More Middle Georgia families seeking emergency assistance, Salvation Army says

Officer Jamaal Ellis says more families need assistance, including homeowners struggling with mortgages, as the organization plans more online applications.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — The Salvation Army says it’s renewing its focus on the needs of Middle Georgia communities.

As more families face financial challenges, the organization is working to make sure people have access to food, shelter and other essential resources. 

The rising demand for assistance is putting Middle Georgia’s community needs front and center. Salvation Army officer Jamaal Ellis says the Salvation Army is stepping up to help families facing hardships, such as shelter and food. 

With this renewed focus, the organization will be offering emergency shelter, financial assistance, daily meals and food pantry services, along with other resources designed to help people facing difficult times. 

“Your at-risk population continues to be single families, your elderly, that hasn’t really changed much,” Ellis said. “But there’s an uptick in the volume of people that are needing help these days. People that are coming for emergency assistance, where it used to be rent, now it’s mortgages. People that have houses find themselves in situations where they need assistance to be able to keep up with that. And we don’t want our homeless population to grow, so we need to make sure that we can provide that emergency assistance as well, when people find themselves in a bind. But again, that stems on how we approach it as a community, because the Salvation Army can’t do it ourselves; we need our community partners.”

Ellis says more people across Middle Georgia are turning to its services for help as families face growing financial challenges. 

“We’ve seen when we help families, it’s usually addressing one thing at a time. So, a lot of times it starts with shelter. As we help people get housed, then we address access to food, access to a more stable and permanent housing. So our case workers take people through the entire process.”

Ellis says the Salvation Army is moving more towards online services, due to a lack of transportation.  

“Everyone can’t get to our offices,” he said. “So, we’re going to have a more online approach for people to apply. And that’s emergency assistance, and our Christmas assistance. And the food we continue to lean on, our community partners, to make sure our food pantries are stocked, so when people come in, there’s food on the table.”

The Salvation Army says help is available for those who need it. for more information on local resources or to find help online, visit their website.