The Athens-Clarke County Charity Drive Committee reviews applications for assistance and approves them provided they meet the following definition of emergency: “A severe financial hardship resulting from a sudden and unexpected illness or accident experienced by the employee/retiree or his/her dependent; and/or the loss of an employee/retiree’s primary residence due to casualty.” The Committee does not generally approve applications for requests to pay medical bills, or any other bills for which payment arrangements can be made with the lender or service provider. Certain situations may warrant further inquiries from the Committee to the employee needing emergency assistance into the details of the emergency hardship in order to approve or decline this request.

The amount of assistance, which may be granted to a recipient, varies depending on the emergency. There is a limit per incident of $1000 for individuals who currently contribute a minimum of $50 per year (or $2 per pay period) to the Employee Emergency Assistance Fund and $350 to all other individuals. A contributing individual may receive a maximum of $2,000 in a 12-month period, while other individuals may receive up to $700 in a 12-month period.  

Employees who apply for assistance 3 times in an 18-month period may be required to complete financial counseling before any new applications can be considered.

You may apply for assistance by completing an online form:

• Employee Emergency Assistance Application if you are applying for yourself.
• By-Proxy Emergency Assistance Application if you are applying on behalf of a co-worker.

Or Download a PDF version of the Employee Emergency Assistance Application or By-Proxy Emergency Assistance Application and email to takitta.lumpkin@accgov.com. 

Please allow 3-5 days for the committee to process your application.

Additional Resources

• Unum Employee Assistance Program
• United Way 211
• Budgeting and financial planning tools
• Local Agency Referral List