Thread provides financial assistance to Thread young people in order to facilitate connection, facilitate work towards goals and to work through barriers in order to achieve our key goals for young people: high school graduation, post-high school attainment, and self-efficacy.

Types of Financial Assistance to Young People

Connection Related Spending: Spending that facilitates connection between young people and volunteers or the Thread Community. In order to qualify as “Connection Spending” the young person must be with a volunteer or heading to or at a Thread Space. This would include rides to and from spaces like threadHOURS® and the Holiday Party, rides to meals with volunteers, or to purchase food for a dinner shared by a young person and a volunteer.

Barrier Related Spending: Thread can step in when health and safety are at risk, when there are barriers to goal attainment, and when there's an immediate need that, if not met, is likely to lead to cascading challenges. This would include rides to and from a job interview or benefits appointment, eviction prevention support, emergency groceries, and more.

The remainder of this page pertains to Barrier Removal spending ONLY. Below you will find information on how your young person can request financial assistance from Thread to address barriers. 

When does Thread step in to provide Barrier Removal assistance?

Thread is a “last dollar” provider of resources, meaning that personal networks, self-advocacy, and community resources should all be explored prior to the provision of financial assistance.

We can only provide assistance in certain circumstances: a risk to health or safety, a barrier to goal attainment, or a barrier that, if addressed, could prevent a series of other barriers. 

We can never guarantee assistance, even in one of our eligible categories listed below. Approval is dependent on several factors, including but not limited to, the amount requested, past financial assistance, how likely the assistance is to resolve the problem, the effort that has already gone into resolving the issue, the potential impact of the problem, and more. 

All financial support provided is time-limited. We can’t provide support without knowing the plan for future expenses.

How does a young person request financial assistance?

To apply for support go to: bit.ly/barriers24. If you have questions regarding spending guidelines you can reach out to your Community Manager or your Resource and Opportunity Manager or to Flannery McArdle at flannery.mcardle@thread.org.

Please allow for a 48 hour response time. If the request requires a quicker response time please call or text your Community Manager to convey the urgency. 

What CAN we pay for (if approved)?

  • Household Groceries
  • Emergency Meal Support
  • Clothing and Supplies
  • Short-term Emergency Housing
  • Eviction Prevention/Rental Assistance
  • Security Deposit
  • Utilities
  • Appliance/Housing Repair
  • Furniture/Household Items
  • Moving Costs
  • Baby/Child Supplies
  • Child CareHygiene Supplies
  • Emergency Health/Dental Expense
  • Mental Health Supports
  • Commissary/Calling Cards
  • Certifications/Licensure
  • Rides
  • Bus Pass
  • Drivers Ed
  • Gas
  • Car Repair
  • Phone
  • Computer
  • Internet
  • Identification

What can we NOT pay for?

  • Lawyer Fees (with the exception of immigration support)
  • Debt (credit cards, car payments, mortgages, property taxes)
  • Tickets, legal restitution, bail/bonds, home detention fees
  • Personal vehicle
  • Weapons or firearms
  • Ongoing payment for basic needs with no plan for independenceAnything illicit or illegal
    • This includes facilitating driving without a license or permit

Common Barriers:

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Transportation

We can support with 3 barrier removal rides in a month (there and back counts towards 1 ride) if needed to prevent a risk to health or safety, to facilitate goal attainment, or to remove a barrier that, if addressed, could prevent a series of other barriers. 

Examples of eligible rides would be: 

  • Ride to a benefits appointment
  • Ride to a job interview or job fair
  • Ride to the first day of work
  • Emergency ride to child care because the bus broke down or isn't running
  • Ride to a friend or family member's house to address a mental health crisis

Examples of ineligible rides would be: 

  • Ride home from a party at midnight
  • Ride to friend's house to get a video game
  • Ride to the mall to meet up with friends
  • Ride with no reason given

Examples of connection related rides that are excluded from this policy and NOT subject to the limit of 3 rides per month include: 

  • Rides to and from threadHOURS
  • Rides to and from meeting up with volunteers
Rides to and from all Thread community events like the Holiday Party

If you feel that the limitation of 3 rides per month will cause undue harm in one of the three categories of barrier removal spending including 1) risk to health or safety, 2) facilitating goal attainment, or 3) a barrier that if left unaddressed will lead to cascading challenges please reach out to your Community Manager and your Resources and Opportunities Manager.

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Groceries

We can support with emergency groceries in certain circumstances and with certain limitations. If the need for food is a risk to health and safety, a barrier to goal attainment, or a precursor to cascading challenges then we will consider a request for emergency groceries. 

1. Groceries are not to exceed $130 for one person or $180 for two people for the first order (for larger households check with your R&O Manager) and should last for no less than 2 weeks. 

2. There must be a plan in place for future expenses. This plan will be individual-specific but should be inclusive of one or more of the following: SNAP, WIC, food pantries, income. If they are eligible for SNAP the plan MUST include applying for this benefit. Subsequent orders following the initial order are not to exceed $75 for one person or $100 for 2 people because we expect individuals to be able to take advantage of community resources with advance planning.

3. We are unable to include (and will not reimburse for) snacks or drinks other than milk or water (barring a medical need for additional beverages). 

4. We can support with a maximum of 3 grocery orders in a 3 month period. If you believe this limitation (or any of the above considerations) would cause undue harm to a young person one of the three categories of barrier removal spending including 1) risk to health or safety, 2) facilitating goal attainment, or 3) a barrier that if left unaddressed will lead to cascading challenges please reach out to your Community Manager and your Resources and Opportunities Manager.

5. We ask that you use one of these prepared lists when shopping with your young person. We can accommodate up to 3 substitutions to account for personal preference. 

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Meals

We can provide emergency meals under rare circumstances in limited dosages. If the need for food is a risk to health and safety, a barrier to goal attainment, or a precursor to cascading challenges then a person can get an emergency meal with the following limitations: 

  • One barrier removal meal, not exceeding $31, can be provided in a 3 month period IF there is not the opportunity to purchase or there is not a need for groceries. For instance, if there is not sufficient time to go grocery shopping or get groceries delivered or if the young person is unable to store or prepare groceries or if the young person gets paid or is expecting to receive their SNAP card the following day. 

*Reminder that this strictly applies to barrier removal meals not connection related meals. Meals where young people and volunteer are eating together are not limited to 1 in a 3 month period.

 

 

 

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