County gets $25K grant to help needy

A $25,000 grant will help some low-income Glenn County residents with emergency services while they wait for financial assistance applications to be processed.

That is just one use for the grant awarded by the Sierra Health Foundation to the Glenn County Human Resource Agency.

Christine Zoppi-Pesh, deputy director of Glenn’s Community Action Agency, said the grant will pay for prescription medicines needed by qualified applicants who are waiting for paperwork to be completed.

Some people cannot afford to fill a prescription while they are applying for Medi-Cal, she said. This money will help them get the medicine while they are going through the process.

Glenn’s grant was one of 42 awarded by the Sacramento-based group, described as a private philanthropic organization in a Glenn HRA statement. It’s the first time Glenn County has received a Sierra Health grant, county officials said.

The Human Resource Agency works as a one-stop employment resource center for Glenn County and oversees social services and Community Action Agency programs. The Sierra Health money will be used to offer homeless prevention and emergency housing services, clothing vouchers, food banks and bus vouchers along with minor and short-term health care costs, officials said.

Community Services manager Lucy Hernandez said Thursday the Sierra Health funding was unexpected this year, but it came at the right time. The loss of a state homeless assistance program left Glenn County with just $23 in its emergency shelter voucher fund, Hernandez said.

With the Sierra Health Foundation funding, her agency can issue motel vouchers to domestic violence victims and others needing short-term emergency shelter, she said.

The grant also provides money for clothing to low-income people who need items like work boots to stay in their jobs, Hernandez said. It also will buy clothing for mothers and children who must leave their homes quickly following a domestic violence incident.

In addition, the grant money will aid the transportation voucher program that provides bus and taxi tickets to homeless people looking for jobs, apartments and trying to reach medical appointments.

“We don’t want barriers to their finding help,” Hernandez said.

 The grant also is a huge help to food bank programs, which have seen a big increase in seniors, single parents and families out of work, she said.

“We used to feed 12 to 15 individuals on a given day at a food bank,” Hernandez said. “Now that is up to 40 individuals at times.”

For information on grant services, call 934-6510.