Modest Needs Foundation to Ease the Financial Burden of Hurricane Sandy on Low-Income Workers by Providing Emergency Housing Grants

NEW YORK, Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of low-income workers and families living in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are now facing a tremendous financial hardship due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy on their homes and places of employment. Modest Needs Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes the self-sufficiency of low-income working families and individuals, today announced the Hurricane Relief Program to offer immediate monetary aid to low-income workers who do not qualify for conventional types of emergency assistance, but who have lost income or incurred unexpected household expenses as a result of this unprecedented natural disaster.

Too many citizens have encountered substantial financial hardships due to Hurricane Sandy but are not qualified to receive emergency aid: 

• Some have lost a substantial amount of monthly income because they were unable to work when power failures prevented their places of employment from opening as usual;
• Others have been unable to report to work because of mass transit shut-downs and gas shortages;
• While schools were closed, working parents often had no choice but pay someone to watch their children, even though they don't normally pay for childcare; and
• Persons whose places of business did not close have been forced either to relocate to hotels closer or to face pay cuts.

For qualified persons facing these and similar financial hardships, Modest Needs Hurricane Relief Program will remit payment for the cost of one month's rent or mortgage up to a maximum of $1,500.

"We've fielded calls from an endless number of hard-working citizens in the Tri-State area that are teetering on the poverty lines due to the impact Hurricane Sandy has had on their lives," says Modest Needs Foundation President Dr. Keith Taylor. "Thanks to grants from the Herb Alpert and Zegar Family Foundations, the first $150,000 in donations received will be matched."

For more info on applying and donating to the Modest Needs Hurricane Relief Program, visit: https://www.modestneeds.org/donation/Hurricane-Sandy-Relief-Program.asp.

About Modest Needs Foundation

Modest Needs Foundation is a registered charity that promotes the self-sufficiency of low-income workers by helping them to afford short-term, emergency expenses. Since 2002, Modest Needs' donors have stopped the cycle of poverty for nearly 11,000 hard-working individuals and families that conventional philanthropy otherwise had forgotten. For more information, visit www.modestneeds.org. Facebook: www.facebook.com/modestneeds. Twitter: www.twitter.com/modestneeds.

SOURCE Modest Needs