Bela Gaytán, M.Ed.

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    Unemployment Resources

    Last updated on September 23rd, 2023 at 05:08 pm

    A black graphic contains a photo of a person from their waist to chest area holding a wooden crate filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.  They are standing on a sidewalk at someone’s door, offering community support.  Beneath the photo is a red banner with “Unemployment Resources” in white letters.  At the bottom is Bela’s lightbulb logo, Bela Gaytán in a cursive green and magenta font, and Bela Gaytán dot com.

    This is a living, ever-evolving hub of resources to support individuals who are unemployed.  Resources are organized in alphabetical order by topic and resources within each content section.  To see what has been updated, you may view the change log at the bottom of this page.  If you’d like to be notified anytime additional resources are added, subscribe to my weekly newsletter.

    If you’d like to recommend resources to be added, please contact me with additional details.

    Clothing and Hygeine

    • Aid, Safety, Hygiene (ASH) Kits:  I Support The Girls (ISTG) provides customizable Aid, Safety, and Hygiene kits (A.S.H.) that can be requested directly from ISTG and delivered by mail. These kits support marginalized individuals and ship to any U.S. address while keeping information confidential.
    • Laundry Love:  Laundry Love is a neighboring movement that partners with groups, schools and local laundromats to wash the clothes and bedding of low-income and/or no-income families and individuals for free.

    Community Support

    • 211:  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated 211 as the 3-digit number for information and referrals to social services and other local assistance.

    Educational Support

    • Learn2Be:  help kids from underserved communities unlock their potential by connecting them with exceptional tutors online, for free.
    • Online Public Schools:  Connections Academy’s K–12 accredited online public school program is tuition-free and aligned with your state’s educational standards. Students learn from home, with parent involvement, and connect to curriculum, teachers, classmates, and resources using the internet.
    • PowerMyLearning:  free digital learning platform for K-12 students, educators, and parents. It offers a wide selection of online learning activities, including games, videos, and simulations. These resources are organized based on Common Core Standards, subject, grade level, and more.

    Financial Assistance

    • Welfare:  Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), also known as welfare, helps families after experiencing hardships.
    • Legal Referrals for Disability Benefits:  Atticus provides free referral services that helps individuals in determining if they’re eligible for disability benefits, apply, or find legal representation if they need it. 

    Food Security

    • Food Banks in Your Area:  Connect with your local food bank to learn about upcoming free food distributions and to apply for national food programs like SNAP and WIC.
    • Food Stamps:  SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits can help pay for food for low-income households.
    • Food Stamp Assistance:  mRelief provides help signing up for Food Stamps including help ensuring individuals and families qualify. 
    • School Meals:  Children may be eligible for free or reduced-cost meals at their school or childcare center.
    • Thrive Market Membership:  Thrive Market offers free one-year memberships to teachers, students, nurses, first responders, and families in need.
    • WIC:  The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant women, breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5 at nutritional risk.
    • WIC State Offices:  listing of each state’s WIC contacts, as well as additional program offerings to address food insecurity.

    Healthcare

    • Advocating for Chronic Conditions, Entitlements and Social Services (A.C.C.E.S.S.):  Accessia Health offers the ACCESS program to help find solutions to the social and economic problems that confront families facing chronic conditions. The services provided by A.C.C.E.S.S. are offered absolutely without charge.
    • Affordable Virtual Health Care
      Program:  ReviveHealth provides you the care you want, the medications you need, and supports your well-being with a simple, convenient, and affordable plan that is right for anyone.
    • CancerCare:  the leading national organization dedicated to providing free, professional support services including counseling, support groups, educational workshops, publications and financial assistance to anyone affected by cancer. All CancerCare services are provided by oncology social workers and world-leading cancer experts.
    • COBRA Coverage:  Learn how to continue your employer-provided health insurance after a job loss.
    • Diabetes Education Programs:  The American Diabetes Association offers a recognized diabetes education program to help patients thrive with diabetes. Certified educators are available to work with patients and find practical solutions tailored to their needs.
    • GoodRX:  Search and compare prescription prices in your area.
    • Marketplace Plans:  Also referred to as Obamacare, see the plans for health insurance in your state.  Once you provide your zip code, you can enter household details to see an estimate of your cost and savings.
    • Medicare Help Center and Enrollment Assistance:  Connect with a licensed insurance for a free Medicare benefits consultation and help with enrollment in a Medicare plan with the right coverage and benefits – at no obligation to enroll.
    • Patient Advocate Foundation’s Case Management:  PAF’s program provides free case management service to individuals with life-threatening or debilitating disease who are experiencing healthcare or financial issues that are impacting their care. 
    • Una Voz Para La Salud (Call for Health):  Call for Health supports agricultural workers and their families in accessing health services, including COVID-19 testing and vaccination, as well as providing financial assistance for medical services and interpretation services for farmworkers and their families, health providers, and organizations serving farmworkers.
    • Variety, the Children’s Charity:  Variety’s Care Program delivers critical life-saving medical equipment and services, healthcare and well-being to individual children and children’s health organizations.

    Housing

    • Emergency Rental Assistance:  Comprehensive listing of programs available to help with emergency rent and utility support by state and county.
    • Just Shelter:  Comprehensive directory of more than 600 community organizations working to reduce homelessness and prevent evictions.
    • Socialserve Call Center:  Socialserve offers a call center that assists people with housing location and listing services across the United States. Socialserve also assists displaced households in finding new housing.

    Job Searching

    • Prepare for Interviews:  LinkedIn shares free resources on how to prepare for interviews, including free learning courses, practice tools, and common interview questions.
    • Resume-Now:  Free resume builder and job tools.

    Legal

    • A Better Balance:  free and confidential legal helpline can help you understand your workplace rights around caring for yourself and your family members.
    • Free Legal Documents:  LawHelp Interactive is a free website that helps you complete legal documents without a lawyer.
    • Free Legal Help:  American Bar Association’s directory of free legal services available.
    • Legal Aid:  Listing of organizations that provide free and low-cost legal aid.
    • WARN Act Compliance Assistance Worker’s Guide:  The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act helps ensure advance notice in cases of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs.

    Making Money

    Mental Health

    • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:  Dial, text, or chat 988 or 1-800-273-8255to be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing Lifeline network.
    • Headspace:  App using science-backed meditation and mindfulness tools.  They offer 7-day and 14-day trial memberships.
    • The Trevor Project:  24/7 suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults.  Support is available by phone call, texting, or online chat.
    • Trans Lifeline:  Radical community care run by and for trans people.

    Negotiation

    Professional Development

    Unemployment Benefits

    Utilities

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    Change Log

    Changes to the resources in this document are listed below, beginning with the most recent updates.

    Resource originally published.

     

     

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