If you are in the midst of a hard time and in need of financial help, we try to meet needs. Jesus instructed his followers to give, and we seek to be faithful to that calling. We have a financial assistance fund, but it is supported solely by individual gifts from our members. Thus, the amount in the fund fluctuates during the year. There are times when we simply do not have funds available. When we do have funds, our financial assistance policy is below and there are no exceptions:
- Help is given first to members of our congregation. If you attend worship here regularly and people know you, we will bend over backwards to get you whatever help you need. The policy below does NOT apply to church members that attend worship regularly and are known to us.
- Please be aware that we get anywhere from 10-20 calls a week asking for help, and most of those calls come from people we do not know. The reality is that we are not financially able to help everyone. If you cannot comply with the policy below, we will not be able to help you, but we may be able to recommend other organizations in town that we support who can help you. Decisions on who to help is placed solely at the discretion of the Pastor. There is no “appeals” process.
- If you need gas, we periodically receive $20 gas cards. We MAY give up to 3 per year, once every 4 months (not 3 months in a row). We are also willing to purchase cards for the bus system in Saginaw.
- If we do not know you, we will give up to $50 (depending on availability of funds) towards utilities, medications, or rent. We do NOT provide assistance for phone minutes. Help MAY be given up to 3 times per year, once every four months (not 3 months in a row).
- We expect callers to treat our office staff respectfully. Rudeness will not be tolerated.
- IF we’re financially able, we want to be faithful servants of Jesus Christ, so please be respectful of our time. Please give us the concise version of your needs, not the extended cut.
- We do NOT EVER dispense cash and we do not give checks made out directly to any individual. Checks must be made out to a recognized entity such as Consumers Energy, Walgreens Pharmacy, Saginaw Township Water, etc. If your landlord is an individual person (ie: John Smith) we cannot help you with rent.
- You must live in Saginaw County. If you are from out of town and are stranded here, we may be able to help you one time, but if you are living outside the bounds of the county, we encourage you to reach out to local congregations in your area for assistance.
- In order to get help with a bill, you must bring in or email (firstumcsaginaw@gmail.com) a copy of the bill with your account number and the payee address. To protect your confidentiality, only office staff handle these requests, and once the gift is paid, we do not keep copies of your bill. We will mail the check on your behalf. We will not give you the check.
- We do not use credit cards over the phone or internet to provide assistance except in very specific circumstances at the sole discretion of the pastor, and we do not provide assistance for minutes on pre-paid phones.
- To get help with a prescription, we do NOT need to know the name of the medication (this is protected by privacy laws), but we do need an exact price from the pharmacy, so you will need to get that information before you come in to collect a check, which will be made out directly to the pharmacy.
- If we discover that checks have been doctored, manipulated or that funds have been put to uses other than the stated intention, we will record your name and all future requests for help will be denied.
We regret that the above policy is needed, but unfortunately, there are individuals who scam churches in order to line their own pockets. Out of faithfulness to the congregation that supports our assistance fund, and in the interest of good stewardship and helping as many as we can, the above policy has been approved by the Finance Committee at First U.M.C., and is non-negotiable and diligently enforced by our staff. Thank you for your cooperation.
