Community Care Fund

Community Care Fund

Community Care Fund

This fund was formerly called the Ministerial Discretionary Fund

1. Purpose

The Community Care Fund exists to offer short-term, confidential financial support to members of our Foothills community who are facing urgent need.

This guidance supports our commitment to compassion, equity, and pastoral care. It ensures this support is offered with discretion, clarity, and consistency, aligned with our mission to care for one another with courage and humility.

2. Organizational Guidance

The Community Care Fund is available once per calendar year per household. The fund is not for long-term or recurring assistance but is intended to meet acute, essential needs.

Eligibility

Request and Disbursement Process

  1. Initiate Request
    • A request may come through a minister, staff member, Caring Listener, or trusted lay leader.
    • The individual may also directly reach out to a minister or relevant staff.
  2. Review and Decision
    • The request is reviewed by a designated member of the Ministry Team, often the Minister for Community Care.
    • Decisions consider
      • Urgency
      • Alignment with fund purpose
      • Whether community resources have been utilized or are available
      • Available Community Care Fund budget
  3. Disbursement and Documentation
    Once a request is approved, complete all three steps below. They keep the pastoral record, the running balance, and the accounting in sync, and skipping any one of them is how the records drift apart. The amount is open, determined by the situation and available resources.
    • Document in PCO. Add a note under the Community Care Fund Notes category on the recipient's individual profile. Use one note per household, not one per person. Include the date, the amount, and a short line on what it covers (for example, "$500 toward rent during a job gap"). 
    • Log the tracking table. Add the amount to the household's row in the Community Care Fund tracking table. 
    • Submit the payment request. Complete the Foothills Payment Request Form so bookkeeping can issue the check. Note whether the check is to be mailed or picked up at Foothills. 

Confidentiality and Records

3. Related Content

Bylaws and Policies

This guidance interprets or implements the following:

Organizational Guidances & SOPs

This guidance is related to or informs the following:

4. Revision History

Originally created by

Email Template: Financial Assistance Request (Non-Community Member)

Your Request for Support

Thank you for reaching out and for sharing a bit of what you've been carrying lately. [Acknowledge their specific situation in 1-2 sentences, e.g., what they're navigating, any bright spots they mentioned.]

I want to be transparent with you about how we're able to respond to financial requests. Because we are a community with limited resources, the direct financial support we offer is reserved for individuals who are active members of our congregation. To my knowledge that isn't the case for you, but please let me know if I'm wrong. For the wider community, our support is primarily channeled through local partners who are better equipped to help with emergency financial needs.

We do have one specific fund open to the broader community: a Mutual Aid Fund dedicated to LGBTQIA performing artists. If that describes you, you're welcome to apply here: https://foothillsuu.org/fierce-together-fund/

Outside of that fund, here are some local resources that may be helpful:

I'm sorry we aren't able to do more. You are in our thoughts and we're rooting for you.

With care,