Kaye Ratliff, of First Presbyterian Church, reports that they received $15,000 from United Way to assist with their Rent Payments and/or Mortgage Assistance programs

Kaye Ratliff, of First Presbyterian Church, reports that they received $15,000 from United Way to assist with their Rent Payments and/or Mortgage Assistance programs

WADESBORO — First Presbyterian Church has received $15,000 in grants from the United Way to help fund their utility, rent, and mortgage assistance programs.

Anyone in Anson county who has been displaced from work due to COVID-19 and has fallen behind on their bills is eligible to receive these funds.

“An anonymous out-of-county corporate donor supplied the United Way with a special $50,000 grant just for Anson County,” explained Kaye Ratliff of First Presbyterian. “The United Way invited eight agencies to apply for the funds. We were invited because of our utility assistance program and we ended up receiving $6,000 for that purpose.”

First Presbyterian has been helping Anson County with their utility assistance program for approximately 20 years.

“Then, they called us back and asked, ‘would you like to have some money for rent and mortgage assistance?’” said Ratliff. Ratliff submitted an application for that grant on behalf of First Presbyterian and they received $9,000 to help others with rent and mortgage payments

“We feel honored to have been included,” said Ratliff.

People wishing to apply these funds can contact the Department of Social Services or call First Presbyterian Church at 704-694-3818. In response to the pandemic, all applicants will be screened over the phone.

Once the applicant has been screened, their realtor, landlord, or lending agent will be contacted to make sure they’ll accept the check.

Ratliff believes they will be able to help up to 12 people with the grant money. “That’s not a lot of people,” said Ratliff, “but every little bit helps in a pandemic like this.”

“We anticipated that there would be horrific power bills from people being out of work due to the pandemic and not being able to pay them,” said Ratliff. “I was happy to see the governor made it so you could not be fined for non-payment and you had six months to work it out.”

Despite the best efforts of the Governor, Ratliff expects they will be overwhelmed with utility assistance requests from the community by August.

To make matters worse, donations to First Presbyterian Church are down because services are no longer conducted in the sanctuary, all worship and donations are now being done virtually.

“Last year, we received a grant from the Braswell Trust, which was very helpful,” said Ratliff, “I will be applying for more COVID money to help with utilities.”

First Presbyterian has been providing utility assistance to the community for approximately 20 years. “We’ve been doing it ever since Priscilla Durkin was our minister in the late ’90s or early 2000s,” said Ratliff.

“This money is there if people want to get ahead of their problems,” said Ratliff. “I know there’s a moratorium on evictions now, but it will end. If people want to be able to have that hanging over them like a Damocles sword, then we’re here to help.”

Reach Charles Wood at 704 994 5471