Emergency Social Services
Our goal is to assist vulnerable New Yorkers in crisis to become empowered and maintain, or regain, normalcy in their lives through a personalized array of services.
Met Council's Crisis Intervention team provide emergency help for clients with immediate, urgent problems, such as those on the verge of eviction or whose utilities are about to be turned off. Often, Met Council is the client’s place of last resort and many reach out to us through our help line.
In addition to helping to secure short-term solutions, our team of case workers will assess the underlying situation that led to the crisis so that assistance may be secured for the client to achieve long-term stability. We provide strengths-based case management services by conducting a thorough assessment with the client to create and execute an effective intervention plan.
Often this plan will include:
Education around entitlements
Financial assistance
Benefits enrollment assistance
Access to food pantries
Referrals to our partner agencies.
Our goal is to empower clients to confront their crisis and reach stability.
The Crisis Intervention unit helps clients across the board, without demographic restrictions: men, women, and children; families and singles; seniors; across the age spectrum and of all faiths and cultural backgrounds. Crisis has prevented eviction and utility shut-off, aided in securing funding for work training courses, medical needs, mattresses, refrigerators, toiletries, clothing, coats, toys for the Chanukah/Christmas season, and backpacks during the start of the school season.
crisis help line
Met Council maintains a crisis help line for individuals reaching out in a state of emergency.
Our help line serves as more than just a number to ask for financial assistance. Clients call with a wide range of requests, and even when we not in a position to provide assistance or the client is screened as an individual we will be unable to assist, the helpline still offers relevant and valuable information; no one leaves our helpline empty handed.
The help line is the gateway to all crisis calls and allows our staff a first-chance opportunity to triage clients, setting up short-term assistance and the possibility of a long-term plan, and guiding those we cannot help to other resources and agencies that can provide the aid they need.
Tangible Goods Distribution
The Crisis Intervention team manages Met Council's special projects, such as the distribution of tangible goods; backpacks, toiletries, coats, clothing and other material items are disseminated to clients in need.
Close coordination with Jewish Community Councils in each neighborhood and with other Met Council departments allows for maximum impact as populations all over NYC are able to take advantage of this synchronized aid. This kind of concrete assistance also offers a psychological benefit; for example, children going off to school with new supplies and backpacks can help a child going through a difficult time feel like a regular kid heading off to class.
