Community Corner

'Streamlined' Funds Announced for Immediate Financial Assistance

The United Way of Western Connecticut and the Newtown Rotary Club have partnered with a state office to provide hundreds of thousands in aid for "immediate financial and mental health needs."

 

Three agencies have teamed up to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds immediately to for those impacted by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December. 

The United Way of Western Connecticut will make $110,000 in income assistance available immediately, with a matching amount coming from the Newtown Rotary Club. Additionally, the United Way has made another $110,000 available for mental health assistance.

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"The core of the issue is we’re trying to come up with a centralized function so families will have a place to go," said Dan Rosenthal, a member of the Newtown Rotary Club. The organization set up the Newtown Rotary Sandy Hook School Fund in the wake of the tragedy.

The state Office of Victim Services will assist in managing requests for help associated with the fund. Rosenthal said it wasn't sustainable to handle the process without the help of the state office.

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"We were trying to find a scenario, and the Office of Victim Services was willing to step into the mix," he said. The office will provide a presence in town on Wednesdays and Saturdays, allowing residents to meet and discuss aid. For more information, said Rosenthal, residents can call the office's special hotline.

The fund is not drawn from the same $8 million-plus pool that makes up the Sandy Hook School Support Fund, the foundation started by the United Way and Newtown Savings Bank. That fund is still in the process of setting up a structure to distribute funds.

For more information:

In Person: An Office of Victim Services representative will be available at Reed Intermediate School

By Phone: Call the office's hotline at (860) 990-1984.


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