Referral program First Call for Help sees rise in cases

More calls for assistance with housing, utilities and food are leaving some local agencies short on money and supplies.

During the first six months of this year, First Call for Help, a local information and referral service for the needy, saw a 17 percent increase in cases compared to the same period last year. During that time it assisted with 2,176 cases of people struggling to provide for themselves and their families, according to Denise Wimp, director of First Call for Help.

Since July 1, she's had 27 cases of homelessness, an unusually high number for just over one month, she said.

"We have homeless in our area. It's not transients passing through like you see on the interstate," Wimp said. "It's local folks living with their children in their car or people who have been evicted because they aren't able to pay their rent because they've lost their job."

First Call for Help, funded by the United Way of Southeast Missouri, has a database of social service agencies and their eligibility requirements and works in a five-county area to connect people with the agencies that can help them.

Several local organizations providing such things as shelter, food, clothing and medicine are now out of money and supplies because of increasing need, she said.

First Call for Help has assisted 196 people so far this year in need of temporary housing, subsidized housing or home repairs.

Wimp said her organization works closely with the Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau to provide temporary housing for area homeless.

Monthly bills for temporary lodging at local hotels for the homeless have ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 this year, said Tina Rodgers, case manager at the Salvation Army. For the first time, the organization has run out of funds for lodging assistance and recently accepted $2,500 from the United Way of Southeast Missouri's emergency fund to get the Salvation Army's program through August. The Community Caring Council, which provides lodging funds too, has recently exhausted its resources as well, Wimp said.

"We were seeing as many as 10 families in one day, I'd say on average we see five homeless families a day," Rodgers said.

The first step to preventing homelessness is helping people keep up with their utility and rent payments so they can stay in their homes, she said.

During the first six months of this year, First Call for Help had 998 calls for financial assistance to pay electric and water bills, rent and rental deposits, Wimp said.

During the same period, First Call for Help also referred 131 people to area food pantries and helped 150 people find household goods or furniture.

There aren't may resources for people who need things like cleaning supplies, paper towels, feminine products, diapers and toilet paper, Wimp said. By working with the Community Caring Council and St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Wimp set up a supply closet to provide those items. But with so many requests in recent months, the shelves are now almost empty, she said.

Love INC, a faith-based group that refers people in need to churches offering assistance, also is seeing an increase in its requests in recent months, according to executive director Eva Hillis.

"There's been a huge increase in the last two months. We can't hardly stay caught up," Hillis said.

During the first 10 days of August, Love INC received 110 calls for assistance, she said.

"The really hot summer has not helped," she said. With the school year starting, the group also received many calls for clothing and school supplies for children.

Hillis said the organization needs more volunteers to help take calls from those who are requesting help.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

430A Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO

701 Good Hope St., Cape Girardeau, MO