What Makes Us Different
Care For Others usually concentrates our fundraising efforts during the fall months. Symbolically a time of hope and harvest and holidays and celebrations, people seem to be the most generous and understanding of the needs of others at this time of year, especially those less fortunate.
It is typically at this time of the year we hear the same question over and over. “What makes Care For Others different? Why should we choose your charity over another one”? My usual response is how much time do you have? We are very proud of the work we do at Care For Others and for many reasons. Those reasons are WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT and we want to tell anyone who will listen.
Our foundation is completely run by volunteers. From fundraising to application processing to data input and accounting we do not have one paid employee. Even phones and equipment have been donated. With the exception of a few administrative costs like stationary, postage, and website maintenance every single dollar we raise is used to provide grants for our eligible applicants.
While we are a northeast Ohio based public charity we are also a national organization. We are open to referrals from any state in the nation. Applicants do not have to be referred by a social worker or church, they can be self referred. All of our information can be accessed right here on our website. If the information you read does not answer your questions you can always call us, we will be more than happy to have a conversation with you. We pride ourselves in making sure all calls and inquiries are returned by the end of the next business day.
Our typical business hours are 9-5, Monday through Friday. However, we want people to be working. So when an application says the best time to call is in the evening, you can be assured that is when you will get your phone call. We have been known to do application follow-ups and phone interviews on the weekend when we are most likely to find working applicants at home. Most of the applicant’s information is on the application itself, but our philosophy is that a phone interview will always give us the bigger picture and lead to information that may not have been forth coming in the form that was filled out. So unless an applicant is blatantly not eligible they can always expect, at the very minimum, a phone interview within 72 hours of Care For Others receiving the application. At the present time a phone interview is required to move to the next step in the application process.
The board normally meets once a week. At this time completed “eligible” applications are reviewed and a final decision is made. So dependent upon how fast applicants collect and submit their documentation for review our turnaround time can be as short as one week. Most applicants are in “crisis” so the last thing they need is a lengthily decision making process and completion of a payment on their behalf. We try our best to move as quickly as possible, verifying information, contacting employers or landlords…whatever it takes to complete the process for the applicant as quickly as possible. We normally tell applicants that as quickly as they can get us their documentation that is how quickly we will work with them.
Over time we are building a resource base of businesses and service people who will work with us. People we know who will be honest and fair with our applicants and do quality work when required. Those people benefit from our word of mouth advertising and links from our website as well as continued referrals of our applicants. We are supported by the community where we are housed and we have a strong working relationship with area county agencies, churches and service groups. So, right now we may be small but we are growing in leaps and bounds. Word has gotten out through the internet, community agencies, applicants we have helped and through friends of Care For Others .They all support the good work we do and the human touch we provide. However, no matter how large we grow we can assure you our mission and the way we carry it out will always remain the same…..and very different.
By Laura DiLella, Secretary, Applicant Advocate
