Repeating great news: In mid-October, our Council temporarily augmented our original FY2023 CAF budget provision of $60,000 per month. Our Council is subsidizing $80,000 per month for October, November, & December, 2022. Please note:
We can extend this Council subsidy plus any twinning to CAF from fellow Conferences. If your Conference is currently blessed with funds exceeding 2-3 months of your normal operating outflow, please know that we have fellow Conferences in search of funds to invest in lifting neighbors right now. We invite your Conference to discern if twinning is your best available act of faithful stewardship. Financial twinning can take at least 3 different forms, as determined by the sharing Conference: (1) Twin directly to our CAF, in which case the twinned amount joins our District Council's subsidy to add CAF capacity; (2) Twin in direct response to a fellow Conference's specific neighbor request; (3) Twin to a Conference you designate (1-time or recurring) for them to extend to their neighbors as they discern. Please contact Tom Roberts, 513.345.4910 or troberts@svdpcincinnati.org , for more info or to twin. It will feel good knowing you are investing these dollars in our neighbors and community now, as your donors intend.
Our ERA 2 Program remains available to qualified tenant neighbors who reside within the City of Cincinnati. Please read below for more information.
While our CAF exists to be extended to your/our neighbors, please also seize opportunities to help our neighbors experiencing need to access governmental programs for which they may qualify and other publicly- and privately-funded assistance resources. This is particularly relevant for neighbors navigating chronic budgetary shortfalls. Examples include SNAP, SSDI, and the OWF & PRC programs administered by Hamilton County Job and Family Services ("JFS").
Finally, we remind you that your Conference must now be utilizing CMS to access CAF for your/our neighbors. Each CAF application submitted should have a CMS case #. Why? CMS, as now used by the vast majority of our Conferences, is proving to be an extremely useful tool to do our good works even better.
Publicly-Funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA 2)
ERA 2, funded through the City of Cincinnati, is available for qualified/eligible tenant neighbors who reside within the City of Cincinnati. The City's funding is currently committed to December, 2022. As of today, we have approved 67 ERA 2 applications and have 46 more in progress. As a publicly funded program, ERA 2 does require specific information and documentation...resulting in more time investment. You can find ERA 2 informational content and our application on the Member Support and Forms page (password: member) of our SVDP-Cincinnati website. On Thursday, 10/27, we advised our Conference Presidents of the following development:
As we are committed to managing expectations of our neighbors and Vincentians…while providing an acceptably responsive turnaround time for all stakeholders, including landlords and utility providers…we (Conferences) are implementing the following ERA 2 administrative adjustments:
- Recognizing you may have some ERA 2 applications begun but not yet completed and ready for submission, we will continue to accept your neighbor’s/your completed ERA 2 applications until (this past) Fri, 11/4/2022
- Effective 4pm (this past) Fri, 11/4/2022, we suspend(ed) accepting ERA 2 applications until we advise otherwise (we may be able to reopen at a future date, depending on how many completed applications we receive by 11/4 and how quickly we can process & approve those applications in our queue)
Greater detail was communicated to your Conference President, including the fact that we are currently managing to process/approve approx 10 applications per week. We will continue to share weekly progress here. Thanks for your understanding and collaboration.
Rahe Beds Fund & Program
November bed requests are currently being processed and will be in the mail by the end of this week. We will not be able to extend any additional vouchers in November.
If your Conference is considering purchasing beds to extend as assistance, you can get info, including current pricing, or purchase by contacting Dave Chidlow, Stores Retail Resource Manager, at dchidlow@svdpcincinnati.org or 513.853.1002. Your purchased beds will be picked up at our CHRC within our Liz Carter Center. Please be aware that our beds cost and resale pricing have risen significantly.
We still have cribs and pack ‘n’ plays available for neighbors with children too young for beds (under age two). These do not count against the limit of two Rahe beds per household per lifetime. If you have a neighbor who is in need of one, please contact Phuong at rahebedfund@svdpcincinnati.org . We will provide the neighbor with a voucher that can be redeemed at our CHRC.
Do you have questions about our Rahe Beds Fund & Program?
You can find the most updated Bed Fund Conference Guide in the Members section of the SVDP website. A recording of our recent Resource Spotlight featuring beds assistance will also soon be available. Our online request form can be found here.
Metro Bus Passes (Everybody Rides Metro)
Your Conference has access to Metro single-day bus passes to be extended to neighbors for use for any of 3 defined purposes:
1. Commute to/from new employment
2. Commute to/from our Bank St services hub or other community social services
3. Commute to/from medical appointments
Please understand that these passes are sourced through the Everybody Rides Metro program and our Council is required to comply with the above-referenced usages and submit reports of passes distributed. Please also understand that your Conference will need to record bus passes extended in CMS for the neighbors receiving this assistance. Our Bus Pass Guidelines sheet for Conferences is available to you on the Members Support page of our website https://www.svdpcincinnati.org/conferences-members/member-support/
or use this link to go directly to this document:
https://www.svdpcincinnati.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Bus-Tickets-Policy.pdf
If your Conference wants to learn more about this program or request passes, please contact Alec Jewell, Conferences Manager, at ajewell@svdpcincinnati.org or 513.345.4983.
Our Re-Entry Program
Our Re-Entry Program Manager, Dion Crockett, is eager to work with you to assist neighbors you are serving who have been affected by the criminal justice system. If you would like to host Dion at a Conference meeting, get together with him in another way, or discuss a particular situation, Dion can be reached at 513.562.8851 or dcrockett@svdpcincinnati.org .
Cooking Improv with La Soupe
Our partner La Soupe teams with our Catino Choice Pantry to present monthly Cooking Improv demonstrations in the Teaching Kitchen at our NOC. Instructors from La Soupe and volunteers engage participants on basic cooking principles and how to use what you have to create delicious, nutritious meals. All recipes are based off ingredients found daily in our Catino Choice Pantry. Neighbors are encouraged to sample the delicious dishes and discuss preparation and ingredients with our staff, volunteers, and resident La Soupe instructor, Chef Mona!
These sessions are held on the first Wednesday of each month - which means our next event is Wednesday, 12/7, 11am-1pm. No pre-registration is required.
Feel free to share this information with your neighbors, or if you’re interested in getting involved in our Teaching Kitchen programming, please reach out to Demi Schoenherr at dschoenherr@svdpcincinnati.org for more information.
Haircuts from the Heart in our NOC
This is a free haircut program, courtesy of our partner Franciscan Ministries. Stylist Margarita will be in our NOC on the first and second Monday of each month, 9am-noon, cutting hair in a room on the 2nd floor. Due to other commitments, Margarita will not be here on 11/14. She’ll return on Monday, 12/5. Neighbors are accepted on a walk-in basis, and should sign in at our NOC reception desk upon arrival.
Education Center Within Our Neyer Outreach Center
Our NOC Education Center is available for our neighbors and Vincentians to use during our operating hours: Monday - Friday, 8am - 4pm, and Saturday, 8am - noon.
Language Service Available to our Conferences
A growing number of our Conferences are experiencing increased interactions with Latino members of our community…and are struggling to effectively communicate with neighbors who are most fluent or exclusively fluent in Spanish. We have contracted a dedicated language service to help you engage these neighbors in a welcoming, affirming manner. Any Conference member can download the “LanguageLine InSight” app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer at https://insight.languageline.com/ . You simply need to use the Authentication Code 6NN692GLS2 the first time you login. Through this app you will have access to over 40 different languages, including Spanish, via an interpreter. You will have the option of either audio or visual (for those needing sign language); we strongly encourage using visual only when you must. Please be efficient in your utilization as our Council pays by the minute for this service; visual is nearly twice as expensive as audio. When you access the service, you will be asked for your name and department, you simply need to state your name, then “St Vincent de Paul Cincinnati Conferences”, then your Conference name. Be sure to only call through the app; you cannot use this service through a regular phone call.
A testimonial from within our Council, "We actually just gave the line a call, figured trying it out would be the best way to know. It was very easy. You login and just select the language, then immediately it connects you with an interpreter who can add the other person to the call. It’s all through the app, very quick, very easy."
Our Charitable Pharmacy and Social Services are already using this tool to engage our Latino neighbors.
If you have any questions or are having trouble accessing the service, please reach out to Alec or Olivia of your Conferences Support Team.
A final seed to plant: If your Conference is among those engaging more neighbors preferring or needing to communicate in Spanish, please consider this an opportunity to seek the addition of Spanish-speaking members. This could enhance your responsive communication and expand your Conference’s perspective.
Christ Church Plumb Line
Olivia Scheper, Conferences Support Coordinator, is our central contact point-person. Plumb Line only accepts assistance referrals from this single SVDP point-person.
As a reminder, Plumb Line can assist with $400 of past due rent for neighbors who are currently working.
Please note: Your Conference does not need to enter your request for Plumb Line assistance into CMS when you submit it to Olivia. Olivia will add the referral into CMS once she submits it to Christ Church.
All referrals to Plumb Line should be sent to:
Olivia Scheper
oscheper@svdpcincinnati.org
Phone: 513.345.4986, ext 239
Please understand and have faith: Plumb Line only communicates with the landlord and the neighbor after our referral is made. Therefore, once we have submitted your neighbor referral to Plumb Line, no news is good news. Christ Church will only communicate with us when they are unable to assist a neighbor or there are difficulties with a case. We should not contact Christ Church for status reports on a referral.
Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW)
GCWW's Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program provides funds for assistance for eligible tenants residing in the City of Cincinnati. There are eligibility stipulations. Tenants must qualify by completing an online application at assistance.mygcww.org .
Renters can also call 513.591.7700 to receive assistance from the call center to complete an application. There is also a flexible payment plan through the PromisePay Portal. GCWW customers can visit GCWW.promise-pay.com for details about the program and how to enroll. Renters not residing in Cincinnati city limits but living in Hamilton County can visit https://erap.hcjfs.org/ for utility assistance. If you need additional materials or information, please contact GCWW at GCWWCares@gcww.cincinnati-oh.gov .
Duke Energy
As winter approaches, we encourage you to seek info on the Winter Crisis Program which traditionally includes federal provisions such as Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) & Winter Reconnection Order ("winter rule").
Duke encourages us to follow our standard steps for processing pledges on customer accounts. For questions on accounts or pledges for neighbors requesting utility assistance, please contact Duke Energy's Centralized Agency Team at 800.241.3194. Advocates are available Monday through Friday, 7:30am - 5:30pm.
Duke also encourages us to direct customers to their website to find programs, tips and tools. Should our neighbor / their customer not meet Duke's qualifications for assistance, please refer them to Duke's customer care organization at 800.544.6900 where they may find assistance through a flexible installment plan.
State of Ohio Program for Struggling Homeowners
Save the Dream Ohio helps eligible Ohio homeowners facing foreclosure and/or who cannot afford to pay their mortgage payments, utility payments or other related housing costs as a result of economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The state of Ohio was awarded $280 million from the U.S. Department of Treasury through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for the program. Click here for more information:
Save the Dream Ohio - Managed by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (ohiohome.org)
City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County COVID Assistance
Our neighbors & you can still find info and resources at https://513relief.org .
Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation (CEIF) Vision Clinic in our Neyer Outreach Center
The Vision Clinic operates by appointment on certain Monday mornings & Thursdays as designated by CEIF. Our November schedule is impacted by Thanksgiving: open tomorrow (Thurs, 11/10), & next Thurs (11/17), 8:30am - 3pm; then closed for the remainder of this month. A limited number of walk-in exams can also be accommodated. To schedule an appointment, or to inquire for additional info, please call 513.207.6140.
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