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Home >> How We Work >> In Our Office >> In-Take FAQs
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Many common questions about Love INC are answered here.
If you do not find the answer to your question, please contact
our office and we'd be glad to assist you.
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In Our Office
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Who Can Receive Help?
What kinds of questions will I be asked when I call?
Why do you need references?
Why can't I come to your office to get help?
How long will it take before I get some help?
What about confidentiality?
Can you help me with financial needs?
What if I'd just like somebody to talk to?
May I call to tell you about somebody who needs help?
Why do you want me to go to a budgeting session?
Who do I call if I have an emergency?
Why did one person answer the phone, but another person called me later?
Why do I always get an
answering
machine message when I call?
more FAQs
 | Who can receive help from Love
INC ? |
We serve Gallatin County residents in need. If
you are a resident and you are in need of help, we will work hard to meet your request. (Montana State
University students who meet our normal qualification guidelines are
eligible for help, too.)
| What kinds of questions
will I be asked when I call? |
You will be asked some basic questions, like your
name, social security number, address and phone number where you can be
reached (if you have one). We'll also ask a few questions about
your family to better determine the scope of your need. We're
interested, of course, in the need that you have and will try to fully
understand your request, how you are coping right now and what kind of
help you need by asking questions. For some types of requests, we
will ask a few financial questions to help us assess your
situation. And, we'll ask if you are working with other helping
agencies, organizations or ministries in the area. Finally, we'll
ask for a couple of references - people who know you and the situation
that you face. Please note: for some types of requests, not all of
these questions are asked and some may be abbreviated. The fullest
in-take is necessary for requests for monetary assistance (which we are
rarely able to provide).
It helps us understand more fully your situation and
the need you have. References can be neighbors or even extended
family members. Depending on your request and if you are working
with a service agency, we may need a reference and a release from that
agency to verify your residency status and your situation.
Again, many requests do not require extensive checking with references,
but we do need to verify that you are who you say you are.
Our office is staffed by volunteers who are trained to
answer the phone and speak with you over the phone concerning your
need. We do not have any staff who can offer you assistance in
person. We do not have a place, either, to provide face-to-face intake processing
of your request. We're confident you will find our phone workers
pleasant, caring and patient - please give us a
call.
Please plan on about a week. We need this time
so that we can contact your references, research what resources are
available to meet your need, and, if your request is referred to a
church, to locate a volunteer. In addition, although we encourage
our church volunteers to respond as soon as possible, sometimes their
personal lives and schedules may delay their response for a day or
two. All of this usually adds up to about a week. So, if you
need transportation to an appointment, for example, please call us about
a week in advance.
Love INC assures confidentiality to all of the people
we serve. Love INC volunteers sign a confidentiality
agreement, stating that they will disclose no information regarding
a past or present client at any time to any unauthorized person.
Love INC has no funds to provide financial
assistance. That is not what we do, although we network with other
groups in our area who do. But this does not mean that our
ministry cannot help you when you are in a financial difficulty.
What we do is provide volunteers to offer services and resources to
you. So, for example, if are unable to meet your rent payment this
one time due to difficult circumstances, we can do a number of things
for you: we can locate other agencies and sources who may be able to
help you (if you meet their qualifications), and we may be able to
provide volunteers who can offer services or helps that will free up
some money for you that you can use for your rent. Our churches,
for example, may be able to provide you with grocery vouchers and
volunteers who could weatherproof your leaky doors and windows (to
reduce your power bill) - and free up money for rent. We can offer
budget counseling that often reveals areas where you will be able to
save money to have available next time for rent. That's why, when
possible, it's good to look ahead and call us about your pending need
before the due date. In dire emergencies (for example, a car
accident that hospitalizes the breadwinner), we may be able to find
ministries and churches who will offer exceptional help for you.
Budget counseling is required
for any request for financial or material help (for example,
groceries, gasoline) over $50. We want to meet with you to be an
encouragement to you and possibly help you find ways to squeeze some
extra cash out of your budget in the future. We realize this is
not always possible. But usually our budget counselors are able
to help you understand your situation more clearly and actually find
ways to improve it a bit. Our counselors are patient and kind;
and our office keeps your financial matters confidential. Many
people, even in good financial conditions, pay to have a budget
counselor help them manage their finances. We offer this
resource as a gift to you.
| What if I'd just like someone to talk
to? |
Please call us. We will listen. If you'd
like, we will pray with you.
You
may alert us about someone in need and help us understand their
situation; however, we do ask for the person who has a need to call us
personally. We appreciate your concern and hope to be able to
respond, but we need to make sure the person you know is willing to
receive help. We cannot know this for sure unless we hear from
him or her. In rare situations, a person may not be able to call
due to physical infirmity; in this case, we will consider your call on
a case by case basis.
| Who do I call if I need immediate help - for an emergency? |
If you have a need that requires immediate help
(right now, or within a few hours), you may try calling another
organization, the Help Center, at 586-3333. Depending on
the nature of your need, you could also call 911.
Our in-take workers are
all volunteers, offering their time in service of their
neighbors. Each volunteer works one shift per week, so one
person may receive your call and gather information about your request
while another, a day later, may call you back for more information or
to inform you of the status of your request. The volunteers who
actually provide help and meet the need do not work in our office - so
they are different people from the one(s) you talk to on the
phone. This is teamwork in action.
Please call during office
hours. If you have left
a message and you haven't heard back from us, please call again.
We do seek to return your call before completion of the next business
day.
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