Second Rental Assistance Clinic

Following our mission to help our residents access supportive services, DeSales’ Community Service Coordination team and Fox Grove Management managers worked to put on our second Rental and Resource Assistance Clinic on March 5, 2022.

Held at the DeSales office in Fox Park, DeSales staff met with residents facing financial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our team met one-on-one with residents to help them apply for Missouri’s State Assistance for Housing Relief (SAFHR) rent assistance as well as connect to additional resources such as financial coaching, free tax filing, food access, and utility assistance.

In a single day, we were proud to be able to connect 15 households to $65,000 of rental assistance, avoiding evictions for many of these families. Including the first clinic in December 2021, DeSales has now connected 30 households to $117,000 of rental assistance.

This effort was largely led by our team of social work practicum students: Olivia Borland and Jorge Sanchez, who navigated the application for the first time, and Casey Ringenberg and Audrey Williams, who are SAFHR experts at this point! Additional shout out to volunteers, Will and Ronald, who assisted us, and our very own staff, Mike Ziegler, Sheltoria Love, Lisette Ortega-Vidal, Karen Bartley, Ilitheia Goston, and Nathan Greenberg who all came in on a Saturday to pitch in.

We hope to hold another clinic soon, and if you are in need of assistance, please contact Mike Zielger, DeSales’ Community Services Manager, at mike@desalescd.com or (314) 267-0433.

DeSales Community Services Manager, Mike Ziegler, helps a resident apply for rental assistance.

DeSales social work practicum student Olivia Borland walks a resident through the rental assistance process.