By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
The administrative coordinator for a locally grown nonprofit organization that assists eligible Barren County residents with certain housing and utility expenses and other needs says that even though the organization recently passed its 35-year milestone, many in the community still aren’t aware of its existence and/or what it does.
Stacy Janes, who is approaching her own milestone of a decade of working for Community Relief Fund of Glasgow-Barren County, said it still surprises her how many people have never heard of it and the work it does after this long.
Programs and eligibility
Those seeking assistance through CRF must have photo identification; Social Security cards or other official documentation of their Social Security numbers; and income and primary living expenses for the prior four weeks, as opposed to the last calendar month, for example.
Janes emphasized that time frame.
Andrew Olin, an employee of Community Relief Fund of Glasgow-Barren County, left, looks through paperwork provided by a client applying for assistance through the nonprofit organization. Melinda J. Overstreet / for Glasgow News 1
“COVID was a really good example of why this happens. When people lose their job, and they’re normally able to help cover all their bills, then Community Relief can be there because we go on the last four weeks – any income in the last four weeks and any qualifying [expense] receipts in the last four weeks,” she said.
So even if income goes away for only a brief time, a person may be able to get help.
If determined to be eligible, clients may receive up to $350 toward rent or mortgage every six months, no more than twice in 12 months. The maximum per client is $300 per year for water and $300 per quarter for electric utility assistance, and clients may return after 75 days to get more for those two utilities if they haven’t reached the annual cap. It’s important to note that the annual amounts are not based on a calendar year and don’t reset Jan. 1; for example, if a person got help with rent in August, the household wouldn’t be eligible again until February. If they got help with water Dec. 15, for example, they would have to wait until 75 days after that to apply again.
An exception to the frequency rule is clients who are customers of the Glasgow Electric Plant Board. The EPB provides funds directly to CRF through a specific program that is in conjunction with the Tennessee Valley Authority, through which the EPB gets the electrical power it sells to customers. It also forwards funds to CRF contributed by customers through a billing round-up option that provides the difference between the actual bill amount and the next whole dollar amount. The EPB customers who are CRF clients may return every month, but they are still subject to the overall per-client/household dollar limits over a certain amount of time.
The maximum amounts do vary from time to time, depending on the budget the board of directors sets and are subject to change at any time, Janes said.
A client must requalify each time and have the appropriate documentation to do so.
Community Relief also has a sizable space for its food pantry, supplies for which ebb and flow, depending on contributions from food drives and such. Clients may receive food assistance every 60 days if eligible.
In 2022, Community Relief Fund provided 1,101 bags of food to its clients. It provided $82,397 in housing assistance to 263 households, or families, as Janes prefers to put it, and $92,595 in utilities assistance to 546 households.
In 2023, it provided 1,421 bags of food to its clients. It helped 266 households with $83,663 in housing assistance and 478 households with $75,776 in utility assistance.
The other two programs CRF administers are seasonal – the back-to-school program and Toys for Tots. Janes said the first of those usually starts about two weeks before Barren County Schools starts its academic year in the fall and continues until after Glasgow Independent Schools starts. Applicants must provide verification of what grade each child will be entering. Qualifying families that qualify get a voucher to spend for each school-age child, with the amount varying from one grade-level group to another. Last year, the vouchers were redeemable at Beall’s, and CRF provided basic school supplies directly, she said.
Signups for Toys for Tots start in November. A family cannot be participating in another similar program in the county and identification and Social Security cards are required for all household members, but for this one program only, the documentation of income and expenses is not required, Janes said.
CRF operates on a walk-in basis, with no appointments. Public hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 8 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Janes is the only full-time employee for CRF, and she currently has two part-timers – Brandy Furlong and Andrew Olin. They couldn’t do the things like food drives and the two seasonal programs without volunteers who help with them, she said.
Clients seeking assistance with housing, utilities and/or food wait in the lobby at Community Relief Fund of Glasgow-Barren County. Melinda J. Overstreet / for Glasgow News 1
Community Relief is among the local nonprofit organizations that have been, since May 1, 2014, using Charity Tracker, a web-based software program that helps the various entities see where else the same person or household may be receiving help for the same needs, Janes said, “which is important for those donated dollars.” It is meant to help prevent duplication of services, but it also is used for tracking the numbers served and dollar amounts provided. For example, since it’s been in use in Barren County, $4,208,760 in assistance has been provided to the clients of all the organizations, including schools, that utilize it, Janes said.
Originally the relatively nominal cost of using Charity Tracker was covered by the individual organizations, but now it is covered by the city and county governments, she said.
The helper’s help
Aside from the special funding through the Glasgow EPB for only its customers, CRF receives funding from the Glasgow and Barren County governments, the federally funded Emergency Food and Shelter Program, local churches and individual contributions. Avenue Church provides the space and covers part of the utilities, with CRF only being responsible for half of its electric bill. The annual To the Brim Food Drive around Labor Day weekend typically brings in enough food to get the pantry well-stocked through the end of the year, Janes said, but those contributions have waned in recent years, and funds for the purchase of additional food products has come from Dr. Mody’s Corner, the umbrella organization for a group of charitable efforts created by local physician Bharat Mody that also organizes To the Brim.
Brandy Furlong, an employee of Community Relief Fund of Glasgow-Barren County, places items from the nonprofit organization’s food pantry in bags to provide to a client. Melinda J. Overstreet / for Glasgow News 1
Janes said To the Brim donations have picked back up since the COVID-19 pandemic but are not yet back pre-COVID levels.
“We used to take in about 8,000 items, and we took in 4,500 or something like that [in 2023],” she said. “That won’t last long. When you have to buy corn and green beans for a food pantry, your pantry’s low.”
In addition, at various points throughout the year, local schools, hospitals, manufacturing companies and other businesses, and churches contribute food for the pantry, and Janes said an individual food donor comes in every week with some items.
History
First Presbyterian Church in Glasgow had had a similar program to help with housing and utility costs but had decided it could or would not be continued after the minister at that time retired. City officials saw the need for such assistance, and Community Relief Fund was born of that necessity, Janes said.
It initially operated in the basement of what was then the Glasgow Parks and Recreation Department office just off the square along South Race Street, just past Beula C. Nunn Park. The building has since housed a church and other functions. From there, CRF moved to the basement of Glasgow City Hall and then later to 123 E. Washington St., when that building was donated to CRF by Junior Achievement around 2000, Janes said, but CRF later gave that building to Crossroads Life Center.
Community Relief Fund of Glasgow-Barren County is housed in the last remaining portion of the former E.B. Terry Elementary School behind Avenue Church along Columbia Avenue. Melinda J. Overstreet / for Glasgow News 1
At that time, around 2013, what was then Columbia Avenue Church of Christ – now Avenue Church – provided housing for CRF in a portion of the former E.B. Terry Elementary School building behind the church. In 2015, a fire set by two juveniles led to the relocation of CRF to another portion of the former school, and it is the only portion now left after the rest of what was standing was demolished.
CRF has only had three individuals in the coordinator role, Janes said. Sue Haynes had the helm for the majority of the organization’s existence. Tonnya Stephens then led it for a relatively brief time and Janes took over in April 2014.
Oversight
The organization currently has a 12-member board of directors, and the bylaws require representation from specific sectors of the community – education, churches, legal field, public housing, social services, healthcare, utilities, and city and county governments – and a few members at large. It meets on odd-numbered months.
Mary “Cookie” Whiteside was one of the first board members and continued on it until relatively recently, and Sherry Jones, the former finance officer/fiscal court clerk for Barren County government, participated for many years until her retirement. The Rev. Mike Padgett, Sheri Lee and Larry D. Glass, who’s been the chair for most of the past decade, are among the other longtime board members, Janes said.
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IN A NUTSHELL
NAME: Community Relief Fund of Glasgow-Barren County
ADDRESS: 317 Columbia Ave., Glasgow
PHONE: 270-651-9006
PUBLIC HOURS*: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays; 8 a.m. to noon Thursdays and Fridays
SERVICES OFFERED: rent/mortgage assistance; electric and water utility assistance; food pantry; back-to-school program; Toys for Tots program
RECIPIENT ELIGIBILITY: photo ID, Social Security card, income/expense threshold, Barren County resident
DONATION REQUIREMENTS: unexpired, nonperishable food; new, unwrapped toys
FUNDING SOURCES: city and county governments, EFSP, local churches, Glasgow EPB, Dr. Mody’s Corner
OVERSIGHT: local 12-member board
EMPLOYEES: 1 full time, 2 part time
*nonholidays
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