CULLMAN, Ala. – The Link of Cullman County has recently applied to the State Farm Neighborhood Assist Program which annually awards 40 finalists out of 100 applicants $25,000. The program is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and have selected 200 finalists out of 4,000 applicants. Afterwards, 100 finalists will be voted on by the public to receive $25,000.
Voting begins on Wednesday, April 27 and ends Friday, May 6 at midnight. To vote, go to: https://www.neighborhoodassist.com/entry/2043744 .
If they are one of the top finalists, the Link will use the funds to start their L.I.N.K. Family Emergency Shelter. L.I.N.K. stands for:
- Low-Cost
- Income-Based
- Non-site specific
- Kids and Family stay together
The shelter will be an emergency shelter provided by various landlords and property owners who have agreed to host families in need for eight weeks as a transitional period while the Link can find more permanent housing.
They have recently finished up a round of state funding for housing and will have another round in early fall. Between the periods of state funding, they often have a lull in their ability to provide assistance to families in emergency situations.
Executive Director Melissa Betts stated, “Right now on our books we have 21 neighbors that have called with some sort of emergency housing need. It might be ‘Hey, my utilities are about to be shut off,’ it might be, ‘I’ve been evicted,’ it might be, ‘My trailer burned down.’ It could be a variety of things. Right now, we have 21 people that we are working with in various situations of crisis about their housing.”
Typically in the past, the Link was able to help families in need of housing by finding them a shelter or assisting with utilities. Often, the families they help do not qualify for a typical shelter.
“We’ve had an elderly woman whose house burned down. She didn’t have insurance on the property. It had lapsed and she did not realize it. Now what? She’s too feeble to truly try to work in and out of staying in a shelter. It would be hard for her to mobilize herself in a shelter situation,” Betts continued. “We’ve had a single grandmother who was raising a teenage grandson. They couldn’t stay together if we’d sent them to a shelter. The older grandson would have to go to the men’s shelter, and she would have to go to the women’s shelter. What we’re proposing to do is use this funding to assist our neighbors. We would shelter them for up to eight weeks in a private location, and we would work to case manage and help find suitable shelter.”
The Link will also help the families to get settled once they find a new rental location for them. They can assist with the first month’s payments and utilities or help them get new furniture or any needs the family may have on a case-by-case basis.
Betts concluded, “State Farm uses the slogan…’Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.’ The Link calls everyone our neighbor!”
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