 The program was created to help as many needy families as possible
receive food and clothing this holiday season.Van Nydeggen said
that as early as May she could see that the need for supportive
services and direct assistance was on the rise. And now that the
holiday season is approaching, she and the Salvation Army want to do
what they can to help Logan County families get through this time of
year.
Details on what a family needs to do to set up an interview are
recorded on the Salvation Army phone line at 732-7890.
Van Nydeggen says that during the interview appointment, they
will make a wish list of gifts for children in the family and for
adults. If approved for the program this year, the family will then
be matched with an anonymous sponsor who will supply those specifics
in time for the holidays. The family receiving the items will also
remain anonymous to the sponsor.
Van Nydeggen believes this program is even more needed this year
due to the economic climate. She says that she is seeing people from
all walks of life asking for assistance and is currently being
contacted by 20 new families a week. On Wednesday, she received 55
calls requesting interviews for the Adopt-A Family program. She says
the range of people needing help includes young families with
children all the way to seniors in their 80s. Requests for
assistance have doubled over last year.
"This year we are seeing veterans with four, six, eight years of
service," she said. "They are back home and they are jobless. We see
seniors whose only income is Social Security. Their rent and
utilities continue to go up, but the Social Security checks don't.
Many of the people and families we are seeing have never been to any
agency before. In some cases they feel ashamed to ask for help. But
they have lost jobs and are facing utilities being shut off or
losing their homes, and they don't know what to do."
She said that the casework services offered by Salvation Army are
to help determine each family's most pressing need and try to assist
with getting that need solved. Then the other problems are
addressed. The Salvation Army's goal is to prevent homelessness and
to help people get back on their feet. "What we do is to help keep
the client self-sufficient. We are not a bailout," she added.
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Van Nydeggen explained that sometimes her agency is able to direct
people to other resources they might not have known about. In one
case with a senior, her problem was the high costs of medications.
Finding alternative agencies to help reduce those costs helped the
senior better manage her limited resources.
She went on to explain that her agency has no rigid numeric
formula and takes each individual or individual family on a
case-by-case basis. There is one primary goal in all cases, however.
"We want to protect people's dignity, to empower them, to help find
life-sustaining solutions," she said.
The Adopt-A Family program is in line with the agency's motto,
"Doing the Most Good," and Van Nydeggen believes helping with some
family basics during the holiday season will fulfill that theme. The
program is designed to help take pressure off families who could use
a gift of food or clothing, thus allowing them to direct limited
resources to other, more pressing needs.
If you wish to interview for this assistance, you should call
732-7890 by 4 p.m. today to find out details.
For those wishing to be an Adopt-A-Family sponsor, you can call
that same number and leave a message for Rebecca.
[By
MIKE FAK]
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