How We Help

Metropolitan Ministries staff and volunteers help clients on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. There are 40 slots available each of those days. The demand for help is quite high, though, and those 40 slots are always filled by the time we open the Garcia Center doors at 8:30.

Standard Assistance Areas include help with:

• Past due utility bills (electricity, gas, and water)
• Past due rent and mortgage payments
• Necessary prescription medications, and
• Food vouchers to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.

Clients are interviewed on a first-come, first-served basis rather than by appointment. There are no geographic limitations.

The Ministry helps clients with one resource at a time. Every effort is made to refer clients to other agencies that may be able to help with other emergency needs. All clients are encouraged, while they are at the Garcia Center, to interview with the Supportive Services Coordinator to access goods and services that can help assure their longer-term stability.

In order to have a successful interview, clients must present:

• A valid photo ID
• the names, incomes, and social security numbers of all household members, and
• Proof of their need for help (other than food): a past due utility bill, a prescription to be filled, a past due notice from the client's landlord, for example.

Other documentation may be requested, depending on the situation.

Understanding that each client's situation is unique, Ministry staff and volunteers recommend emergency financial assistance on a case-by-case basis.

Each client will be welcomed warmly, will hear an overview of the Ministry's assistance protocols before the individual interviews begin, and will be treated with dignity and respect.