COMPASSION CENTER
Financial and/or personal hardship is something no one should have to go through alone.
Below is a list of resources to help you during this hard season.
BILL PAYMENT CONCERNS

Budget
If you haven’t looked at a budget in a while, now’s the time to do so. Every Dollar is a great free app to use to get a budget together.
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Get clarity from your income sources as to what the reality will look like over the coming weeks.
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Cut spending to bare necessities. If you can’t pay all of your bills, Dave Ramsey recommends you spend your money on these four items first and in this order:
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Food
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Utilities
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Shelter
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Transportation
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Defer Payments
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If you’re still not able to cover all of your expenses, identify payments that can be deferred:
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Call creditors to explain your situation. You can ask for temporary relief on your monthly payments. If you offer to still send some money, even if it’s a smaller amount than your typical payment, they might be more willing to work with you.
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If you have federal student loans, you can forbear (interest accrues) or defer (interest doesn’t accrue on subsidized federal loans) your loan payments.
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For student loans, use this questionnaire to understand what options are available to you.
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If you’re paying extra on debt(s) right now and have less than one to two months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund, it might not be a bad idea to temporarily stop extra payments and then restart them once things settle down.
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Enroll for health insurance, if you can.
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Use this week to get a game plan together and gather information, as there may be more changes coming.
Unemployment Insurance
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Go to: How to file an unemployment claim with the Michigan Department of Labor.
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For people that don’t qualify for traditional unemployment, like freelancers, here’s another option.
If these times don’t work for you, please email Kevin Stuart at financecoachkevin@gmail.com
COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Barry County Cares is a faith-based community non-profit that seeks the cooperation of local churches, individuals and businesses to help people in need in Barry County.
United Way of Barry County can assist you with many critical needs, or connect you to a well-suited community partner. Please visit their office or call for assistance.
Family Promise of Barry County delivers life-saving services; prevention, shelter and stabilization to families in need.
FOOD ASSISTANCE

Food Pantries
-Green Street United Methodist Church
-Hastings Faith United Methodist Church
-Delton United Methodist Church
-Dowling Country Chapel
-Thornapple Valley Church
-Orangeville Baptist Church
-Orangeville Community outreach
-Mannas Market
-Lakewood Community council
*Call Barry County Cares to access any of these pantries
Fresh Food Initiatives
Tuesday Distribution:
Maple Valley Community Center of Hope, Nashville
Every week 9:30-10:30am (517) 852- 0664
Wednesday distribution:
First United Methodist Church, Hastings
Barry County United Way 10am-11am 269 945-4010
Soups on St. Francis Church, shelbyville
Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday from 7-9am (269) 664-4345
Freeport United Methodist Church, Freeport
3rd wednesday at 10am (616) 765-5316
Thursday Distribution:
Middleville Local #1002
3rd Thursday at 4pm (269) 795-9581
Thornapple Valley Church Delton
3rd Thursday from 3:30-5:30pm (716) 601-9597
Saturday Distribution:
Kilpatrick United Brethern Church, Woodland
3rd Saturday at 9am (269) 964-3663
McCallum Church, Delton
1st Saturday at 9am (269) 623-8226
Soup Kitchen/Dinner:
Tuesday:
Community Meal, (269) 945-9574
Green Street United Methodist Church, Hastings
Every Tuesday from 5-6pm
Gun Lake Community Church (269) 795-7903
Every Tuesday from 5-6:30pm
MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE

FREE professional counseling at Thornapple Valley Church every Monday and Thursday by appointment only.
Text "Care" to 77948 to learn more about counseling.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES: