HENDERSON, Ky. — Henderson County and the City of Henderson provided major momentum Tuesday to the effort to provide emergency financial relief to Henderson County residents who have been pushed off their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Henderson Fiscal Court voted unanimously Tuesday morning to provide $100,000 to bolster the Henderson Employee Relief Fund (HERF).
Then Tuesday afternoon the Henderson Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to provide $50,000 to HERF and is asking the boards of the Henderson Water Utility and Henderson Municipal Power & Light to provide $25,000 each to bring the entire city relief package to $100,000.
HERF was established April 3 to provide some stopgap assistance to Henderson County residents whose employment has been interrupted by business shutdowns that have been ordered to slow the spread of the virus, which can cause a severe and potentially fatal respiratory illness called COVID-19.
Many workers have been left without paychecks and haven’t yet received state unemployment benefits or a promised stimulus check from the federal government. HERF has been relying on Christian Community Outreach of Henderson staff and volunteers to verify workers’ applications with employers and write one-time aid checks. The Community Foundation of Henderson is serving as fiscal agent.
Joel Hopper, a member of the HERF steering committee, told Henderson Fiscal Court via a video conference call Tuesday that the “overwhelming” majority of applicants have asked for help making either a mortgage or rent payment or pay an electric utility bill.
Henderson Judge/Executive Brad Schneider issued a statement late Tuesday morning: “On behalf of Fiscal Court, we hope this contribution can be used to quickly assist those Henderson County residents who find themselves in very difficult financial situations through no fault of their own.
“COVID-19 has affected us all, but for some the economic struggles caused by the virus have been tremendously challenging,” Schneider continued. “We pray that is temporary, but in the meantime Fiscal Court was unanimous in its decision that to help fill the gap for those most in need until state and federal monetary aid arrives was the right thing to do. We applaud the efforts of the HERF steering committee and Christian Community Outreach. We trust our grant will aid in their very commendable initiatives.”
In a statement, Henderson Mayor Steve Austin said: “So many of our citizens have been severely impacted by the fallout from the COVID-19 crisis and the loss of employment that has come as a direct result. It has obviously created limitations in what a segment of our work force has been able to do in keeping up with their monthly expenses.
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“As a City we have a desire and a responsibility to do our part in providing support to the HERF project,” he added. “We are grateful to be in a position to do that along with our partners at Henderson Municipal Gas, Henderson Municipal Power & Light and Henderson Water Utility. We are also grateful for community leaders who acted quickly to get the relief fund jump-started.”
The HERF effort was initially funded with seed money from the Henderson Men’s Bourbon Society and the Community Foundation. It has since been supplemented by a $150,000 grant from Field & Main Bank and the Preston Family Foundation; a $50,000 grant from the Koch Foundation; a $10,000 grant from the Rotary Club of Henderson, and nearly $100,000 in contributions so far from private donors.
The HERF steering committee has a goal of raising $500,000. Individuals and organizations are invited to join as partners by making donations to:
Community Foundation of Henderson
1300 Commonwealth Drive
Henderson, KY 42420
(Please designate “HERF” on the memo line of checks.)
Information concerning the Community Foundation is available at CFHenderson.org
The deadline for displaced workers to submit applications to Christian Community Outreach is this Thursday, April 16.
Applications are available at:
• The drive-thru windows at the Henderson Municipal Center at 222 First St.
• The drive-thru windows at the Field & Main Bank location at 1720 E. Second St.
• The website of the City of Henderson (www.CityOfHendersonKy.org)
• The website of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce (HendersonKyChamber.com).
Completed applications must be emailed to kelsi.dunham@hendersoncco.org or mailed to Henderson Christian Community Outreach, 700 N. Green St., Henderson, KY 42420 or placed in a temporary mail box located outside the entrance of Christian Community Outreach at 700 N. Green St. Applications must be received by Thursday.
Applicants must identify the employer from which they are laid off because of the coronavirus and provide a supervisor’s name and phone number for verifying employment and layoff status.
As of mid-afternoon Tuesday, 510 applications for relief aid had been received.
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