The Tucson Urban League’s Case Management programs lend a helping hand to those who never thought they’d need it.
These programs offer assistance with payments on utilities and housing and are available for any Tucson resident who is a U.S. citizen and meets thel income requirements.
“The first step to homelessness is not having a stable home,” said Sylvia Campoy, director for the Socio-Economic Department at the Tucson Urban League.
Unstable homes can range from the owner’s inability to pay for utilities or home repairs, to a threat of eviction.
The Tucson Urban League’s Crisis Management Team employs case managers who are trained to evaluate the applicant’s need for various types of assistance.
The housing staff can go into a home and evaluate damages that can potentially be repaired based on the amount of income and proper documentation from the applicant, said Karina Covington, facilitator for the Tucson Urban League.
Each case is handled on either a short or long term basis and can only be offered to applicants once a year.
Short-term help is offered for those needing utility assistance and financial counseling and they typically leave with their crisis handled, Covington said.
“We will coach them on how to remedy their crisis,” Campoy said.
Long-term cases deal with those who need housing assistance such as home repairs or rental and mortgage assistance, and Covington said these cases can last up to one year.
While the Tucson Urban League offers many programs, applications for financial assistance are on the rise.
“It is one of our most demanding services,” Campoy said.
Recently, participation in the programs has increased from between 18 and 20 clients per day, to between 35 and 50 clients per day.
Still, about 90 percent of the program’s applicants qualify for the needed assistance, Covington said.
Campoy credits this increase in participation to the profile of applicants expanding from the lower class to middle and sometimes even upper-middle classes.
She said that applicants who have recently been laid off from work come in claiming they have never needed to ask for financial assistance.
Funding for these programs comes from a portion of the economic stimulus package and the benefits are triple-fold, Campoy said.
“What’s good is not only that we are helping our clients, but it also helps us to be able to hire more staff, which puts money back into the economy,” Campoy said.
Other programs offered by the Tucson Urban League include financial literacy classes that are held twice a year and are designed to educate people in financial management, from owning a house to buying a car.
While the program targets young minorities, it is open to anyone, regardless of age or financial standing.
“It is never too late to learn how to handle your money,” Campoy said.
For more information about the Tucson Urban League and its programs visit http://tucsonurbanleague.com or call 622-3651.
