Coastal Community Action Agency assistance programs in Washington.
Find help in Grays Harbor and Pacific County from the Coastal Community Action Agency. The non-profit organization helps seniors, the working poor, and less fortunate. They arrange for food to be provided along with offer help to residents in applying for grants for living expenses such as rent or utility bills. Case management will also touch upon job training from WorkFirst.
The agency offers several other resources in the community, including those below. Each program has limited funds and an application process, but the goal is to help struggling families get the assistance they need.
As the region’s leading agency for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Food Assistance Program, known as TEFAP, as well as the Commodities Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), there are boxes of food and groceries for the poor and less fortunate, with a focus on the elderly and children. They also coordinate state resources, such as the EFAP - WA State Commerce Emergency Food Assistance Program.
Coastal Community Action also coordinates and facilitates the activities of various food banks and soup kitchens in Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties. They assist anyone in need. There is also information on all local centers to turn to in order to find a food pantry. Free groceries or hot meals is distributed in collaboration with the local distribution centers.
Congregate and home delivered meals are part of the Senior Nutrition Program, and this is for area seniors aged 60 and up. The community action agency will ensure that the elderly consume healthy, nutritious foods in adequate amounts, enhancing their health, nutrition and independence.
These free congregate meals are served five days a week at the various Senior Centers in Ilwaco, Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Elma, and Raymond. For older residents and their spouses who are unable to get out to enjoy congregate meals, volunteers from CCAP deliver freshly prepared food to their homes in areas such as Pacific. Frozen meals are taken to clients living outside the city limits as well, and this can include the North and South Beach areas of the service territory.
Food and personal needs are offered too. At several intervals, CCAP provides individuals and families with free personal hygiene items, including toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, laundry soap, toothpaste and other items. This can be given at the same time as a free food box.
Homeless prevention, including grants for both heating bills and paying rent, is part of the Emergency Solutions Program. Government funds are used to provide eviction prevention assistance to individuals and families in Pacific and Grays Harbor Counties who would otherwise become homeless.
For those individuals or families who are homeless to begin with, ESG is available for rapid re-housing. These funds are to be used for various types of assistance, including paying for security deposits, short-term or medium-term rental assistance, moving costs, housing search and placement services, and case management.
Other housing solutions from CCAP include Transitional Housing, Operating and Rent and TBRA (Tenant Based Rent Assistance). These as well as government funded, and are operated as transitional housing programs that help homeless low-income families, the disabled, the elderly and the handicapped move toward self-sufficiency.
The resources can help people by securing affordable permanent housing and stabilizing finances. Availability is dependent upon whether the household meets eligibility criteria as well as budget constraints. Once determined to be eligible for housing solutions from the government, families receive a short term loans or rental assistance cover a set percentage of their monthly expenses, with the program covering the remainder. At the same time, the clients work with social workers and case managers from Coastal Community Action Agency to set life goals around employment and stability, and then work to achieve those objectives.
The Emergency Temporary Shelter Program provides short term lodging, with occasional extensions for the homeless, with priority given to single moms as well as families and victims of domestic violence. While living at the shelter, participants work with housing resource specialists to develop household action plans, based on each person’s goals, resources and experience.
In addition to ensuring direct basic needs are administered as part of Temporary Shelter, including free food, medical attention, medications, and clothing, other services are available from CCAP. This can include case management, funds for rent payments, assistance with school enrollment, referrals for treatment or counseling, and help in finding training or employment.
HEN - Housing and Essential Needs provides financial assistance with monthly rent payments, heating or utility bills, and essential non-cash housing needs. Examples of those costs addressed, in partnership with Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), will be personal hygiene items and free bus tokens, for some recipients of state-funded Medicaid or Medical Care Services.
The purpose of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program is to furnish financial assistance to struggling and working poor households in meeting their immediate home heating bills and other energy needs. LIHEAP benefits are provided as a result of funding from U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Funds from the CCAP community action agency are sent directly to the energy provider on the customer’s behalf. Find more details on low income energy assistance - LIHEAP.
Other weatherization or LIHEAP benefits include the repair or replacement of unsafe, dysfunctional, or inoperative heating systems. Some of this is also provided as a result of grants from Weatherization home alterations.
The PUD - Grays Harbor Public Utilities District Project Help Program is a private fuel fund designated to assist income-eligible households with avoiding having their electricity shut off, or with having it reinstated if it has been disconnected. They need to be faced with a special crisis. There may be assistance with deposits to have power turned on may also be available to qualifying households. Benefits are limited and any amounts paid out are determined on a case-by-case basis.
Cascade Natural Gas also assists customers. They provide funding for the Washington Energy Assistance Fund (WEAF) and Winter Help Programs, which assist income-eligible households facing shut-off of their power or heat.
The aim of the Home Weatherization Assistance Program is to help low-income Pacific County or Grays Harbor residents save money on their bills and really conserve energy. This works by helping them improve their homes with free energy efficient measures.
The government program is focused on those who are financially disadvantaged, with priority for the elderly, families with young children, and the disabled. Services may include the installation of insulation; the inspection and tune-up of heating systems; safety inspections of all oil, and wood-burning appliances; inspections of electrical and plumbing systems; patching up of air leaks; and minor repairs necessary for proper insulation of the home. These measures ensure that homes are healthier, safer and more affordable to live in.
The WorkFirst employment services furnishes Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients with community-based work and skill-building experiences, enabling them to work and take better care of their families and gain very valuable skills at the same time. Participants who have encountered barriers when attempting to enter the regular job market are given the opportunity to work while continuing to receive public assistance benefits.
As part of this Washington program, TANF checks are converted to wages, so that clients are paid for their work. The goal is to prepare participants to obtain and keep permanent jobs in the CCAP supported territory, eliminating their dependence on public assistance and government benefits.
Applying for financial help and resources from Coastal Community Action Agency
There are three offices of CCAP - Coastal Community Action Agency. The locations are:
- 117 E Third Street, Aberdeen, WA 98520, dial (360) 533-5100
- North Pacific County office is at 500 W Robert Bush Dr., South Bend, Washington 98, phone 360-875-4123
- South Pacific County office - Address is 1505 Pacific Ave N, Long Beach, Washington 98631, main phone 360-642-6100
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