The Sharing and Caring Foundation of Camden County, Camdenton, MO, recently awarded Independent Living Resource Center, Inc. (ILRC), Jefferson City, MO, a grant of $500 to support ILRC Care Closet program. This $500 grant targets poverty-level persons with disabilities in Camden County.
Independent Living Resource Center, Inc. (ILRC) provides services and support, regardless of income, for individuals with disabilities to promote greater independence and empowerment for over 15 years. ILRC’s services, including Care Closet, are available in a seven-county service area, most at no cost to the consumer, and many services are delivered right to the consumer’s door.
The ILRC Care Closet purpose is to provide necessary household items and personal care items for individuals with disabilities in the service area who have a financial need for assistance in this area. Consumers may request up to ten (10) Care Closet items once a month and items will be provided based upon availability. A consumer may receive a maximum of one each of household items and one each of personal care items per individual in the home not to exceed ten (10) total items per household. ILRC Care Closet is stocked monthly and has been maintained by donations and fund-raising efforts since its inception February 2010. Since the February 2010 launch of ILRC Care Closet, approved requests to access Care Closet items have quadrupled across the service area and ILRC anticipates an ongoing trend of increasing need and requests for the calendar year of 2013.
Purchasing toilet paper, shampoo, and laundry detergent or purchasing medicines for a combination of disabilities including stroke, arthritis, diabetes type II, and heart issues can be a difficult choice month-to-month. Testimonial from one 61-year-old consumer states being able to access ILRC Care Closet enables them to put the money that they would have spent for personal care items and cleaning supplies towards medicine for a combination of disabilities noted above. A 70-year old consumer dealing with a spinal cord injury states that their food stamps don’t even buy them enough food to live on each month so the ILRC Care Closet provides household and personal items that they can’t afford to purchase for themselves.
ILRC is excited and grateful for this opportunity to partner with Sharing and Caring Foundation of Camden County. For more information regarding ILRC’s Care Closet or ILRC’s other programs, please contact 573-556-0400 or utilize the contact form on ILRC website at www.ilrcjcmo.org.
