HSHS Colleague Emergency Assistance Fund

The Colleague Emergency Assistance Fund provides confidential emergency financial assistance for colleagues who face unusual and severe financial hardships due to a sudden crisis outside of their control.

Man working on monthly bills with family in background

How it works

Disaster: Fire, Tornado, Flood or other natural act of disaster
Victim of crime
Serious illness or injury
Death of immediate family member
Spouse employment layoff or termination due to factors outside the employee’s control
Emergency auto or housing repair (not regular maintenance or upkeep)

To be eligible for this assistance:

You must be a current colleague in good standing. This means you are not in corrective action and have not received a written or verbal warning in the last 6 months or a final warning in the last 1 year.
You have been a colleague (full or part-time) of an HSHS affiliate for at least six (6) consecutive months. You may not have resigned, given notice of retirement, or been notified of an end date for your employment.
You meet qualifying criteria:
You are experiencing unusual and severe financial strain.
Your financial strain is the consequence of a specific and isolated event (Fire, Crime, Medical Event, Death, Spouse layoff, etc.)

Colleagues may receive one emergency grant in the maximum amount of $500 within a 6-month period. A colleague may receive three (3) emergency grants during their employment.

The Colleague Emergency Assistance Fund offers support on unpaid bills. Financial assistance is not paid directly to colleagues. Colleagues submit the unpaid expenses for which they need assistance, and payment goes directly to a landlord, bank, utility company, or other vendor.

Examples of crisis events

Fire
Tornado
Flood or other natural act of disaster
Victim of crime
Serious illness or injury
Death
Spouse employment layoff or termination due to factors outside the employee’s control
Emergency auto or housing repair (not regular maintenance or upkeep)

Examples of approved requests include:

Emergency travel
Childcare
Mortgage or rent
Utilities (gas, water, electricity)
Funeral or burial expenses

Examples of requests NOT approved include:

Reimbursement for bills/expenses already paid
Insurance premiums
Elective expenses
Cable or satellite television
Credit card debt
Legal or professional fees
Reduced hours due to flexing
Cell phone bill
Property taxes
Medical bills
- If illness or injury creates unusual and severe hardship for you, please request assistance with rent, mortgage, utilities, or other examples of approved requests. While medical expenses may create financial hardship, this program cannot pay medical bills.

To apply

You must complete the confidential online Application for Assistance. The application must be submitted by the colleague experiencing financial hardship, not by a third party.
You must attach copies of bills or invoices that need to be paid. These are required for check requests and demonstrate the purpose for which the funds will be used. For consideration of rent payment, attach a signed statement from the landlord or a copy of the lease agreement stating the monthly rent amount and the landlord’s phone number. Payments will be expedited if you provide an IRS Form W-9 from the vendor(s). Get form here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf
Incomplete applications will be returned.

This program is about colleagues helping colleagues:

Colleagues receiving assistance are welcomed to re-pay their grant in part or in full to the Colleague Emergency Assistance Fund to provide for another colleague in their time of need. Colleagues who make voluntary donations to the Colleague Emergency Assistance Fund are not allowed to earmark their donations for a particular recipient, and colleagues making donations to the fund are not guaranteed a grant if they apply for assistance.