Federation needs money to help local Jews in need

The year isn’t over yet. and already the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, through its partner agency. Jewish Family Services, has helped more than 80 individuals/families in need of financial assistance. In just 10 months of 2009, the Gesher Fund alone — that’s the short-term, emergency assistance fund — has given out nearly 300 percent more in assistance than it did in all of 2008. To top it off, another one of the three funds used to provide financial assistance, the Chesed Fund, is completely out of money.

The purpose of the Chesed Fund, established in 2007 with a $50,000 grant from Menorah Legacy Foundation, is to help individuals and families who have chronic financial challenges.

“People who qualify for assistance from this fund include those who have lost their jobs, have been out of work for months and months and have exhausted all their savings and resources. If they fit the criteria, they are able to access this fund for months at a time,” said Shari Stimetz, Federation assistant executive director.

“People are not getting jobs as quickly as they once were because of the massive layoffs we’ve had in Kansas City. That’s why they are finding themselves in these circumstances for a longer period of time,” she continued.

Chesed, Stimetz explained, was created as a way to help people who don’t qualify for Gesher Fund grants. Gesher, meaning “bridge,” was a fund created in 1985. It only makes one-time, emergency disbursements. Last year, 32 individuals or families received financial assistance through the Gesher Fund to the tune of $20,316. Eighty individuals and/or families have received $75,000 so far this year.

The difference between Gesher and Chesed, the fund that is out of money, is that Chesed can help people for a longer period of time. Typically, qualifying Chesed participants need regular assistance with specified living expenses. Last year the Chesed Fund helped 34 community members in the amount of $22,718. Through October, 63 clients have received $65,320.

“When Chesed was created in 2007, we never anticipated what would happen in the end of 2008 with the collapse of the economic system,” Stimetz said.

Don Goldman, JFS’s executive director, explained that Chesed funds are good for people who tend to struggle with something every year.

“Chesed is just that little bit of help that could help them make a transition from not making it to moving over the line to just make it,” he explained.

New funds
Since Chesed and the third fund, Gesher XL, are both relatively new, not many people know about them. According to Stimetz, that’s made it harder to raise money for the funds.

“People respond to and know about the Gesher Fund. But it’s harder to get people to understand that we have people that are in emergency situations, and it’s lasting for months, through no fault of their own,” she said.

“We’ve been lucky to get several grants from Menorah Legacy Foundation and several smaller grants from the Jewish Community Foundation Legacy Fund for the Chesed Fund, but we are out of money,” Stimetz said.

All three funds help Jewish residents of the five-county area (Johnson and Wyandotte in Kansas; Jackson, Clay and Platte in Missouri).

Gesher XL is intended to help with large, one-time emergencies. It was established in 2007, as Stimetz said, “through the generosity of an anonymous donor.” Last year, the Gesher XL Fund assisted nine community members in the amount of $31,968. Through October, Gesher XL has had seven clients and disbursed $23,057. Grants have helped an émigré couple with funeral expenses. Another time it helped a man repair his home after a fire. He had let his homeowner’s insurance lapse.

Money for these three funds does not come from the Federation’s annual fundraising campaign.
“The bulk of it is raised through the generosity of those in the community,” Stimetz said. “We also get some grants from foundations and family funds.”

This wasn’t always the case. Stimetz explained that, prior to this year, these assistance funds received monies from the annual campaign.

“We felt that because the campaign was down significantly, we would raise it from other sources so we wouldn’t disadvantage the agency programs,” she explained.

Getting assistance
Federation is responsible for building up the funds, but the money is actually handed out by Jewish Family Services.

“They do the intake and assessment process and make the determination as to how much money is distributed,” Stimetz said.

The first step in obtaining assistance is leaving a message on the JFS Helpline, (913) 327-8293. JFS’s Goldman said the message will usually be returned by a caseworker within 24 hours. He said the initial phone call between JFS and the client takes between five and 10 minutes.

Once the exact problem has been determined, Goldman said the client is matched with a social worker, who meets with the client to make a fuller assessment of the situation.

Thereafter, the social worker presents the case to the case-management team to decide whether the client qualifies for funds. Each application is evaluated on an individual basis. There are clear guidelines, but no set formula to receive assistance. Goldman said clients are also often referred to credit counselors or financial planners to help them get a handle on their financial problems.

Goldman said clients may also be referred to other social-service agencies.

“If somebody needs financial assistance, we make sure they are taking advantage of other government programs. Almost everybody is also referred to Yachad (the kosher food pantry). We have a whole checklist of programs to make sure that they are taking advantage of all the things they can,” Goldman said.

Clients who need emergency funds may also qualify for other JFS programs.

“We always look to see if they need counseling or if they are an older adult that could benefit from Jewish Senior Network. We always look to our own programs and the community’s to see what they qualify for,” Goldman said.

Stimetz added that if the client is a member of a congregation, JFS will make sure the rabbi knows about the situation -- so long as the client agrees.

“We want one hand to know what the other hand is doing so that we maximize the available resources,” she said.

Ask early
The number of people seeking assistance has increased so much over the past year, Goldman said, that it can now take several weeks to actually receive assistance.

“We are seeing three times the number of people we saw last year,” Goldman said. “In 2008, 40 people, on average, called JFS for assistance each month. In August of this year, more than 200 people called for help. While not all of these phone calls are for emergency needs, this shows that there has been a marked increase in the need for all of our services, including emergency assistance.”

Goldman points out that JFS’ staff has not tripled during this time. With the help of interns, JFS has two full-time-equivalent social workers who work on this type of life-crisis assistance. In addition, JFS can bring in an extra social worker to help as demand increases.

“If somebody comes to us and says ‘I’m being evicted tomorrow,’ it’s very hard to help. If someone comes in and says ‘I’m being evicted in three weeks,’ we can help,” Goldman said.

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