Bergen County’s United Way established the Compassion Fund to provide vital help with basic necessities for people in crisis. Our help is direct, concrete, and timely.
Right now our community faces a significant challenge. The anguish caused by the current economic crisis is widespread and pervasive, and the headlines only obscure the suffering families are experiencing behind closed doors day after day. In the past nine months, the number of people in desperate need of help has increased dramatically because their severance package, health insurance coverage, or entitlement -- short term protection from job loss -- has now ended, and they are still out of work.
Our priority is to keep families in their homes and by working one-on-one, we are turning lives around. We pay utility bills when a family is faced with shut-off, medication and healthcare costs when there is no insurance, mortgage and rent payments to prevent eviction or foreclosure, and we help with the increased cost of basic necessities for those who have lost everything.
However, because of the depth of the current crisis, requests for help have tripled, and spending has jumped from $19,000 month to $29,000 a month and continues to accelerate. As a result, Bergen County’s United Way is forecasting continued growth in demand and has reached into its reserves so that more can be done for those in need in the coming year.
Back to Work Program
Unemployment in Bergen County has reached historic levels. Calls to 2-1-1 (or clicks to www.nj211.org) have increased dramatically. Bergen County's United Way cannot ignore the crisis. Working with a team of professionals, our organization is offering support for job seekers and local employers.
Contributing to the increase in demand is the return of the 3,475 members of the Teaneck based, 50th Battalion National Guard who were re-deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Many are finding that the jobs they left last year are no longer here – casualties of the worsening economy.
The United Way works closely with the Family Assistance Center located at the Armory in Teaneck to help soldiers and their families resettle. The Compassion Fund and its staff make it possible for families to get immediate assistance for the financial and emotional burdens they face reentering life after active duty.
Oritani Bank makes a $2,500 donation to the United Way Cool Homes Program. Read More
Warm Homes
For those struggling to pay their heating and electric bills, the cold winter months can be especially long. The Warm Homes Program provides direct financial assistance for home heating when there is a threat of the loss of service.
Cool Homes
Every year the hot summer temperatures compromise the health of children with asthmatic conditions, frail seniors and families living in cramped apartments with poor ventilation. The Cool Homes Program provides window air conditioner units to low income individuals and families when health considerations are paramount.
Bergen County's United Way • 6 Forest Avenue • Paramus, NJ 07652 • 201-291-4050 info@bergenunitedway.org
