Anacortes Community Health Council

A new grant program is being offered to provide direct support and funding to at-risk youth and young adults who are interested in attending Skagit Valley College. 

Angel Aguilar-Corrales, Job Corps Scholars (JCS) Navigator, is recruiting potential youth (ages 16-24) who qualify for their JCS grant. Angel and her colleague will work one on one with students, helping with the application process, developing an education and career plan, and providing extra support. SVC will provide students with funding for tuition, transportation, book costs, housing and food.

Individuals who qualify are those who come from low income backgrounds, live in one of five counties (Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish) and have one barrier to higher educations (including High School Dropout, homeless, are in the Foster Care system, Caring for a Child, Student with disabilities or English deficient).

The programs covered in this grant include certifications for Medical Billing & Coding, Pharmacy Technician, Automotive, Manufacturing, Marine Technology, Multimedia & Interactive Technology, Technical Design, and Welding. We also offer GED and High School programs concurrently.

See the attached flyer in English and Spanish. SVC is currently accepting referrals for Spring quarter.

Anacortes Senior Care and Assisted Living Guide (https://www.caring.com/senior-living/assisted-living/washington/anacortes) is produced by Caring.com, a leading senior care resource for family caregivers seeking information and support as they care for aging parents, spouses and other loved ones. They have been featured by AARP, The Administration for Community Living, The National Legal Resource Center, and Forbes, as well as referenced by many governmental agencies and organizations across the Internet

A message from A Simple Gesture about April’s Red Bag Pickup: 

These are extraordinary times, and we hope that you are all staying safe, remaining steadfast, and supporting one another during this forced “pause” in all our lives. We want to update you on ASG’s plans in light of the COVID-19 situation and what would normally be our April pickup day.

Our desire is to make sure your donations get to the food bank and ultimately to those in need, while also keeping everyone safe. As a board, we’ve had many discussions about this, and concluded that the best way to do this is to CANCEL our scheduled April 11 pickup.  In lieu of our pickup day, we are asking you to drop off your filled bag directly to the food bank. Following are important details about this:

• For this particular donation, please use disposable bags (paper or plastic), NOT your red ASG bag.  Please save your red bag for next time
  
• Drop off your filled bag dairectly at the food bank, only if you are not ill.  If you are experiencing symptoms of illness, or are caring for someone with symptoms, do not drop off a bag until at least 72 hours after all symptoms are gone.
  
• The Salvation Army’s (TSA) food bank is considered an essential service, as are the donations made to it.  Their office remains open, and bags can be dropped off inside the lobby of their front office during business hours:  Monday-Thursday, 9am-4pm (closed 12-1pm for lunch).  They are located at 3001 R Ave. If you need assistance unloading your bag at TSA, they ask that you call ahead at (360) 293-6682 to make sure they’re available and can watch for your vehicle. Please do not drop off bags when their office is closed; we don’t want them sitting outside over night!
  

Current Food Shortages:  Spaghetti sauce, pasta, jam/jelly, single-serve fruit cups, single-serve applesauce cups, mac & cheese, meals-in-a-can, soups, Ensure-type drinks, canned meats (except tuna).  Also, while not essential, the food bank could use more bags of flour and sugar.

The food bank still has plenty of the following, and does NOT NEED: canned tuna, peanut butter, diced tomatoes, canned veggies (overstocked on green beans and corn), beans of all types.

Special Request:  **Please remember these are EXTRA items to add to your bag should you choose.  Otherwise, please focus on food shortages.**
April’s special request is for (you guessed it!) toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissues, and disinfecting wipes/cleaners.  We fully realize that many of these items are in short supply everywhere, but would you mind checking your stash at home to see if you have an item to spare?

If you would prefer make a monetary donation, you may do so online at https://a-simple-gesture-anacortes.square.site, or by mailing a check payable to A Simple Gesture-Anacortes, P.O. Box 1413, Anacortes, WA 98221.  Monetary donations will be used to purchase food to keep our Red Bag Pantries stocked.

At this time of uncertainty and anxiety for many, we are especially thankful for all of you and your continued willingness to help those in need.  We are encouraged and inspired by it!  We will continue to give you updates about what we’re up to, but in the meantime, please let us know should you have any questions.

Thank you,
Your ASG Board of Directors

Resources For Worker Assistance
Our thanks to Janet McKinney who shared this list of resources from the Washington State Labor Council. Other resources can be found at https://www.wslc.org/covid-19/.

• EDS Paid Family Medical Leave visit https://paidleave.wa.gov/
• Unemployment Benefits https://esd.wa.gov/,  if denied contact Unemployment Law Project at http://unemploymentlawproject.org/,  Waiting a week has been waived for WA State
• Washington Apple Health Special Enrollment Period is now available through April 8th at www.wahealthplanfinder.org  
• Apply for Washington Apple Health Medicaid through https://www.hca.wa.gov/
• Financial Assistance through Foundation for Working Families https://www.wslc.org/
• Financial Help through Department of Financial Institutions https://dfi.wa.gov/
• Small Business assistance at http://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/
• Insurance question contact https://www.insurance.wa.gov/
• Emergency Assistance Program through Economic Services Administration at https://www.dshs.wa.gov/ – This can cover rent including back rent, deposits for rent or utilities, home repairs, basic local telephone services, utilities and short term lodging such as motels
• United Way Resources dial 211
• Governor Inslee has instituted statewide moratorium on evictions of residential tenants for the next 30 days. Law Enforcement will not enforce eviction orders based solely on non-payment of rent
• Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to suspend foreclosures and eviction for at least 60 days

Information on what’s open and closed, restaurants that offer carry-out and delivery services and other related information is updated at the Skagit Valley Herald’s COVID-19 page, here: https://www.goskagit.com/coronavirus/

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