LOCAL ASSISTANCE NETWORK HELPS SORT OUT RESOURCES

To make the best use of a fund set up at Hobbs Chapel United Methodist Church to help the needy, the church's pastor, the Rev. Michael Davis, has been looking for help with screening applicants.

He thinks he may have found that help after attending a Wednesday morning meeting that explained Cape Girardeau's growing Local Assistance Network.

"If LAN is setting up as I see it, it will help us better coordinate our efforts with the rest of the community, know what other resources are out there and make better use of our money," Davis said.

The Local Assistance Network is a collaborative effort of local agencies and community organizations to improve service delivery to individuals needing assistance with basic needs.

"This is not a new program," said Nancy Jernigan, executive director of the Area Wide United Way and chairman of the network. "Rather it is a way for service providers to better meet the needs of people requesting assistance.

Through the network, those seeking assistance with problems go through one assessment process, then information on specific problems is shared with the agencies or organizations that can help with those problems. Without the network, each agency or organization has to do its own assessment.

The network also is putting together a database on which agencies and organizations offer what sorts of assistance with which types of problems to which qualified recipients.

"The more agencies and organizations we have sign up with the network, the more resources we know about, the more coordinated our efforts will be," said Kevin Sexton of the East Missouri Action Agency, which is handling the centralized assessments for the network.

The centralized assessment offers several benefits, Sexton said: It frees agencies and organizations from duplicating the assessment process and saves time for staffers, it saves time for those seeking assistance because they don't have to fill out similar paperwork at several agencies, it helps reduce fraud and it can help in data collection about the needs in this area, establishing where resources are and what gaps in services exist.

The centralized assessment can also better coordinate resources, Sexton said. He gave the example of a person seeking utility assistance from the Salvation Army. Beginning this winter, such clients were sent to East Missouri Action Agency for centralized assessment through the network. Often the assessment revealed that EMAA could help the person with state and federal funds, leaving more Salvation Army funds to help with other needs.

Maj. Bob Gauthier of the Salvation Army said he was skeptical when the network was proposed, but he's since been convinced it can help agencies like his.

"We still run out of money at the Salvation Army, but the money we have is lasting longer," Gauthier said.

Jernigan noted that the network does not distribute money or collect money from agency. The network just provides a means for agencies and organizations to get information on those seeking assistance and information on the resources that may be available.

"We just provide the information, what an agency does with it is up to the agency," Jernigan said.

At this time, the Local Assistance Network is concentrating on helping coordinate efforts to provide utility assistance, but soon will expand to other needs like housing and transportation, Sexton said.

After attending Wednesday's meeting the Rev. Hugh Stewart, interim pastor at First Presbyterian Church, said his church will begin participating in the network.

Stewart said what appealed to him most was the collaborative effort the network uses to make the best use of community resources.

"Helping the needy is a responsibility of the church," Stewart said. "But you want to use resources in the best way you can to help the most you can."

Agencies, organizations and churches interested in learning more about the network can call Kevin Sexton at 334-4416.