Emergency Aid of Boulder City is kicking off a drive for financial donations.
The local nonprofit organization is running low on money, which provides emergency rental and utility assistance to needy residents throughout the year.
Jack Edwards, one of Emergency Aid’s 23 volunteer directors, said the economy is to blame for the shortage.
“The (Boulder Dam) Credit Union used to be the center of activity in Boulder City,” he said. “The last four years the center of activity has been Emergency Aid. People are in trouble, and it hasn’t let up. It has been draining our funds for a number of years.”
Edwards said the grants Emergency Aid is used to receiving are also drying up.
Food drives for the Emergency Aid’s food bank are not uncommon. But in its nearly 50-year existence, the organization has only had to do a few fund drives, Edwards said.
“We don’t have fund drives unless we really need them, and we really need them,” he said. “We’re down to a point where it’s serious.”
Recently, it received half of a two-year $90,000 grant from the Health and Human Services Department for its food pantry. The Senior Center received the other half for its smaller food pantry for residents 60 and older.
Still, most of Emergency Aid’s funding goes to rental and utility assistance, Edwards said.
So far, in 2013, Emergency Aid has helped 195 households with rental assistance, and 77 families with utility assistance, Edwards said.
The average amount of rent assistance given to a family is $615 a month, he said.
The organization screens its applicants to make sure the funding requests are truly needed, and typically occur on a one-time basis.
“We require everybody to prove their need,” Edwards said. “They just don’t walk into our office and have somebody pay their rent.”
Emergency Aid, although less frequently, uses its funding to purchase gas, bus tickets, hotel rooms and other small items to keep people out of short-term trouble.
“We keep people out of your garage and my garage,” Edwards said. “In an hour I might get a call to go to the police department because a transient is wandering around and needs a hotel.”
Unlike a business that has the option of cutting costs when it is in financial need, Edwards said Emergency Aid has no costs to cut. It is entirely volunteer-operated and receives the use of the L.A. Water and Power building at no charge from the city.
Edwards said the organization is contacting local media outlets, as well as requesting that the information be circulated on local mailing lists and church bulletin boards.
To donate, one can visit the Emergency Aid offices at 600 Nevada Way, from 9 a.m. to noon every day.
Checks can be mailed to Emergency Aid at P.O. Box 60673, Boulder City, NV 89006.
And those wishing to make a donation directly to Emergency Aid’s bank account can do so by contacting Boulder Dam Credit Union at 702-293-7777.