All LINC had to do was secure another round of federal relief funds and then LINC’s utility assistance team knew what would happen next.

Because the calls to LINC’s Caring Communities program at Morning Star Youth and Family Life Center have never stopped, not since the site first began helping families get access to emergency funds in the spring of 2021.

The team knew they’d fill their appointment books again with visits from neighbors like Cathy Douglas — who is out looking for a job, who’d like to someday have her own home, but right now is “a little down on my luck,” she said, and just needs help with her gas bill.

They knew neighbors would come like Alana Garth — a mother of nine who just started a new job in security, but needs some help to get to that first paycheck, so she came to LINC Morning Star to get past-due rent paid to help her family make a fresh start.

After a several month hiatus, LINC was able to get more of the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds beginning in the summer. October, like the months that preceded it, has been busy, said LINC Caring Communties Coordinator Danisha Fultz.

“I love it that we’re constantly, constantly, constantly trying to look for resources to help our families,” Fultz said.

And the new funding has come in “right on time,” she said. “Because we are seeing families come in here with disconnect notices and we’re able to get a pause on them. If we don’t have these types of resources, then our (community’s) kids can’t thrive in school.”

This is the time of year that many families are trying to take care of some of their bills that became difficult to pay while dealing with the costs of getting children ready to return to school, said LINC Utility Assistance Team member Kachina Powell.

“We want to make sure they get the help they need so they can stay in their homes,” she said, “so their children can stay in their schools.”

Since 2021, LINC’s team at Morning Star has helped more than 2,000 households get access to more than $2.9 million in utility and rental assistance funds.

LINC went beyond just trying to make the community aware of the relief funds and the links to the government’s websites. LINC gathered the digital technology and trained staff to be able to guide community members in need, helping them gather the many required documents and completing the complicated online applications.

So many of the people who needed the funds the most did not have computers nor the capacity to carry out the difficult process.

It’s all part of the wide range of Caring Communities services at LINC and welcoming atmosphere that Garth said makes LINC Morning Star a special place.

“They don’t shut their doors to anybody,” Garth said. “They welcome anybody and I love that about this place.”

Getting some help with her rent is comforting as the cold months approach, she said. “It really means a lot to me to have a roof over me and my kids’ heads.”

LINC Utility Assistance Team member Latricia Bradley was assisting Garth, lining up her income information and her lease agreement, and getting the contact number for Garth’s landlord plus other information to be able to complete the funding application.

Bradley has helped hundreds of households get help.

“Sometimes people come in here and they’re really down on their luck,” she said, “and they’re really concerned how they will end up, if they will have lights when they get home.”

“It makes me feel good,” she said, “like I’m making a difference making sure they can go home and be comfortable and know their lights won’t get turned off.”

Getting some relief with her gas bill, Douglas said, helps her keep her plans on track.

“It helps me keep living — helps me keep doing the things I need to do,” she said. “I want to own my own house. I want to make it better and help folks. I like feeding folks. If I can own my own little restaurant that would be fine too.”

By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer