2022 was another busy year for Helpline House. More Island households needed rental and mortgage assistance in 2022 than in previous years. According to the USDA Consumer Price Index, food was 10.4% higher in December ’22 than in December ’21. Helpline House continued to see daily visits to the food bank increase throughout the year as inflation raged and took a toll on households’ grocery and household bills. They distributed 615,935 pounds of food this year to the Island community; that’s 51 thousand pounds of food each month.
Through partnerships, Helpline House offered over 350 services and scholarships to children and youth. They helped 125 households ‘keep the lights’ on through assistance for electric bills, and further assisted 656 times with all things related to housing: rent, mortgage, utilities, and more. Clinical social workers met with neighbors experiencing various forms of distress 1,039 times over the course of the year. “In sum, Helpline House offered 5,489 services in 2022. And that is exactly why Helpline House is here – to support the community,“ noted Maria Metzler, Executive Director.
PSE is proud to support the critical work of Helpline House.