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United Way requests $10,000 for local emergency fund to avert evictions and utility shutoffs
Summary
Christina Small, executive director of Salina Area United Way, asked the commission to invest $10,000 to create a local emergency assistance fund to provide rapid rental and utility aid when other programs are inaccessible or slow.
Christina Small, executive director of Salina Area United Way, told the commission the organization has submitted 11 applications this year to a regional Community Action partner requesting just over $9,000 and received only one approval for under $500. She asked the county to consider a $10,000 partnership investment to create a local emergency fund that would provide immediate short-term rental and utility assistance while connecting families to longer-term resources.
"When every available resource has been exhausted and explored and a family still falls through the cracks, we want to be able to step in and help them," Small said. Commissioners asked how funds would be distributed and verified; Small said the United Way would initially use referrals from partner agencies such as Catholic Charities and would not use the dollars for administrative overhead—she said the full $10,000 would go to direct assistance if approved.
