On the Front Lines of the Crisis

Elizabeth Moss, Executive Director of IAM

Elizabeth Moss, Executive Director of Interfaith Assistance Ministry (IAM) and Flat Rock resident, is spending these days on the front-line of Henderson County’s coronavirus response. For hundreds of local citizens in crisis, Elizabeth and the IAM staff have been a ray of hope in an otherwise dark time. 

Since 1984, IAM has provided emergency relief to Henderson County residents experiencing financial crises. They are not a government-funded agency and depend wholly on support from individuals, businesses, civic service organizations, congregations, and grants. IAM is also the largest provider of crisis services in the County.

With the onset of the pandemic crisis, Elizabeth and her staff are busier than ever. During the past month, IAM saw requests for assistance increase by 82% compared to the same time last year. During that time, over 900 people were provided with enough food to last seven days. In addition, requests for financial assistance with rent payments have begun to increase and IAM expects this issue to become even more critical in the months ahead.  “The category we are most worried about and is most costly for us per family is rent assistance,” says Elizabeth. “We want to prevent more homelessness during this time.”

Making the dire situation even more challenging are NC’s Stay at Home Orders and IAM’s paramount concern for the health and safety of its volunteers. These factors have compelled IAM to reduce the number of active volunteers from over 200 per week to a skeleton crew of fewer than a dozen.  “About 85% of our volunteers are 60 or older. So we cross-trained our staff to take over for the volunteers,” explains Elizabeth.  IAM soon realized, however, that their paid staff of 14 full-time and part-time employees could not do it alone, and a handful of low-risk volunteers have come on to help with the onslaught of requests for food and assistance. “They're really just superheroes as far as we're concerned,” says Elizabeth

As expected, IAM is seeing a lot of suddenly unemployed people requesting help. Elizabeth says that they tend to be lower-wage earners who were barely making ends meet before the crisis. In addition to food and rent assistance, IAM provides individuals and families with items such as personal hygiene items, diapers, baby food, feminine products, pet food, gas for their vehicles, and prescription assistance. 

Due to the higher risk of handling contributions of clothing, IAM is not accepting or distributing clothing at this time. Clothing is less critical in the short run - especially as the weather warms up - but Elizabeth is concerned that if the crisis lasts an extended period of time, the children of families served will begin to outgrow their clothes and shoes.

Because of their size and organizational advantages, IAM has been asked by the Henderson County emergency management officials to coordinate the food needs in the county. They are in continual contact with local food pantries and rescue missions to make sure that food is being distributed where it is most needed. During the past week, IAM shared 100 food staple boxes with The Council on Aging when that agency had only five boxes left in its inventory.

When asked how long IAM can continue this pace of elevated assistance levels, Elizabeth remains optimistic. “We've been really blessed that the supply chains have remained strong so far and we're buying a lot of our food from Manna Food Bank.”

For people who wish to help IAM meet the rising needs of our community, Elizabeth says that donations of money and specific food items are the most helpful. “With financial donations, we can buy four times as much food as the average person could on their own. Specific needs include sanitizing wipes and food items like canned chicken, spaghetti sauce, and loaves of sliced sandwich bread. Also, personal hygiene items are very helpful - toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, diapers, and baby formula.

The staff and a handful of volunteers at IAM will return to the front lines of the crisis this week. They face a daunting task but remain positive in spite of the desperate situations they encounter on a daily basis. “It’s physically and emotionally draining,” says Elizabeth. “A staff member says it’s like sweeping the ocean back with a broom. At the same time, it is truly rewarding to see God's grace at work every day. We’re really honored to be able to do this and to see the grateful reactions of the people we are helping.”

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For more information about specific ways you can help IAM, click here.