Good Neighbors Fund

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Previous Good Neighbors Fund stories

• Her electric bill is overpowering
• Past continues to haunt struggling young family
• Fund helped Catherine Nabors when insurance ran out
• Charity's needs outpace resources
• Good Neighbors Fund tally tops 2007 contributions

Total amount raised

Many of the people who stop by Roanoke Area Ministries for a free meal or help with their bills may not be too surprised about the recent economic downturn.

Most of them are used to a lifetime of hardship.

"But I'm scared," Debbie Denison, executive director of the 36-year-old charity, admitted. "[The economy] affects everyone, and I'm scared for RAM."

The agency's Emergency Financial Assistance Program helps people who have fallen on hard times with rent, utility bills or prescription medicines.

Most of the program's budget comes from The Roanoke Times' Good Neighbors Fund drive.

Every penny donated to the fund goes directly to people in need, and none is used for the agency's administrative costs.

Last year, the effort raised $180,964, edging out the record-breaking $180,740 that was donated in 2006. With help of additional grant money, the agency handed out $274,812 in aid to 5,141 applicants.

Often, the assistance is enough to keep applicants from becoming homeless.

The fund also pays for bus fare, work clothes and tools and the cost of identification papers for those seeking employment, said Jo-Anne Woody, the agency's administrative assistant.

The only thing RAM will not pay for is gasoline.

"We've gotten a lot of calls about that," Denison said.

Some readers send in generous donations every year while others can just scrape together a few dollars. Every donation is welcome, but Denison worries that during these difficult times, some people may not be able to give at all.

Others may end up on the receiving end of the program at a time when demand for aid is expected to increase.

Denison and Woody believe that in the next few months they will be facing an influx of middle-class people who have never asked for help before.

Some middle-class families "are used to two incomes," Woody explained, and get into financial trouble when one income is lost.

Middle-class people also can be reluctant to ask for help.

"For them, it's a pride thing," Denison said. "It's hard when they're not used to asking for anything, but we're here to help.

"Some of them even ask how they should pay us back."

There is no income test for financial aid, Woody said, but "we need to know what's going on in your life."

Applicants must come to RAM in person and go through the screening process, which involves talking to a caseworker and providing documentation such as pay stubs, rent receipts and utility bills.

The approval process can take up to three days, Woody said, and a grant is not guaranteed. Money from the fund must last the entire year, and is spread out over 12 months. The amount of aid given "is based on what we can afford at that time," Woody said.

For those who are in a position to help, it's often tempting to give money directly to friends and neighbors instead of to a charity such as RAM. But RAM has operated for three decades as a screening agency for its 143 member religious congregations and the 50 businesses that support it.

"Sometimes, you just don't want to give people cash," Woody said. "You could be taken advantage of. We know how to look for those signs."

In addition to financial assistance, RAM also operates a day shelter and provides a free hot lunch 365 days a year. Last year, volunteers served 42,346 meals.

Although the program was set up to serve the homeless, most of the lunch guests these days have homes but can't afford to buy food, Denison said.

To pay for operating costs, RAM has a variety of fundraisers.

Last year, the agency published a cookbook to mark its 35th anniversary. More than 900 copies have been sold, and there are still several hundred left, Denison said. Cookbooks can be purchased from Allison Martin, RAM's volunteer coordinator, at 345-9786.

Stu Israel, the agency's resource development coordinator, is organizing and soliciting sponsors for a dodgeball tournament, slated for February at the Roanoke Civic Center.

"I don't think anyone has ever done anything like that here," Denison said.

Israel has done creative fundraising before. Last year he lived in his car in the civic center's parking lot for a weekend to raise money for RAM.

Every day during the Good Neighbors Fund drive -- which begins today and continues through New Year's Day -- The Roanoke Times features profiles of people who have been helped by readers' contributions, of the volunteers who work at RAM, and stories about those who chose to donate.