Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Need some help during the pandemic?

These are not easy times. We are in uncharted territory. You may be feeling unmoored, ungrounded, and off-balance.You may be facing job insecurity or be laid off. You may be struggling to pay bills or have to take groceries back in the check-out line. You may be sick or caring for family members. You may find the online learning environment difficult. You may be finding math or writing impossible. Let us support you. We value you and your families, and we want to help you through these difficult times. You will find here a list of resources for your finances, academics, and mind/body/spirit balance. 





 FINANCIAL HELP

Students make financial sacrifices to attend college. You reduce the number of hours you work so that you can attend classes. You pay for tuition and books. You pay for child care, transportation, housing, and food. We know that students struggle financially, which is why we have the Grocery Vault, the Clothes Closet, and other support services.  Now, we need to offer support online. Here are some resources that can assist you. This site will be updated as new resources become available.

General Resources

Trident United Way 211: You can also use the Trident United Way 211 search engine to search for local resources.

SC Thrive: SC Thrive is a statewide nonprofit offering solutions to South Carolinians in need of resources but facing a multitude of barriers. We meet people where they are in life, addressing their needs holistically to move them toward stability, then self-sustainability. SC Thrive focuses on food security, healthcare resources and financial wellness through work supports such as SNAP, Medicaid and tax credits, like the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credits. You can apply for multiple public services with one application. Call their Contact Center at 800.726.8774! They're here to answer all your questions and to help you apply over the phone Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

Food Support
  • Lowcountry Food Bank: The LCFB is fully operational and working closely with partner agencies to determine the safest methods to serve our most vulnerable friends and neighbors — senior citizens and children (and their families) who may be losing access to prepared meals and stocked food. They also know businesses and their employees will be impacted by a decline in commerce and lost wages. They are continuing preparations to ensure they can serve our neighbors who may not usually come to them for assistance. Lowcountry Food Bank has developed a tool that help locate open food pantries/agency near the recipient. This link can provide a client with literally hundreds of choices.
  • Lowcountry Blessing Box Project: Blessing boxes are stocked with non-perishable food items, basic toiletries, baby supplies, and anything else that might be considered a blessing to someone who finds themselves in need. Items are anonymously donated and anonymously received. A simple rule applies - Leave what you can, take what you need. Blessing boxes are located throughout the Tri-County Area. Individuals and businesses are setting up temporary/mobile ones that may not exist on the formal list. For example, one was a shelf and cooler in front of a business on King Street. Follow them on FB because they are posting photos of the temporary ones as they become aware. Contact information: chsblessingbox@gmail.com or 843.737.2517.
  • K-12 schools are providing meals: Students will be provided with a free lunch and breakfast for the following day at 15 sites across the district. The sites will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Students from neighboring districts are also eligible to participate. Students must be with a parent or guardian in order to get their food.  
  • SNAP program: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal nutrition assistance program. SNAP provides benefits to eligible low-income individuals and families via an Electronic Benefits Transfer card. This card can be used like a debit card to purchase eligible food in authorized retail food stores.
  • Healthy Bucks: Once you are a SNAP member, you can use The “Healthy Bucks” program, which allows SNAP recipients to obtain additional fresh fruits and vegetables when they use their SNAP benefits to purchase fresh produce at participating farmer's markets. SNAP recipients who purchase at least $5 with their SNAP EBT card at participating locations receive $10 in Healthy Bucks tokens to purchase additional fresh fruits and vegetables. You can use your Healthy Bucks for fresh fruit and vegetable delivery from Community Supported Grocery, the delivery branch of Lowcountry Street Grocery. CSG takes the local eggs, produce, meat, cheese, fresh bread, coffee, pasta, etc. from LSG, boxes them up, and delivers them. The company offers 5 different sized bundles: The Staples Bundle costs $20. CSG says this bundle is how they carry on the LSG mission of getting good, clean food into low income/ low access areas. It's a heavily discounted bundle and people can also use their SNAP/EBT info and get a $10 discount.
  • Food delivery services:
Housing
  • Break in Mortgage Payments: people who have suffered a loss of income can qualify to make reduced payments or be granted a complete pause in payments. Contact your lender to discuss a forbearance plan. 
  • Housing Choice Voucher Program: The Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) helps families become self-sufficient with established goals, such as first-time home ownership, starting a small business, or college education.
  • Eviction Suspension Relief: The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced on March 23, 2020 eviction suspension programs to keep renters in their homes during this difficult time. The program will provide mortgage forbearance for property owners who suspend evictions for renters unable to pay rent due to impacts of Coronavirus. 
Support for Laid-Off Workers
  • Apply for unemployment insurance immediately by submitting a claim to South Carolina’s Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW). In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, DEW is taking extra steps to quickly extend benefits to unemployed workers. Restaurant workers and others who are temporarily out of work because of coronavirus can receive six weeks of unemployment benefits from the state without having to search for another job. But only if their employers apply for it. Employers who have a temporary shutdown, such as South Carolina’s restaurants and bars during the coronavirus crisis, can apply for the benefits for their workers who have been laid off or had their hours cut back. The program is separate from standard unemployment insurance. And it extends to workers in others businesses, like Belk, that have temporarily closed.
  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (cash assistance, employment and training services):  Low-income families, whether the household has one parent or two parents, may be eligible for these services. Families enrolled in the program are offered employment training and placement, childcare and transportation while in employment training, and a monthly stipend all designed to help parents get back to work and maintain self-sufficiency. A caseworker is assigned to each family, who will offer assessments to see if additional screenings or services are required and will work with families to design a plan to ensure family stability within 24 months. 
  • Resources for restaurant and service workers: This is a list of resources for service workers who have been affected by the coronavirus. 
  • New job announcements to hire laid-off workers: 
    • Amazon: Amazon is looking to fill various positions ranging from order fulfillment to customer service that require various technical and engineering skills. Many are at-home jobs!
    • Walmart
    • CVS 
    • Publix
    • How to Get a Work-from-Home job
Additional Financial Resources

Urgent Needs Fund: During this unprecedented time of uncertainty, one thing is for sure: many students will need help in order to continue their education and stay in college. The TTC Foundation Student Urgent Needs Fund assists students who have an unforeseen financial emergency which would otherwise prevent them from continuing their studies at Trident Tech. Donate to support others or discuss your needs with a counselor by reaching out to counseling.services@tridenttech.edu.

Online Tax Filing: Practicing social distancing, but haven’t filed your taxes yet? You now have until July 15 with the new extended deadline. With SC Thrive, you can file state and federal taxes absolutely free if your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is less than $65,000 ($95,000 if your filing status is married filing jointly). We opened up the option for our neighbors from North Carolina to file with us as well. You can file your own taxes now at scthrive.org/filetaxes.

Paid Sick Leave Options: On March 24, 2020, The US Department of Labor announced information about how the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) will offer relief to families starting on April 1, 2020. Under the FFCRA, employees of businesses with 500 or fewer employees qualify for paid sick time if they are unable to work, or to telework, due to COVID-19. This can cover employees being sick themselves or needing to take care of someone who is sick.

Student Loan Garnishment Relief: The Department of Education announced that they will stop collection actions and wage garnishments due to the COVID-19 national emergency. This flexibility will last at least 60 days from March 13, 2020. Private collection agencies have also been instructed to stop collection actions for the time being.

ACADEMIC HELP

Free Computer Support

Free Wi-Fi
  • Internet companies are offering free or low-cost Wi-Fi to students. Check out their offers:
    • Spectrum: Households with students K–12 or university students can sign up for a new Charter Spectrum internet account to get the first two months of internet with speeds up to 100 Mbps for free. Installation fees will be waived for those who qualify for the offer. Call 1-844-488-8395 to enroll. Spectrum Wi-Fi hotspots are also currently open and free to use.
    • Comcast: Comcast Xfinity is currently offering its Internet Essentials program free for two months to new customers. The internet provider is also automatically increasing speeds for all Internet Essentials customers. Comcast Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots are also open and free to use by anyone.
    • Home Telecom: Home Telecom is offering up to 25 Mbps internet FREE for homes with students participating in e-learning. As a bonus, Home Telecom will be including Wi-Fi in this program.
    • AT&T: two months of free service to new access customers who order by April 30, 2020. It will then be five dollars a month or 10 dollars a month after the free two months, depending on speed. The company said it will expand eligibility for households participating in National School Lunch Program/Head start.
  • Public libraries in Charleston are offering free Wi-Fi outside of their facilities from 10:00AM until 7:00PM daily.  The exception is the Folly Beach Library.  You must stay in your vehicle.
  • K-12 schools will be providing free Wi-Fi through a series of buses located around the community and by allowing students to pull up close to school buildings. 
  • Students can log onto free hotspots they can find through this map: Charleston Free Wi-fi and other online maps (search Google). 
  • Students can sit in one of the parks featured at Free Wi-Fi in Charleston Parks, if they are still open. Many parks have been closed, but if you park close by and stay in your car, you will still be social distancing. 
  • Some churches provide WiFi-access, as do some shelters.
Free Microsoft Office 365: Students and educators at eligible institutions can sign up for Office 365 Education for free, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and now Microsoft Teams, plus additional classroom tools. Go to their webpage and use your valid school email address to get started today.

General Questions or Registration Help

You can still contact the Hub with questions! Register, drop/add, or ask questions with a Navigator. Registration for the 2020-21 academic year opened on Monday, March 23.   Need help with registering? Or anything else? The Hub staff is working remotely to assist you. There are a number of ways you can reach a Hub staff member:
Palmer Campus Assistance
Tutoring

Trident Tech Math Help: The Trident Tech Math Help Facebook Group was created to provide math assistance to students during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can also get free online one-on-one appointments. If you would like to set up an appointment, please send an e-mail to MathTutoring@tridenttech.edu

Writing Center Tutoring: The Writing Center is still doing its thing—just totally online now. Students in any class at TTC who need help with writing (coming up with ideas, generating content, understanding grammar/punctuation, using various reference styles like MLA and APA) are welcome to use these free services. If students visit the website, a chat window pops up pretty quickly (or if it doesn’t, students can scroll down the page, look to the right, and click on the green "TAWK to a Tutor" link). Drafts and any questions can also be emailed to writingcenter@tridenttech.edu. They will be working their usual shifts—so 5 hours a day Mon-Thurs, and 4 hours Fri and Sat. Please email stacey.abbott@tridenttech.edu if you have any questions.

The South Carolina State Library will offer Tutor.com through Discus - This temporary offering is available until June 30, 2020 to support students, parents, and educators while schools and libraries are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tutor.com connects students (and parents!) with expert tutors and career coaches in more than 80 subjects and test prep areas. The Tutor.com K-12 Learning Suite includes live, one-to-one tutoring, a real-time writing center, test preparation, practice quizzes and 24/7 access to worksheets, videos and tutorials.
Tutor.com has twenty years of experience providing online tutoring, homework help and test preparation and has served more than 18.5 million sessions. Ninety-five percent (95%) of their survey respondents report that Tutor.com helps them improve their grades, complete their homework assignments and raise their confidence. South Carolina residents can access the online service from the library or from home on any computer or mobile device connected to the Internet. Tutoring is available 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., seven days per week. This free service is made possible by the State Library of South Carolina. To get started:
  • Visit SCDiscus.org.
  • In the A-Z list of resources, click on Tutor.com
  • Login with your DISCUS account to get immediate access


SUPPORT FOR YOUR MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT

 Trident Tech Online Counseling Services: Trident Technical College cares about your well-being. counseling.services@tridenttech.edu for assistance.
Free personal, academic, and career counseling is available to TTC students and prospective TTC students through email, phone, or webcam. Contact

TTC "Live" Zoom Wellness Classes: Every Tuesday at 1:00 pm from March 31- April 21. To receive the Zoom login information, email student.activities@tridenttech.edu.

YMCA Offers 60 Free Online Classes: The classes are available at ymca360.org. No membership is needed to access the classes

19 Incredible Ways to Travel from Home: Virtual tours can open up amazing and awe-inspiring locations around the world that may otherwise be inaccessible to you. You can experience the majesty of the Sistine Chapel, the wonder of the Great Wall of China, or the beauty of Hawaii from the comfort of your own home.

Veterans & the Coronavirus Outbreak: Our Veterans, especially those experiencing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, may find it incredibly difficult to manage the stress associated with the Coronavirus outbreak. The National Center for PTSD has put together THIS PAGE to help Veterans cope with the stress of COVID-19.






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