What is
United Chesed?
We get this question a lot. Or some such variation, the most popular being: how are you different than JF&CS? Circle of Care? Tomchei Shabbos? Bikur Cholim? Ve’ahavta? Or, why do we need you when we have Ontario Works? Disability? CPP? Old Age Security?
I’m glad you asked.
No, really, I am.
The Toronto Jewish Community has many resources available for those in need. As do the Canadian federal and Ontario provincial governments. We are not here to do their jobs. We couldn’t if we wanted to – we’re too small an organization.
We’re here to fill the gaps.
The best metaphor we have for you is an Emergency Room. When someone has a medical emergency then the ER is where they go. Sometimes it’s a last resort destination, after clinics, doctors’ offices, and nurses’ hotlines aren’t able to help. Sometimes it’s a first resort destination, when a person doesn’t know where else to go and doesn’t have the time to wait. In some cases, the patient is treated in the ER and goes home all patched up. In some cases, the ER isn’t equipped to help and all it can do is send the person along to a medical expert that can help with that patient’s particular problem. In most cases, the solution is somewhere in between. And, in every case, the ER is all about triage, about prioritization and speed – about knowledgeable individuals making quick assessments and moving patients through the process, as expeditiously as possible.
That’s United Chesed. We do triage for financial emergencies. Some of our “patients” – we call them clients – come to us first because they aren’t aware of all the resources available to them. Some come to us after every other option that they’ve tried has been unsuccessful. They come to us because they don’t have the time to wait for paperwork to be processed and appointments to be scheduled.
Sometimes what we do is enough – a client, for example, can usually make ends meet but this one time there’s just one unexpected bill. We pay it and they go back to their lives.
Most times, though, that is not the case. After all, most emergency room patients have quite a road of recovery ahead of them that can’t be permanently fixed in the ER. We understand that. So, we do what needs to be done to stabilize our clients – be it a food coupon, a bill payment, or a donated item, such as diapers or medical equipment – then we refer them to an agency or organization that can better assist them, long-term. Think of it like an ER doctor referring a patient to a specialist for follow-up treatments.
As with an emergency room, we see people at their worst – when they’ve been hurt, humiliated, mistreated, and neglected. We talk to clients who are overwhelmed by their situations, who are confused and angry. Clients who are suffering alone and clients who are watching their children suffer alongside them. We do what we can. We listen to them, we bandage them up, we point them in the right direction. And then we hope.
We hope – like every triage nurse, like every ER doctor – we hope that that person will never have to see us again.
We get this question a lot. Or some such variation, the most popular being: how are you different than JF&CS? Circle of Care? Tomchei Shabbos? Bikur Cholim? Ve’ahavta? Or, why do we need you when we have Ontario Works? Disability? CPP? Old Age Security?
I’m glad you asked.
No, really, I am.
The Toronto Jewish Community has many resources available for those in need. As do the Canadian federal and Ontario provincial governments. We are not here to do their jobs. We couldn’t if we wanted to – we’re too small an organization.
We’re here to fill the gaps.
The best metaphor we have for you is an Emergency Room. When someone has a medical emergency then the ER is where they go. Sometimes it’s a last resort destination, after clinics, doctors’ offices, and nurses’ hotlines aren’t able to help. Sometimes it’s a first resort destination, when a person doesn’t know where else to go and doesn’t have the time to wait. In some cases, the patient is treated in the ER and goes home all patched up. In some cases, the ER isn’t equipped to help and all it can do is send the person along to a medical expert that can help with that patient’s particular problem. In most cases, the solution is somewhere in between. And, in every case, the ER is all about triage, about prioritization and speed – about knowledgeable individuals making quick assessments and moving patients through the process, as expeditiously as possible.
That’s United Chesed. We do triage for financial emergencies. Some of our “patients” – we call them clients – come to us first because they aren’t aware of all the resources available to them. Some come to us after every other option that they’ve tried has been unsuccessful. They come to us because they don’t have the time to wait for paperwork to be processed and appointments to be scheduled.
Sometimes what we do is enough – a client, for example, can usually make ends meet but this one time there’s just one unexpected bill. We pay it and they go back to their lives.
Most times, though, that is not the case. After all, most emergency room patients have quite a road of recovery ahead of them that can’t be permanently fixed in the ER. We understand that. So, we do what needs to be done to stabilize our clients – be it a food coupon, a bill payment, or a donated item, such as diapers or medical equipment – then we refer them to an agency or organization that can better assist them, long-term. Think of it like an ER doctor referring a patient to a specialist for follow-up treatments.
As with an emergency room, we see people at their worst – when they’ve been hurt, humiliated, mistreated, and neglected. We talk to clients who are overwhelmed by their situations, who are confused and angry. Clients who are suffering alone and clients who are watching their children suffer alongside them. We do what we can. We listen to them, we bandage them up, we point them in the right direction. And then we hope.
We hope – like every triage nurse, like every ER doctor – we hope that that person will never have to see us again.
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