PHONE CALLS NEEDED!
Urge Senators Brown and Voinovich to oppose cuts to the Emergency Food and Shelter Program.
Funding for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) is at risk of being cut by as much as $100 million (50%).
In 2009, Franklin and Fairfield Counties received $1,014,309 in EFSP allocations.
The Emergency Food and Shelter Program provides supplemental support to more than 12,000 nonprofit and public food banks, shelters, feeding programs, and homeless prevention organizations. The support is distributed locally and is allocated based on a formula that takes into account the unemployment and poverty rates of a community.
Eight Franklin County and four Fairfield County service providers receive EFSP funds. In 2009, EFSP-funded agencies and programs locatedthroughout Fairfield and Franklin Counties provided:
- 206,114 meals;
- 10,682 nights of shelter; and
- helped 1,209 clients with one-time rent or mortgage assistance
The Emergency Food and Shelter Program was established in response to the economic recession of the 1980s. The EFSP provided humanitarian assistance to indigent and homeless persons at a time when nearly 14 million people were unemployed. By comparison, today's unemployment picture is worse with 15 million unemployed Americans.
Senator Sherrod Brown and Senator George Voinovich are members of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program. Call Senator Sherrod Brown (614-469-2083) and Senator George Voinovich (614-469-6697) and urge them to oppose cuts to the 2011 allocation for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program. Thank you!
Please contact Valerie Ridgeway at 614-227-2706 or Valerie.ridgeway@uwcentralohio.org with questions or to report your call.
