Places for community action or non-profit agencies in Texas

State and local government assistance programs.
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Ptbull11
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Places for community action or non-profit agencies in Texas

Post by Ptbull11 »

I would like to inquire about getting assistance with my bills in the Grayson county area. I live in Bells Texas. I am recently divorced and don't have enough money to but food at times. I work at GE. And as you know, they don't pay that great but I love working with my mentally challenged ladies. I have never ask for assistance from community action in my life until now. Will you please let me know what I can do to get help. You can email me back at this phone.

Thank you very much and any help is appreciated.
Ps I can't even afford Christmas for my 5 children this year either, and I have never in this life felt so helpless and hopeless. Any help I can get will be greatly appreciated.
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Re: Places for community action or non-profit agencies in Te

Post by Admin »

Are you getting child support now that divorced? Regardless, the community action agencies in Texas often have referrals for that as well. But ask them about housing, job training as maybe GE in Grayson has other jobs you can apply for. Also look into low income programs, and get more details on Texas community action programs.
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Re: Places for community action or non-profit agencies in Te

Post by Queena »

Hello :)
I apologize for writing under these circumstances, and thank you for your
time. My children, and I are new to El Paso texas. I'm finding it very hard to
establish residence, and settle here. If you have the time, can you please
direct me any organizations that can assist us?
I am a single home school mom, and I do not have relative in Texas. I am 32 years old. My boys are 4 and 6. They are good
boys with no desire to be gang, or drug related. They are my life and I
desperately long to get them settled.
We are staying with a friend for now. I have
been approved for an apartment (Very good news). I can pick up the keys the
third of May upon delivery of 800 dollars. I still have to provide the
water and power utilities, a gas stove, a refrigerator, food staples,
toilet paper, and everything a good home needs as far as hygiene. I'm sure
you can imagine the stress I am under.
Will anyone with knowledge of community assistance please contact me? Thank you so much for
reading this message. I don't understand how life takes its turns
sometimes. I have strong faith, and we are usually the one helping everyone
else out, not seeking it. I can be contacted anytime. I do not have transportation but I have a lovely friend here in El Paso willing to do all she can to help us.
Thank so very much,
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Re: Places for community action or non-profit agencies in Te

Post by Admin »

Hi,
So you are looking for the supplies for the home in El Paso, such as furniture and hygiene items? Or do you need financial aid. In either case, the staff from the community action agency can help you establish residency. They often have information on grants, supplies, and other items that may assist you. Call them, and find more information on Project Bravo community action agency.
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Re: Places for community action or non-profit agencies in Texas

Post by Mybadder »

Hello,
I live in Fort Worth, Texas. I would like to ask some advice because I am in a somewhat strange situation. I'm sorry, this will be a long email because this is a complicated situation. I need help with 2 months rent payment and partial payments on my gas and water bills due to a situation that is no fault of my own. Fair warning; this is a weird story.
I lost my job last April due to an error on the job, and since I worked in a federally regulated industry where your work record is to a certain degree public records (I was a Series 7 and 63 stock broker) I had a lot of difficulty getting a job in my (former) industry; and since I had been in that industry for 7 years and had worked my way into a well paid specialty position I was having trouble finding any position that paid nearly as well.
At the beginning of October my unemployment ran out, and since the unemployment did not cover the family bills 100%, our savings had already been exhausted. So, in the beginning of October I called Community Action Partners (which is administered by the city of Fort Worth) here in Fort Worth to set an appointment for help, and I obtained an appointment for October 21st. At that time I was 2 months late on my electric bill, and 1 month late on my water and gas bills, and I was about to be late on my rent for November (I had no prospect of where my rent money would come from).
In that appointment the Specialist told me that they did not have budget to help me with anything except my electric bill because it was so close to the end of the year, but they could help with that. She paid my electric bill in full and I was very happy with that, and as we were working on the paperwork the representative asked me if I had any long term plan of how to get out of my situation. I explained to her that I did have a plan; and that I would really like to go to graduate school (I already have a Bachelors) at Criswell College for Christian Family Counseling and that the state required a 3000 hour internship before you could obtain your license to practice on your own. I told them that I had a source to get this internship as a paid internship and that that would allow me to go back to school for my Doctorate of Divinity.
The specialist asked me if I could return the next day; because she had an idea of another way she could help me, but she needed to check into some additional detail before she could discuss it with me further. I set an appointment for the next day, and at that appointment, she told me about a 'retraining' program they had that would help me with my bills while I went to school, pay my tuition books and fees, and also even pay my gas to get to school if I kept my records appropriately. I of course was ecstatic to hear this and told her I would like to apply to the program. At that time the representative took my water and gas bills and indicated that she was going to pay those in full; and we set an appointment to 'take care' of my rent and I was to scan and send her a copy of my lease that day; which I did (she needed a copy of the lease since my landlord is an individual owner and not a company that they could get the lease rate from over the phone). (as a side note, they did make payments toward the water and gas for November and December; but they were just partial payments). In December I sent an e-mail to the representative asking about the payment that I saw posted that was less than expected, and she responded "Even though your bill still shows you owe an amount, there is a process."
We set an appointment for November 7th so we could 'take care' of my rent (that was her next available appointment). At that appointment the representative and I looked at my lease and the representative asked me if I could look for a part time job so she could show that I was 'doing my part to show I was making progress.' I, of course, was OK with this. The representative told me she had some resources to help me find the part time job but she didn't have them at hand, but she would get them and e-mail them to me. After I left the appointment, my landlord (who is an individual owner) called me very upset because the representative contacted her to send my landlord paperwork to fill out to get into the billing system for payment, and that would take approximately 30-45 days before she got the rent payment for November, but after that the rent should process regularly at the beginning of each month. My landlord was upset at me for not giving the representative her information on November 22nd which would have speeded up the process by 17 days. She said that was not acceptable and asked how I was going to cover the rent. I told her I had emailed the lease with her contact information on November 22nd when I got home, and that I had no idea that there would be any delay because the representative had not mentioned it to me. Since I have lived in the same house and rented from this landlord for almost 9 years, she agreed to wait.
I began looking for a part time job, and also contacted the representative a few times over about a week to get the information of the resources she had to help with that. Finally after about a week, she informed me that they worked with a temporary agency to place workers with Amazon, and that the interviews were held on Saturdays as needed. I follow a strict observation of the Sabbath for religious reasons; and I do not work, drive, buy, or do many other things in observation of my belief. She was not very happy with that response and tried to pressure me into taking the interview. I asked if there was anyone I could contact at the agency to arrange another day to interview, and she said that was the only day available through their program. I have been employed full time since I came to the understanding 20 years ago that I should be observing the Sabbath; and I had no idea how hard it would be to find a part time job when I am unavailable to work Saturdays. With very high qualifications and a robust work and earnings history AND the inability to work Saturdays I have not been able to find a part time job yet. I have since changed my focus to a full time job because of how the situation has changed (the explanation follows).
Throughout this time, I was sending the representative updates on my preparations to go to school. Before the first appointment; I already had the application for Criswell in hand, I had paid for the GRE (the test pre-payment is good for 1 year), and I knew all of the requirements needed so far as references and entrance essay requirements. As I was instructed, I gave the representative a copy of my GRE test entrance fee and my Criswell application fee (since she told me that the program paid for all of the fees associated with school) so she could reimburse me and I did not get any response from those until I asked; then the response was that they had already paid too much that month and to ask about it later. I informed her when I set the date for the GRE (I allowed myself 3 weeks to prepare for the GRE, since the school's application deadline was very close), and I informed her when I completed the entrance essay and turned in the application (that was completed in those same 3 weeks). In each case, her response was 'Good job! It seems things are progressing nicely.'
About a week after our conversation about interviewing on Saturday, the representative sent me an e-mail letting me know she wanted me to attend a series of 'soft skills' classes on budgeting, saving, and credit. I could have taught the class, but I went anyway because that is what was asked of me. There were 3 classes, but she did not inform me of the classes until the day after the first class. On December 2nd, the representative sent me an email that said in essence, there is a soft skills class on Saturday December 6th from 8:00-5:00 and I have to let you know about it because it is a requirement of the case management program. I responded to her, 'Thank you. As you know I won't be able to attend that one because of my religious beliefs.' And since she hadn't even bothered to tell me about the first of the other classes I didn't think there would be much of an issue about it.
On December 9th, the representative called me and informed me that since I missed the class on that Saturday I was no longer in the program. I asked if there was any accommodation for my religious beliefs, and she said 'everybody who did not go to the class is out of the program.' I asked her specifically if I would have remained in the program if I had attended the class, and she said 'yes.'
After a couple of minutes of trying to clarify what she was saying I gave up and told her I would speak to her later. I called the main number for their department and got the information for their district manager, and left her a message to call me back to discuss the issue. After a day with no callback, I sent her a detailed e-mail with all of the information; and her response was that I had a valid concern, and she would have someone call me to work something out within a few days.
After another week I still had no response, so I sent a follow up e-mail; and received a response asking me to set an appointment with my representative. The appointment was December 30th, and at the appointment the representative told me basically "I'm not telling you that you have been removed from the program because of your unwillingness to attend the class on Saturday due to your religious beliefs; but I am telling you that attendance in the class is mandatory, and that one was the last one for this year. Everyone who hasn't attended the class is out of the program."
I asked the boss about this by e-mail, and her response was exactly "Good Morning and Happy New Year – Wednesday December 31st was the last day of our program. All clients are required to reapply each year. Therefore, what the other person shared with you is correct. However, in an effort to keep you in the Families in Transitions (FIT) program, efforts were made to accommodate you attending a class offered on another day besides Saturday. At this time we don't have current course offerings on a different date and our online access has not been established. I anticipate we will again have additional classes available if you in fact are interested in reapplying for the 2015 program year." --So basically; on December 31st everybody is out of the program, but we tried to keep you in the program by getting you a class on a different day but we couldn't. I still don't understand that answer.
Additionally, the district supervisor informed me that they have no program that will pay for long term schooling; only short term stabilization to get you back on your feet, and they will pay for certifications such as fork lift or insurance, but the idea is to get you independent. So I was encouraged to go seek part time employment at less than half the hourly wage I am used to (so I would be making around $10,000 per year) and to also incur about $9,000 of tuition, books, and fees to go to graduate school. So the plan was for me to get stable and figure out how a family of 4 can survive on $1000 per year.
Even if the whole thing were in my imagination as they are trying to suggest; I sent 24 status updates to my representatives with updates on my employment and schooling status. If the goal is for me to become independent and the representative is competent, one would think that as soon as I suggested that I was applying to graduate school and that I viewed a $10/hour part time job as a valid path to independence, that the representative would call me into her office and straighten me out; not say 'Good job on making such a great score on your GRE.'
The bottom line of this e-mail is that I am having a very hard time finding any entity willing to help me out of my situation because I have supposedly been being helped by Community Action Partners for the last 3 months. I have basically wasted that time because I was looking for part time employment to supplement the help that I believed I was going to receive, when I should have been looking for a full time job on the assumption that the help was going to end. I have had 2 months of my electric bill paid, but only 2 partial bills of my water and gas bills paid (so about half of the total due for each) and my landlord still has not seen a check from CAP for November (which we have been told was 'processed and sent') or December (which was 'requested' but not necessarily 'approved') and now January is past due and I am a few days from facing eviction and potentially thousands of dollars of fees to be able to stay in my residence of almost 9 years. The only reason my landlord is being lenient is because she was led to believe by her conversations with the representative that the rent payments would continue once she was in 'the system' just like I was led to believe they would. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but in reality the 'help' I have received from Community Action Partners has put me into a much worse position than when I walked into their office the first time because (I'm assuming) their employee did not understand the program they offered.
At this point I don't really mind if I have to take a loan to make my bills right. It would be a huge burden; but it is better than nothing. Ideally, if I could find assistance with to cover my rent and bills through the end of January; and a loan of $4500 for books, fees, and tuition for school this semester I would be ecstatic; and I believe I would be able to get back on my feet. The only reason I am in this situation is because I believed what I was told by Community Action Partners' representative and operated on that assumption. Since I changed my job hunting strategy, I have received several calls to set up interviews for full time employment; and I have confidence that I can obtain employment by the end of the month. It just would be nice to have a home to go home to after work once I get that job.
Can you please help me to locate some help that will be understanding of my situation?
Sincerely,
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Re: Places for community action or non-profit agencies in Texas

Post by Admin »

There is a community action agency in Fort Worth Texas. They offer many resources for struggling and/or low income families. Maybe they can help you with a grant or other form of financial support for your needs.
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