New River Community Action agency programs.
Qualified low income families and individuals in Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, the City of Radford and Pulaski County can contact the non-profit agency known as New River Community Action. They are part of the nationwide network of community action agencies and are dedicated to fighting poverty and helping the low income and unemployed. Get information on their programs and self-sufficiency services offered.
Financial aid
Rent, housing, and maybe mortgage help is part of the homeless prevention program, or HPP. Homeless people and families, as well as those who are close to losing their home, can benefit from the Virginia Homeless prevention program, provided by New River Community Action. The program provides limited financial assistance to those that qualify, such as people facing eviction. It covers the entire area of New River Valley.
The program tends to prevent homelessness in the community, including Montgomery County. It works by providing grants for rental assistance and paying security deposits. Loans with no interest for paying mortgages are also available in some cases. Also, housing counselors from New River will help the homeless and low-income families to achieve a long-term financial independence by HPP.
In order to participate and use the benefits of the program, homeowners in Giles County and others areas must be in danger of losing their homes. Those with permanent or no housing must be in need of a security deposits or first month rental assistance. So there needs to some form of the individual trying to secure permanent housing.
To be eligible for the program, applicants must be in temporary financial emergency with no means available to them. The crisis needs to be caused by accident, illness, sudden layoffs or reduction, job termination, loss of day care, etc. One of the terms of the homeless prevention program participation is the applicant needs to prove they were self-sufficient to the state before the crisis.
According to the New River Community Action HPP program, short-term goals are developed by the housing counselor and an applicant. This will then need to be followed and monitored and revised during the assistance process. Applicants will continue to receive the rent assistance if they comply with their goals and stay on track. The local homeless prevention program aims to educate those in need on debt reduction, housing counseling, financial management and budgeting.
Emergency Financial Assistance Program is for working poor and low-income people. Aid may be available for those facing financial crisis residing in New River Valley, Giles, or Montgomery County Virginia. The program is made to provide temporary rental and utility bill assistance, food, household products, etc., for the people who are facing a crisis and have completely lost control over their finances.
NRCA’s Emergency Assistance Program is supported by both Montgomery County Emergency Assistance Program and also PCENTF, or the Pulaski County Needs Task Force. Even though the policies of those groups differ from New River Community Action’s, the goal they all tend to achieve remains the same. They partner to provide emergency assistance to those in need.
The community action agency has a few different locations. River Community Action assist low-income, homeless and other people from the following.
- Floyd County: the address is 220 Parkway Lane, PO Box 849, Floyd, VA 24091. Call 745-2102.
- Montgomery County, 110 Roanoke Street, Christiansburg, VA 24073. Dial 382-6186
- Radford City, 928 West Main Street, Radford, Virginia 24141, 731-6994.
- Giles County - The main address is 1410 Wenonah Avenue, Pearisburg, VA 24134. Call 921-2146 or 921-2263 for intake.
- Pulaski County, 412 N. Jefferson Ave, Pulaski, VA 24301. telephone 980-5525 or 980-0038.
Self-sufficiency and counseling from NRCA
One of the main child and educational programs that New River Community Action provides is the Head Start, a preschool program for children under 5 years of age. Federal government organizations provide the funds for the program. Head Start also includes children with special needs and the disabled. All children can enjoy comprehensive developmental services of the learning program. Medical care, education, social services, preventative health and nutrition are the basic elements of Head Start in Virginia.
The goal of the program is to include the entire low-income family in the process. So to that end, Head Start considers parent participation as a key activity and is the base of the program. That is the reason why the option for home-based learning is available, along with the classroom-based education for each child. All children can enjoy the benefits of free transportation if and when it is needed.
Head Start is an ideal educational program to those that qualify. It offers learning opportunities for children and parents as well. Parents can improve their educational skills by enrolling into the numerous opportunities including literacy classes, educational and job training opportunities.
Another successfully growing program of New River Community Action is the Virginia CARES, which is also known as the Virginia Community Action Re-Entry System. The goal of this program is to help newly released ex-offenders in finding their place in the community, along with the help of their families.
Assisting people with making a successful transition from prison back to the community requires a thorough organization and planning. The process can be challenging, and that is exactly what Virginia CARES provides for its clients. The first aim of this charitable mission is to assist with emergency needs, and then self-sufficiency The second aim is to help ex-offenders obtaining fulfilling employment and becoming independent.
New River Virginia CARES and its social services offer free food, gently used clothing, transportation, and shelter as a basic assistance for ex-felons. Apart from this, they tend to provide effective guidance for job interviews and referrals to other organizations in City of Radford. This would further help them to achieve a successful and stable return in the community.
The so called Housing Council from New River Community Action (NRCA) is available. The non-profit has trained housing counselors who provide assistance related to different situations. Support and resources are provided for issues such as mortgage default counseling, pre- and post-purchase, eviction prevention, rental counseling, and homelessness. The councilors will also offer advice on buying or renting opportunities.
If needed, housing counselors from the NRCA agency will also contact the landlord or mortgage company in order to help low-income people with managing their rent or mortgage payments. In the cooperation with agencies such as USDA's Rural Development, Legal Aid, local emergency assistance programs, Homeless Intervention Program, and the Virginia Housing Development Authority, New River Community Action help you find local resources to meet your requirements.
Education and counseling is a key part of the Housing and Homeless Program. First-time homebuyers get the support and education on the process of purchasing a residence by New River Community Action. As a home purchase is complicated and the process is long, the agency helps throughout this. Among services, free classes and connections to other non-profit community resources are offered by New River Community Action.
A qualified staff member from New River Community Action collaborates with local banks and real estate offices in order to provide these services. They provide assistance on various topics, including Loan closing, Personal finances, Credit reports/credit issues, Relationship with real estate agent, and Fair Housing Laws of Virginia.
Volunteer income tax assistance from New River Community Action offers free income tax assistance. This is for low to moderate income people. It runs from February through April of each year.
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