Greater Lawrence Community Action Agency.
The Greater Lawrence Community Action provides assistance to families and residents of certain towns in Essex County Massachusetts. Case managers from the organizations Service Center provide referrals, information, and self-sufficiency type support. The focus is on assisting those that are struggling with their basic needs.
Programs are administered across the towns of Andover, Lawrence, Methuen, and North Andover. While some assistance may be provided directly by GLCAC, most of what they offer is referrals to public benefits or other non-profits.
Social services from community action in Lawrence
The Service Center that is operated by them has a goal to provide those in the community with appropriate referrals, education, direct intervention services, and information. The location is often referred to as the Human Services Emergency Room for the region, as so many people in the Greater Lawrence area turn to it for help.
Qualified low income families can access a multitude of services which include, but are not limited to, information on low income housing, Employment, Health Referrals, Immigration Services, and more.
As noted, a focus is on Referrals to Other Agencies and/or local resources. So staff can help with Completing Applications and Forms such as heating bill assistance, food stamps, disability, and many others.
Free food and formula from WIC - Women, Infants, and Children is available to any and all types of families. They need to be income qualified, but this can also include married and single parents, employed, unemployed, grandparents raising grandchildren, and others.
As part of this, Greater Lawrence Community Action Council will coordinate a free health and nutrition program. WIC provides healthy food and nutrition information for pregnant, postpartum women, as well as infants and children under age five in the Lawrence and Methuen region.
Help is for children. Programs that are fully funded and licensed by the Department of Early Education include a Child Care Center at GLCAC. It is also fully accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. It provides quality care to youth in a nurturing environment that supports them in reaching their full potential.
Collaborating consultants and partners in Massachusetts are on site to provide comprehensive supportive services, and to ensure that each student’s needs are met. The Child Care Center, which is located at 581 Andover Street in Lawrence, also runs a full academic curriculum. This will offer children access to comprehensive assessment systems for measuring growth and progress.
All educational programming available at the center is presented by highly qualified and degreed educators and administrators. Literacy programming is designed to promote positive and effective collaboration between the school, parents and the family. Additionally, children participate in curriculum-related educational field trips on a monthly basis.
Greater Lawrence Community Action runs Head Start. The main mission is to be at the core of a network of non-profit community agencies providing comprehensive and high-quality child and family development services. The aid is for low-income, needy, and high-risk residents of Methuen, Andover, Lawrence and North Andover. Head Start provides individualized developmental services for children under the age of 6, and this is in addition to support services that include job training, education and counseling for parents.
Financial aid from GLCAC
Heating bill assistance is used for managing high home energy costs. As too many households know, this can present a challenge. GLCAC offers a number of financial aid type programs that are designed to help them keep their homes warm during the cold Massachusetts winter months, such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which provides direct financial assistance for paying heating bills. There are also other heating bill assistance programs in Massachusetts.
Other resources in Massachusetts include HEARTWAP - Heating Energy Assistance Retrofit Task Weatherization Assistance Program. This assists income-eligible LIHEAP participants by providing free repairs or replacing heating systems. The program is paid for by the state of Massachusetts as well as the US Department of Health and Human Services. It is also monitored by the Commonwealth's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), and implemented by GLCAC in the region.
Weatherization can help low-income homeowners, especially the elderly. There is also assistance for rental tenants. WAP will help them increase the energy efficiency, safety, and comfort of their homes, and lower their heating bills, by installing energy efficient measures. The resource is furnished by the US Department of Energy in partnership with Greater Lawrence Community Action Council.
Project SENIOR (Serving Elders’ Needs in Our Region) is for the increasing segment of the elderly in the region. It was created to provide necessary home repairs at no cost to low-income seniors in the area. Both volujtneers and government grants may pay for this.
It is available in Lawrence, North Andover and other towns as year-round program that provides services ranging from changing locks, patching roofs and replacing light bulbs to building handicapped ramps or stairs. A good portion of the alterations are provided utilizing in-kind labor from other area nonprofits, such as Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley, Youth Build Lawrence and local Senior Centers.
In addition, there are loans and grants to help with home repairs. The Greater Lawrence Community Action can help seniors apply for them. Whether it is fixing a furnace, repairing a roof, or paying for energy improvements, there are options out there. Find a list of home repair programs.
Location of Greater Lawrence Community Action
Other services, financial aid, budgeting, and related programs may be offered. The location of the agency is Greater Lawrence Community Action Council. Stop by the Community Service Center at 305 Essex St., Lawrence, Massachusetts 01840, dial 978-681-4905.
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