WOCAP brings pandemic relief to Lima

Trevor Hubert, The Lima News, Ohio
·2 min read

Aug. 5—LIMA — The COVID-19 pandemic has caused hardships for many families in many different ways. What some people don't know about are the resources available to help them get back on their feet.

West Ohio Community Action Partnership (WOCAP) CEO Jackie Fox was at Lima Mayor David Berger's press conference on Wednesday to explain what WOCAP is doing to provide relief to families and what individuals can to do get help from WOCAP.

The group is mainly doing its part by helping people get caught up paying bills and rent. Now, WOCAP is helping get money to families in advance through the child tax credit program. Child tax credit payments have already been going out automatically to those who file their taxes. For non-filers, the process has more hoops, but the money is still available to them.

"We're encouraging people, especially folks that are strapped for income lately, to think about going to irs.gov and applying for the child tax credit," Fox said. "There's a tool on there that will tell you whether you're eligible or not, to see if you can seek those benefits."

While the child tax credit doesn't necessarily bring more total income for families, it does allow families to get money now, instead of waiting to get the tax credit during tax season in 2022.

WOCAP has also been allocated more money from the American Rescue Plan to help continue its services of payments. The group has been given an additional $6 million to continue to help individuals who have been impacted by the pandemic.

To qualify for assistance, individuals must be able to prove that they were impacted by COVID-19 in some significant way, but Fox said that it shouldn't be a reason to get discouraged about applying.

"When we say you must prove you've had a COVID hardship, those things could take many different forms," she said. "So I say apply anyway, we'll help you figure it out."

Fox said that WOCAP is able to help make various kinds of payments that have been missed any time after April of 2020.

Reach Trevor Hubert at 567-242-0398