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Union County Special Needs Council
Note: This is the fourth in a weekly series of articles submitted
by the United Way of Union County that will run during the course of its annual campaign. Each week will feature
a different United Way program. This week’s article features the Union County Special Needs Council.
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Volunteers help stock the shelves at the Plain
City Food Pantry.
United Way funding is distributed quarterly to food pantries in Marysville,
Milford Center, Plain City, and Richwood through the Union County Special Needs Council.
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If the social service community were a sidewalk, the Union County Special Needs Council
would be the cement mix you’d use to fill in the cracks. Not designed to border an entire city block, but able
to patch up the holes that appear over time.
"Most of the individuals that come to the office are people that fall in the gaps," said Tim Kelley, the Union County Health
Department official who oversees the program. "They are not eligible for other forms of government assistance
or their need might not be covered under any other program. While our help is not a large sum of money, it does
help people meet an emergency need or helps them extend their budget for that month."
More than 380 Union County families received help last year, based on income, family size, and the availability
of funds. A family may receive assistance one time every 12 months. Assistance is limited to $125 for medical reasons
and $100 for non-medical situations. Many family budgets are being broken by the high cost of prescription medication,
which is the number one area the Special Needs Council has been addressing recently. Seven of every 10 clients
are there for help to pay their bills for pills. |
"Recently we helped pay for a prescription that a child had to have to stay
alive," Kelley said. "The father had just started new employment and with his increased income and that
of the mother’s, the family was ineligible for Medicaid. The father had to wait 90 days for his insurance to become
effective. We helped fill that gap."
The Special Needs Council works closely with Dave’s
Pharmacy and the Wal-Mart
Pharmacy in Marysville, which provide medications at a reduced price, stretching
United Way dollars to help more people.
"The investment of those dollars in medication helps keep many people from having to go back to the doctor
or emergency room and helps avoid additional hospital stays," Kelley explained. "For example, if we help
a person get their insulin, it helps them control their diabetes and keeps them from having a multitude of other
medical complications from uncontrolled diabetes. The investment may be small, but the return is large."
While prescription medication is the biggest hole the Council patches, it is not the only one. Individuals also
routinely receive assistance for utility expenses, housing costs, medical payments, and diabetic testing strips.
Over the years, the Council has evolved to include its administration of $6,000 in annual United Way funding to
food pantries in Marysville, Plain City, Milford Center, and Richwood. The Council also helps the Marysville Police
Department provide for transients needing a place to stay for the night.
Kelley has been administering the Council for seven years as a small part of his duties with the Health Department.
As a result, overhead and administrative costs are remarkably less than 1%, making it an incredibly efficient use
of United Way dollars.
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FAST FACTS ABOUT THE UNION COUNTY SPECIAL NEEDS
COUNCIL:
- 2005 United Way allocation was $34,000 (or 70% of its budget).
- 69% of budget helps people pay for prescription medication.
- Clients average age is 45 years old.
- Clients are eligible for assistance once in a 12-month period.
- Directly assists over 350 clients a year, not including help at the food pantries.
- Formerly known as the Union County Dental and Crippled Children and Adults Council.
- Volunteer Jim Jobe has been the Council’s treasurer for 30 years.
- For more information, contact the Union County Special Needs Council at 642-6911
or visit www.unitedwayofunioncounty.org
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