Rome-Floyd United Way looking to extend resources into Polk
Leaders are working on a possible partnership between Polk County’s resources to help keep families together and the United Way of Rome and Floyd County.
Alli Mitchell, executive director of United Way Rome and Floyd County, spoke to the Polk County Commission at its work session on Monday, April 4, explaining that she would like to work to create a priority-central resource director for Polk County.
The organization offers a phone line that helps residents of Floyd, Polk and Chattooga counties navigate resources — and the number of calls for aid with evictions is growing exponentially.
Mitchell said when in crisis, people can become overwhelmed with a long list of numbers or become disheartened by redirection or closed offices. The Community Resource Line helps by mapping out resources for food, offsetting living costs and transportation, among many other services.The resource navigator talks through a person’s needs, then presents specific resources for the crisis they are facing.
“We created a comprehensive resource list ... It is mostly Floyd County. What we’d like to do is work with you guys since you don’t have a United Way here to develop something of the same here. It is very comprehensive for Polk County, posted on our websites, which you guys can access now, and attach a resource call line to it,” Mitchell told the commissioners.
“When we established our call line, lo and behold, we got a whole lot of calls from Polk County. I would love for you to help me identify how we would take this conversation further. There’s no price tag attached to it. It’s a service we’re already offering. We’re already getting the calls and on our end we feel helpless.”
Mitchell said eviction moratoriums during the pandemic helped keep a lot of people in their homes. But with the moratorium ending, the center has received an uptick of people calling the resource line.
“What we’re facing is a housing crisis,” Mitchell said. “We don’t have affordable housing, and we don’t have housing availability.”
According to data provided by United Way, 66.8% of calls have to do with utility or rent assistance, and the second most called about need is eviction at 4.2%. In total, some kind of housing assistance accounts for 81.6% of local needs called into the resource navigator.
A centralized resource line was the second most needed resource within the community, according to United Way data. Centralized resource lines can provide relief for nonprofit agencies in addition to helping those in need. Moreover, the data collected from the phone calls helps inform local and state funding decisions, the report stated.
For more information or to access the Community Resource Line call 706-622-1990.