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March 2, 2010

Service providers gather to close gap for those in need

By SHRUTI MATHUR DESAI • Courier-Post Staff • February 27, 2010

Deptford Gloucester County residents seeking the services of charities and help agencies over the past five months are often new to the system, due to recent job loss after years of employment.

At the same time, service organizations in the county are often at a loss on how to cover all the needs of those who have fallen on hard times, leaving a gap in service, said Bernadette E. Blackstock, executive director of the People for People Foundation.

"Organizations can sometimes be so parochial," Blackstock said. "We all do our own little thing and then when we are hit with something that doesn't fit our norm, we are at a loss for what to do."
To help resolve that, Blackstock and the People for People Foundation organized a series of conferences called Hands Across the County so that service providers could learn about each other and find out ways other organizations can help.

The first conference was Wednesday at Adelphia Restaurant in Deptford.
Organizations set up tables and members talked to each other about their organizations and the services they provide. Conversations were sometimes interrupted as people walked up to ask for resources that their group needed, spawning a new thread of brainstorming.
Thomas Bowen of the Hispanic Family Center of Gloucester County told the assembled group that he had a shocking announcement: "We actually have money," he said.
The center has government funding for low-income heating and energy assistance programs, available for all families in need.

He suggested to the group that if they encounter people who need help with paying their energy bills, they send them to his organization.
"Rather than expending valuable time trying to take care of that, it can be done through a government program," Bowen said. "Then they can take care of other needs, like food and clothing."
Bowen said it was better utilization of the scarce resources.

Nancy Polhamus, a reference librarian with the Gloucester County Library, recommended that group use the library system as a free resource.

"This is your tax dollars at work," she said.

Often the library becomes a front line for people seeking resources, saying she has fielded questions such as how to find a battered women's shelter to how to put together a resume or use a word processing program after becoming recently unemployed.
"We're hoping by cooperating, we can do it more efficiently and get all the information we need," Polhamus said.

Jere Hoffner, executive director of the United Way of Gloucester County, said he hopes conferences like this can help make the process for applying for help a little easier.
"There has to be ways to streamline this, there has to be ways to make it efficient and make it effective for those seeking assistance," Hoffner said, especially for those who are new to the system and might get confused and frustrated by "all of the hoops they have to jump through."
Hoffner said there are ways in which agency activities can be coordinated and shorten the length of time it takes to access services.
"If you can get ahead of a problem, it tends to not get worse, instead of getting behind it," Hoffner said.
Reach Shruti Mathur Desai at (856) 317-7828 or smathur@camden.gannett.com

Posted by tumulty at March 2, 2010 10:54 AM

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