{"id":2451270,"date":"2019-11-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=316242"},"modified":"2019-11-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T07:00:00","slug":"giving-thought-emergency-assistance-lends-a-hand-when-its-most-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/giving-thought-emergency-assistance-lends-a-hand-when-its-most-needed\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving Thought: Emergency assistance lends a hand when it\u2019s most needed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In late October, Western Colorado experienced an early cold snap that, combined with significant snowfall, got many of us thinking about winter and looking ahead to ski season and the holidays.<\/p>\n

For those without a roof over their heads, however, the cold temperatures were a bitter, sooner-than-expected wake-up to the realities of winter. And when the weather changes that way, local providers of emergency assistance expect the phone to ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did see some requests for people wanting to get out of town as the weather got cold,\u201d said Marian McDonough of Catholic Charities in Glenwood Springs. \u201cWe might see an increase in asks for utility help next month, as people had unexpected spikes in their October bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emergency assistance refers to short-term monetary help that is given to keep people safe and warm when they\u2019re on the financial edge. The assistance goes from the nonprofit \u2014 Catholic Charities or The Salvation Army, for example \u2014 to a landlord or motel or utility company, whatever it takes to keep people safe and secure.<\/p>\n

As McDonough mentioned, it can be a Greyhound ticket to family or friends in Denver, for example. The assistance also can take the form of a payment to an electrical or natural gas utility, in order to keep the lights or the boiler on.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if you have a roof over your head,\u201d said Karen Lee of The Salvation Army\u2019s Glenwood Springs office, \u201cyou still need to have heat in your home and be able to make a warm meal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those seeking emergency assistance are often working people who have experienced some sort of unexpected setback.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the people who need help in our community are the service providers,\u201d McDonough said. \u201cYou see them in the restaurants and hotels, bolstering the tourist economy. And yet they\u2019ve got the lowest-paying jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some, their wages are barely sufficient to cover their costs of living. So when a medical emergency or a car breakdown befalls a family, there\u2019s often not enough income to pay all of the bills. A car problem can be doubly difficult because it prevents a person from driving to work at the very time when big bills are coming due.<\/p>\n

Another factor is the weather-driven seasonality of the local economy. When early snowfall puts a premature stop to fall landscaping work, for example, then that means less money in workers\u2019 wallets. Of course, if you\u2019re a snow-removal person, then an early snowfall can be a good thing. But weather fluctuations can cut both ways, and they\u2019re virtually impossible to plan for. If you\u2019re living paycheck to paycheck, then you simply can\u2019t afford an unexpected interruption of your work.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver and over, people come into my office and say they\u2019ve never been in this position before, but here they are and they\u2019ve been knocked down farther than they ever expected,\u201d said Lee of the Salvation Army. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to comprehend how difficult it can be for a person to climb back up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emergency assistance is a way of helping people when they are faced with a temporary financial hardship. If a client has an illness of some kind, then money for prescription medications can be crucial. Even gasoline or bus fare for an important doctor\u2019s appointment can make a difference. Every case is different, and they\u2019re often complicated.<\/p>\n

Lee sees emergency assistance as a \u201chand up\u201d rather than a \u201chandout,\u201d and thinks it\u2019s a necessary part of a caring community. McDonough, of Catholic Charities, looks at the issue from a personal standpoint.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I couldn\u2019t imagine ever being homeless because I have friends and family to fall back on,\u201d she said. \u201cBut this is a transient area and a lot of people come here without that safety net. They don\u2019t have a person who could loan them $1,000. Maybe their credit is bad or they got evicted somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pauses before adding, \u201cwe want to get them the help they need and retain their dignity in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

These organizations and others providing emergency assistance are nonprofit organizations that rely on contributions to help individuals and families in times of need. Aspen Community Foundation provides some support through annual grants, but it takes the generosity of many donors to ensure that this assistance is available when it is needed.<\/p>\n

Tamara Tormohlen is executive director of Aspen Community Foundation.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In late October, Western Colorado experienced an early cold snap that, combined with significant snowfall, got many of us thinking about winter and looking ahead to ski season and the holidays. For those without a roof over their heads, however, the cold temperatures were a bitter, sooner-than-expected wake-up to the realities of winter. And when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 05:51:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2451270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451270\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2451270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2451270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2451270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}