Best resources for single moms in Salem/Keizer
I was recently and very unexpectedly laid off around Thanksgiving and I’m a single mom to three kids and go to school full time. I usually work around 60 hours a week but all that is put on pause until the business I work for reopens. Unfortunately the paychecks that will be impacted are right before the holidays. Their father hasn’t seen them in three years now and hasn’t paid me anything in child support in months. Before I was laid off I made too much to qualify for food stamps or medical but I now qualify and will thankfully get all of that for a little while. I qualify for unemployment but it isn’t close to my normal income and frankly now I’m terrified of the holidays. I don’t have the credit for a loan without a co-signer and I’m actually behind on a loan here (thankfully my lender has been understanding and I have a great rep at r/borrow because there are no local lenders in town I can get a loan with). I’ve talked to arches, the Salvation Army, and a couple of churches but a lot of those places are out of funding right now or require a shut off or eviction notice to qualify for help, and even then it isn’t much that they help with. Are there any local resources you guys can recommend or grants I can apply for? Thanks for your time today. Happy holidays.
Posted Dec 8, 2022, 2:04 AM UTC
Here is a pdf of local food free neighborhood pantries
https://willamette.edu/offices/csl/doc/local-resources.pdf
Another list of different pantries
https://www.foodpantries.org/ci/or-salem
And a huge list of places to help with food and utilities
https://www.needhelppayingbills.com/html/marion_county_food_banks1.html
PGE has a discounted rate for low income and all you gotta do is call. I also know there are places that will help pay your power bill:
https://www.cityofsalem.net/community/household/financial-assistance-grants/utility-payment-assistance#:~:text=State%20Median%20Income.-,Who%20to%20Contact,a.m.%20to%205%3A00%20p.m.
Best wishes and good on you for asking for help, as there are many who can use this info but are above doing so. Hope things get better. What a terrible time to lose your job :/
Totally on the food bank thing. My mom usually grabs a box from South Salem by the Fred Meyer. Thank you so much for all of the resources!
I didn’t know about the PGE rate! I have qualified for the low income discount from the government for my internet bill due to getting the Pell grant but I had no idea about electricity. I plan on applying for energy assistance asap (previously didn’t qualify) but we are on the easy pay program with PGE and that has helped us so far there. I will call them first thing tomorrow! Thank you! 🙌
No prob, hope things turn around for you!
If you have Comcast for internet, they also have a heavily discounted plan which, depending on your situation, can be waived entirely, for low income and disabled families.