Active Faith Community Services financial support.
Active Faith Community Services is a charity that can help the low income and working poor in that reside in South Lyon School District only. The number of services administered are extensive, but funds are limited. What is offered is referrals to community resources, and these groups can offer a combination of funds for emergency bills such as rent or heating, as well as referrals to social services such as government benefits including food stamps and others.
The area supported includes Lyon Township, South Lyon City, New Hudson, Northfield, Green Oak Township, and Salem. Much of the assistance is available in the form of referrals.
With any type of aid provided by the non-profit, there will always be ongoing Family Support given as well. Families in Active Faith Community Services as well as other cities and towns are often struggling with the crisis of poverty, and they can be isolated from sources of help and support. The case management process is offered to families as they strive toward a long-range goal of stability, and this touches upon credit counseling, employment, and more.
Family Support will involve attending regular personal meetings with staff. Advocates as well as volunteers from Active Faith Community Services work with the client to identify opportunities or strengths that could lead to personal success. Then, as the client works toward that, the progress will be tracked, measured, and ongoing advice is provided during the process as well.
One time financial aid or basic needs can be provided too by local churches in South Lyon. This form of support, sometimes called Resource Distribution, is available when families as well as senior citizens are unable to meet their basic needs on their own. There may be a lack of access to needed resources in crisis, and this can even make serious matters worse.
Active Faith Community Services will help people address problems such as lack of heat, food or hunger prevention, and housing. These challenges must be dealt with before needs like education or employment can be addressed. Through Resource Distribution, such as grants or applications to government aid, Family Advocates are able to provide families with access to resources to help them meet these emergency needs in a variety of ways.
Diaper bank is available. Often times low income families as well as single parents struggle with buying diapers, and this is not paid for by government benefits such as SNAP. So the charity and its churches will try to provide these to qualified individuals, as resources allow.
One key grant program is Emergency Food and Shelter. Active Faith Community Services may receive government money as part of this, or they will have referrals to local non-profits that have these funds. There are funds to help people in need of emergency assistance, and this can include for rent, food, or energy bills.
EFSP can also provide assistance in other ways. There may be one time financial support to both prevent evictions and rehouse the homeless. This can include placement into short term shelters, and then, when the time is right, money for paying either a security deposit or first months rent. In any case grants are used for housing and food needs.
Receive referrals to auto repair assistance, and this can help people (such as seniors) access affordable medical care or help residents of Oakland County get to a job interview. This is very limited, and is only offered when appropriate to support self-sufficiency goals.
Referrals to can help the disabled as well as low and moderate-income individuals and families with applying to state of Michigan or federal government potential public benefits. Some of the aid may include SNAP food stamps, child care subsidies and children’s health care insurance, as well as home energy assistance. Staff from Active Faith Community Services will also encourages eligible residents to claim tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. These welfare type services will help people close the gap between public funds and those facing a crisis.
Another part of self-sufficiency is Life Skills Learning Opportunities. Families as well as individuals from South Lyon with low income expand their skills, knowledge and expertise that can help them through difficult times. Utilizing services such as the Building Strong Families curriculum, Budgeting, Life Skills classes are offered in a variety of topics including Home ownership, Parenting/Family strengths, Effective communication, and of course Job seeking in Oakland County.
Financial Education Coordinators partner with Active Faith Community Services to assist with money management. Classes covering a range of topics such as credit repair, identity theft, budgeting and home ownership are offered. These services are another key tool to gaining long term stability, and clients can benefit from one-on-one counseling or guidance.
Anyone seeking help will need to go through an intake and assessment process to determines eligibility for financial assistance from Active Faith Community Services or even other case management. This process will explore the household situation, and clients will get an action plan for improving household circumstances that touches upon some or all of the items above. For more information, call (248) 437-9790.
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