Neighborhood Christian Center emergency assistance programs.
Each services from Neighborhood Christian Center in Morgan County Alabama is designed to break the cycle of poverty as well as homelessness. Emergency financial aid and practical support is combined with educational and employment programs.
The are various ministries at NCC which arrange service for struggling families. Each assistance program, whether financial or practical items, will also include the development of a life plan with realistic and tangible goals to prevent future instances of poverty.
Ministries for financial help
For poverty stricken households that have some source of income, the Neighborhood Christian Center financial aid programs offers help with rent or utility bills for those who received a shut off or eviction notice. In order to determine if there is a program that services your area, call for details.
The receipt of a shut off notice for an electric or water provider is typically preceded by complicated living circumstances for the client. The staff at the NCC ministries understands this, therefore, every candidate is offered more than just help filling out applications for the financial assistance for those bills. A caseworker interviews each individual person to identify the contributing factors that led to the crisis.
Based on the results, other forms of assistance are available including government grants for bills, referrals, budget counseling, loans and even emotional support as deemed necessary. By utilizing a comprehensive approach to the crisis situation, Neighborhood Christian Center reduces the chance of a future situation developing and oftentimes preventing homelessness.
Free Thanksgiving and Christmas Food Boxes are available as part of Outreach. There may also be vouchers passed out one weekend in November before Thanksgiving. Applicants need to provide photo ID and proof of Morgan County residency. The boxes from Neighborhood Christian Center contain the fixings (meat, stuffing, Cranberry, etc.) to prepare a dinner for their household. Families will also be given a certificate to use at a supermarket or grocery store toward the purchase of a turkey or ham. Also, children will be given toys, and hundreds of families receive Holiday help or are paired with other local charities.
Each month, the Neighborhood Christian Center Food Pantry furnishes a box of groceries that may contain enough food to last up to 10 days. There are thousands of emergency bags of food given out to income-eligible Morgan County residents as well as households in Decatur. The programs are available once every 30 days, and can supplement a family's monthly budget. During December and Thanksgiving of each year, volunteers from NCC assemble and distribute hundreds of additional Holiday Food boxes as well as toys for children.
Neighborhood Christian Center makes every effort to ensure that packages of food are diverse and are balanced nutritionally. The service will depend on donations from people in Decatur, so grocery and food items can vary from day to day and month to month.
NCC can help place people into local, full service shelters. Another program is transitional housing for women. There are accommodations for everyone from veterans to victims of domestic violence as well as homeless individuals and families.
There are also local churches and other charities in Morgan County that offer additional capacity to the homeless. Whether a women is leaving a recovery center, or someone is long term homeless, referrals may be given. These warming as well as cooling centers that provide evening and nightly shelter for certain periods of the year. Not only will the client get a place to sleep, but they also receive some or all of the following.
-Food, including hot meals, breakfast, or lunch.
-Clothing, blankets, and hygiene items.
-Transportation for a job interview.
-Employment as well as Education Assistance from case managers.
-Clients may be assigned a mentor to work with.
Educational and employment support from Neighborhood Christian Center
The NCC Employment Services team is made up of professionals who are committed to helping motivated individuals find employment in Morgan County. The non-profit will accomplish this through networking with employers in Decatur on the client’s behalf and communicating directly with recruiters. This will help all parties find exactly what they are seeking in a potential employee.
One program, Jobs for Life, is for the truly vulnerable. The ministry will offer Life Skills 101 classes and support to substance abusers, the youth, and people existing prison or jail. JFL addresses all aspects of finding and keep a job as well.
Based on this process, Neighborhood Christian Center will then pass the information on to clients through recruiter-ready resume writing workshops, job skills training, career counseling, interviewing as well as skills-building, and more. While the team at NCC will of course not be able to guarantee anyone a job, they do work diligently with clients to match their level of commitment to reaching the goal of becoming self-sufficient. No appointments are necessary.
Assistance is also available for obtaining identification. This may be birth certificates, tips of dressing for an interview, free work clothing, state of Alabama Ids, and the like. There is even support for college students as part of a service known as CAPS. The One Way to Employment Ministry from NCC is closely involved in this process.
The ministries at Neighborhood Christian Center are extensive. The goal is to provide emergency support as well as compassion to the less fortunate. The address is 619 Bank Street, Decatur, Alabama 35601. Call 256-351-7633.
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