THE EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE HOT LINE
A struggling family needs groceries and the food stamps are depleted. Another has no money to pay rent that’s already a month in arrears. Someone else has an overdue utility bill and service is about to be cut off. Still another needs transportation to visit a dying parent up north.
These are but a sampling of the heart-wrenching telephone calls that come in every day, all day to our Emergency Assistance Hot Line at our District Office where volunteers man the desk from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Aided by a huge map of South Pinellas County where the boundaries of the Conferences are color-coded, the volunteers---some of them “on the job” for 16 years---pinpoint where the caller is located and then refer him or her to the nearest Conference.
The Conference, in turn, will assign two Vincentians to schedule a home visit with the individual or the family to determine how it can help. These person-to-person visits and the help given is highly confidential, a hallmark of the Society since its founding 175 years ago.
In addition to the Conferences, Hot Line callers may also be referred to other Pinellas County social service agencies that have special expertise in given areas.
A response system for those in dire need situations, that’s our Emergency Assistance Hot Line. |
