Raise the Roof
Housing is consistently the #1 reason Marion County residents call 2-1-1, making up about 25% of our calls. With Section 8 and the Public Housing waiting list closed until the fall of 2014 as well as most HUD low-income housing units having wait lists of a year or more, we wanted to dig in a little deeper and look at some other options for folks looking for housing they can afford when times are tough financially. (more…)
A Little Bird Told Me… About Disaster Behavioral Health and Preparedness
2-1-1 Marion County joined in on a conversation about Behavioral Health and Disaster Preparedness today on Twitter #TalkWithUs. Below we are sharing some links to resources that were shared during the conversation.
Phone App: Tactical Breather
Phone Apps – Public Health Emergency
American Psychological Association : Help Center
American Psychological Association : Road to Resilience after a traumatic event
What’s new at 2-1-1? Give Help: Live United
Most people think of 2-1-1 as a place to get help, but remember, it’s also a great place to Give Help! Are you a teacher looking for a one time event for your students to lend a hand? Dial 2-1-1. Are you recently retired and want to lend your expertise and wisdom to the community in your spare time? Dial 2-1-1. Are you changing careers and need some hands on experience to help transition? Dial 2-1-1.
We have opportunities ranging from support group facilitation, event planning, board of director positions, fundraising, answering phones and more!
Simply dial 2-1-1 at any time from any phone, or if you prefer looking online, visit our website.
Q & A: Help With Funeral Expenses
“Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid.” -Langston Hughes
The loss of a loved one can be devastating… and can be devastating financially if you are bearing the burden of the cost on your own. We wanted to share some options for Marion County residents who are financially in need, to help ease the expense. We’re breaking the options down into: Lower Cost, Benefits, and Can’t Pay. (more…)
What’s New at 2-1-1? Riding Along in my Automobile
On occasion, there are some calls that come in to 2-1-1 and either the resource doesn’t exist or the resource doesn’t want to list with us. One of those situations, for Marion County at this time, is when someone is in need of a car.
There are some agencies out there online and we wanted to share them here on our blog since we can’t share them when you call 2-1-1.
Free Charity Cars: http://www.freecharitycars.org/ For this site you create a profile, get people to vote for you and the more votes you get, the more likely you will be to get selected when a car becomes available in your area.
Online Car Donation: http://www.onlinecardonation.org/charity-help.htm For this site, you simply share your situation and they contact you if a car becomes available. They only give cars to the following groups of people: “Battered Women – (those that are/were victims of such a hurtful crime), Those with physical challenges (yet still retain the ability to safely drive a vehicle), Families living in homeless shelters – (with or without children), Self Supporting families making the move from public assistance, Private Non-Profit Organizations – (we support an innumerable range of charitable causes), Military Families – (Those with loved ones on Active Duty and Veterans of the Armed Forces)”
Auction: Cars that get impounded end up being resold through auctions in the community. In some counties the Sheriff’s office handles the auction directly, in Marion the cars are auctioned off through Weeks Auction every 2nd Friday of the month at 4851 Florida 40, Ocala, FL. The next big car auction will be in December 2013. This might be worth a shot as a way that you could get a lower cost car.
Do you know someone who had success with getting a car when they were struggling financially? What strategy did they use?
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