WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE EMERGENCY FUND?
The Ripon Community Emergency Fund (“Emergency Fund”) was established at The Community Foundation of San Joaquin, to provide limited financial assistance to present and future residents of the City of Ripon, California, (“Charitable Class”) who incur Qualifying Expenses as a direct result of experiencing a Qualifying Emergency that results in Economic Hardship. Applications for grant assistance are reviewed by an Advisory Committee comprised of representative of the City of Ripon, California. The Fund is administered by The Community Foundation of San Joaquin.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR GRANT ASSISTANCE?
In order to be eligible to receive assistance from the Emergency Fund, an applicant must be a resident of the City of Ripon, California. The applicant must have also incurred a Qualifying Expense as a direct result of experiencing a Qualifying Emergency that results in Economic Hardship.
WHAT IS A QUALIFYING EMERGENCY?
An applicant (or in the case of death, a survivor) must have experienced a Qualifying Emergency within the past 12 months. Generally, a Qualifying Emergency is defined as an unexpected incident that happens to an individual that involves any of the following:
The Qualifying Emergency must have arisen from circumstances outside of the applicant’s control.
WHAT CONSTITUTES ECONOMIC HARDSHIP?
In addition to sustaining a Qualifying Expense, there must also be accompanying Economic Hardship. The means test used to determine whether an applicant has an Economic Hardship to pay a Qualifying Expense, is if:
a.the applicant’s household income was less than the Median Household Income (“MHI”) for the City of Ripon,according to the most recent United States Census Bureau Report, or
b.incurred out-of-pocket expenses resulting from the Qualifying Emergency that exceed the applicant’s averagegross monthly income for the 12 month period ending with the month in which the Qualifying Emergencyexpense(s)were incurred.
WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT I CAN RECEIVE IN ASSISTANCE?
Generally, the maximum grant amount available for assistance is $2,500 during any 12-month period. All payments are made directly to vendors as bill payments; assistance funds cannot be sent directly to applicants.