News
October 1, 2015SICM With SCAP Restarts Security Deposit Program
Schenectady Inner City Ministry (SICM) and Schenectady Community Action Program (SCAP) are joining forces to restart a Housing Security Deposit Program. SICM will provide SCAP on a periodic basis up to $10,000 to administer and allocate security deposits for individuals served through the Community Crisis Network.
The funding is made possible through a special grant from the First Reformed Church of Schenectady.
The security deposits, which will be a maximum of $500 per household will be made directly to landlords by SCAP. SCAP provides services to families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness due to eviction or other reasons. SCAP seeks whenever possible to provide for rapid rehousing assistance. These funds will often be leveraged with other assistance so that a family can move into a different apartment.
“We are pleased to be able to once again offer assistance to those in need in the community. It is difficult—and often impossible—to procure housing without a substantial deposit, something that is a real hardship for many people. We hope that, through this program, more residents in the community will be able to take a step towards living independently with a place to call home,” said Rev. Phillip N. Grigsby, Executive Director of SICM. “We are deeply grateful to First Reformed Church for making this possible.”
“The demand for this type of housing assistance is tremendous,” said Debra L Schimpf, SCAP’s Executive Director. “Our goal is to prevent homelessness as much as possible and to serve as many as we can before the winter sets in.”
For further information, contact Rev. Phillip Grigsby, Executive Director, at SICM, at 374-2683 or email revphil@sicm.us, or Debra Schimpf, Executive Director of SCAP, at 374-9181 dschimpf@scapny.org. Those seeking assistance should contact SCAP directly to make an appointment with a Community Crisis Network counsellor.
SICM initiated a security deposit program, one of the few of its kind in the Capital Region, many years ago. For many years SICM partnered with the county’s Human Rights Commission with the program, but more recently with SCAP.
SICM is a faith based coalition of congregations that undertakes programs of joint service and witness on behalf of the congregations. SCAP is Schenectady’s Community Action Program that serves the community’s poor and most vulnerable citizens to obtain the resources they need to become self-supporting.
