COMMUNITY VALIDATORS
Womenaid validators act as intermediaries, ensuring that aid is directed to those who genuinely qualify for support and preventing direct requests from individuals.
If you are a validated community resource in Portsmouth, Greenland, Rye, Newington, New Castle, NH, or Kittery, ME and would like to refer a community member in need, please review our request guidelines below before filling out our request form. Thank you for the work you do!
Womenaid seeks to be last piece of the puzzle. Please be sure to exhaust all other possible
sources of funding before coming to Womenaid. This way, Womenaid can be sure that the
whole need is met.
OTHER RESOURCES
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For current rent, food, or utilities, please contact Town Welfare or local Community Action prior to submitting request. We have learned that they can assist with many of these needs, and we may be able to help in another area that is not covered by Welfare.
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For current or past due natural gas or electric payments, has the client contacted their local Community Action organization regarding fuel assistance, payment waivers and/or rate reductions? If so, and they have been denied, please include those details.
REQUEST GUIDELINES
Keep in mind Womenaid's goals:
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To help our neighbors in need when they have nowhere else to turn
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To provide short term, not recurring, financial assistance to fulfill needs that may make a difference in the quality of someone’s life
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To work through validators who know the client’s situation and need
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To ensure that that our funding alone, or together with other sources, will pay a bill in full
WHO
We assist individuals and families facing financial difficulties who have nowhere else to turn. We serve people in our target communities or who are unsheltered and receiving services in our community.
We accept requests only from community validators who know the needs of the client and know that Womenaid is the right fit. Note: we do not accept requests directly from individuals in need or from their family/friends on their behalf.
Requests on behalf of children under the age of 18 require consent/approval by the child’s parent or guardian.
WHEN
We are not a source of emergency funding. We are an all-volunteer group, and our goal is to review a completed request within 2 business days. If approved, payment is made by check or credit card usually within 3 business days.
NOTE: If a request is
paid by check, it is sent by mail, please be aware that it can take anywhere from 3-14 days for payment to reach the vendor.
WHAT
We provide up to $1000 every 12-months per household for short-term financial needs that cannot be met by other community resources and where our funding alone, or together with other sources, will pay a bill in full.
Our expectation is that our assistance will help an individual or family move forward.
As such, we need to understand what precipitated the need for our financial assistance and how our support will help the client move forward, or at least through the current crisis/situation.
HOW
A qualified Community Validator completes our Request Form on behalf of their client in need. The validator should fully understand the client’s situation, and provide the details requested to enable us to make a timely decision.
To ensure the need is satisfied, we pay our requested portion directly to the vendor.
Our preferred method of making payment is online or by phone. When this is not possible -- or when we would incur a service change for a card payment -- we will mail a check to the vendor.
Our maximum assistance is $1000 every 12-months per household.
WHERE
We accept requests for individuals/families who live in our target area, including:
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Portsmouth, NH
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Greenland, NH
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New Castle, NH
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Rye, NH
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Newington, NH
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Kittery, ME
*In addition, we will accept requests on behalf of unsheltered individuals who are receiving services in our target area.
ONLINE PAYMENTS
If the request is for items to be purchased through an online vendor, the validator must provide a workable payment link. All the purchase details, when the items should be shipped and the shipping details must be provided by the Validator.
Womenaid will only consider purchasing gifts cards for a client under the following conditions:
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A gift card is the only way to meet the client’s need, and it is reasonably certain that the card will be used for the intended purpose to fulfill the stated need.
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The gift card must be available for purchase through an online vendor and be deliverable via email to the client or validator.
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The validator provides all the details needed to purchase and email the gift card.
If Womenaid’s attempt to make the online purchase, including gift cards, is not successful after a first attempt, another purchase option will need to be made available by the validator.