You are not out of options.
A Good Shire award is deliberately small and deliberately specific. This page explains exactly what it is, and then points you at the doors that open wider than ours does.
About your award
The same five things are true of every award we make. We would rather put them plainly in one place than bury them at the bottom of a letter.
It is a one-time award
Every award we make is a single gift, not an ongoing commitment. We are a small, volunteer-run foundation, and we would rather tell you that plainly than have you plan around money that is not coming.
We mail you a check
The award arrives as a check made out to you, posted to your address along with a letter from the board. You decide how to apply it. In time we hope to be able to pay a hospital, agency or contractor directly on a family's behalf, but we are not set up for that yet, so for now every award goes out as a check.
We will ask you for two things
The full legal name the check should be made out to, and the mailing address to send it to. That is the whole of it. We will never ask you for a bank account number, a Social Security number, a card, or a payment of any kind. If anyone claiming to be us asks you for those, it is not us.
We cannot give tax advice
We are an official 501(c)(3), but we are not accountants. If you have a question about how to treat this gift on your taxes, please ask a tax professional.
You can come back to us
A one-time award does not mean one time forever. If a new emergency expense comes up that sits inside what we fund, you are welcome to write to us again. We cannot promise the answer in advance, and we would rather say that than imply otherwise.
What we can and cannot fund
Our charter is narrow on purpose. Knowing where the edge is should save you time, and everything on the right has somewhere better to go, listed further down.
We can help with
- Emergency medical costs that insurance will not cover
- In-home nursing and caregiving that falls outside a plan
- Travel, lodging and transport to get to treatment
- Urgent home repairs that make a home unsafe or unlivable
- A specific, time-bound bill during a sudden hardship
We cannot help with
- Attorney retainers and legal fees
- Mortgage payments, arrears, or rent
- Utility bills
- Ongoing living expenses or regular monthly costs
- Debt consolidation or loan repayment
These are not brush-offs. They are the categories where other organizations are simply better funded and better equipped than we are.
Where else to turn
We keep adding to this list as we learn. If something here helped you, or if you found something that should be on it, tell us and we will put it up for the next family.
Start here
If you only make one call, make this one. It is the single fastest route into almost every assistance program in the county.
Dial 211
A free, confidential line that connects you to local help with rent, utilities, food, heating, childcare and more. A person answers, listens to your situation and refers you to the specific programs you qualify for. Available around the clock.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
If any of this has you in a dark place, call or text 988. It is free, confidential and answered day and night. You do not have to be in danger to call. Being overwhelmed is reason enough.
Medical bills and insurance
Hospital balances are far more negotiable than they look, and a great deal of medical debt is reduced or erased simply because somebody asked.
Your hospital's financial counselor
Every hospital has one, and asking for them is free. Request a financial assistance or charity care application. New York hospitals are required to run these programs, and they can reduce or wipe out balances you have already been billed for, including bills that have been sitting for a while.
Patient Advocate Foundation
Free case managers who deal with insurance denials, medical debt and access to care on your behalf. Useful when you are too tired to fight the phone tree yourself.
NY Attorney General, Health Care Bureau
Takes complaints about insurance denials, surprise bills and billing practices, and can intervene with the insurer or provider.
Housing, heat and utilities
These protections are far easier to use early than late. If something has arrived in writing, act on it this week rather than next month.
HUD-approved housing counselor
Free, government-approved counselors who work on foreclosure prevention, mortgage arrears and landlord disputes. If foreclosure has been mentioned in writing, contact one immediately. There are protections that only work if you start them early.
HEAP, the Home Energy Assistance Program
New York State help with heating and utility bills, including emergency benefits when you are facing a shut-off. Runs through county social services.
Legal help
We cannot fund attorney fees, but the cost of a lawyer is not always the cost you think it is.
Legal Aid Society of Rochester
LocalFree civil legal representation for people who cannot afford a lawyer, including family and custody matters.
Monroe County Bar Association referral service
LocalConnects you with a local attorney, usually with a low-cost initial consultation, so you can find out what your case actually requires before committing to a retainer.
Ask the court for a fee waiver
Court filing fees can be waived if you cannot afford them. Ask the clerk for a poor person's relief application. It is a routine request and it does not count against you.
Children and caregiving
Benefits that families frequently qualify for and rarely hear about, especially after losing a parent.
Social Security survivor benefits
A child who has lost a parent may be entitled to monthly survivor benefits. This is one of the most commonly missed entitlements we come across, and it is worth checking even if you think you would not qualify.
Kinship caregiver programs
If you are raising a relative's child, there is support for that specifically. Start with the child's school counselor, who can usually point you at both school-level and county-level help.
Your child's school counselor
An underrated first call. Counselors know the local funds, fee waivers and quiet supports that never get advertised, and they can act without you filling in a form.
Food
No family should be spending scarce money on groceries while an emergency is running.
Foodlink
LocalThe regional food bank for the Rochester area. Their site lists member pantries and meal programs near you, and there is no means test at most of them.
Still stuck? Write to us.
If you cannot find what you need here, send us a note anyway. We may not be able to fund it, but between the four of us we usually know someone who can point you further, and we would rather you asked than assumed the answer was no.
The Good Shire Foundation is an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We are volunteers, not attorneys, accountants or clinicians, and nothing on this page is legal, financial or medical advice.