Family avoids homelessness through CASS’ homeless prevention assistance
Amy is a 41-year-old mother who lost employment when she and her 14-year-old daughter contracted COVID-19. Since Amy had not yet completed the 90-day probationary period at her job when she and her daughter became ill, she was not permitted to take extended sick leave. Consequently, her employment was terminated when she took the necessary measure and went on leave from work to protect herself, her daughter, and coworkers.
After losing her job, Amy fell behind on rent for two months. Through one of the several grants for one-time assistance that CASS has been awarded, the CASS housing team was able to provide Amy with funds sufficient to cover the equivalent of one and a half months’ worth of her rent in arrears. Aided with this amount of homeless prevention assistance, Amy was confident she would be able to arrange to cover the remainder of her balance in default and keep her daughter and herself safe from eviction.
Amy was slated to begin a new job on August 1, which will reward her with a $2,500 sign-on bonus after she completes 45 days of employment. With well-remunerated employment now in place, Amy expressed a feeling of gratefulness for having been supplied with the additional resources from CASS that offered the extra boost she required to overcome an unanticipated financial crisis and keep her family housed.