News Photo by Julie Riddle Volunteers hand out food at a pop-up pantry in Alpena on Friday. Such food pantries are one of the resources available to help people navigate a change in life circumstances.

ALPENA — People have been calling Gerrie LaCross, worried because their rent is due and they haven’t been able to get signed up for unemployment.

“You know, hon, you’re just going to have to stay on the phone,” LaCross tells them. “And when they kick you off, you dial again.”

At the St. Vincent DePaul Society in Alpena, LaCross has been a listening ear for several local people as they confront the first stages of a very new, and very unsettling, life change brought about by the statewide fight against the coronavirus.

The state reported one case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in Presque Isle County on Friday, though local public health officials couldn’t confirm. No cases have been reported in Alpena, Montmorency, or Alcona counties. Statewide, nearly 13,000 cases and nearly 500 deaths have been reported.

As unemployment filings tripled in Alpena County in the past three weeks, many people are having to navigate the world of social service agencies for the first time, learning to ask for help to pay their bills and put food on the table.

At local agencies, there hasn’t been a big influx of new people asking for help — yet.

But the Alpena St. Vincent DePaul Society, which connects thousands of people a year to financial and hands-on assistance, has had to shut down the food pantry that feeds hundreds of families each month, at least for the upcoming week and possibly longer. There’s not enough food to go around right now, and not enough people to hand it out.

Most of the food bank’s volunteers are in their 70s, LaCross said, and have to stay home for their own safety. Food donations from local businesses, usually enough to feed the pantry’s regular clientele, have been smaller, and there isn’t enough to go around.

In the past week, LaCross fielded seven or eight calls from people asking for help paying their rent. Their landlords can wait until their stimulus check from the federal government comes in, she tells them.

The landlords she’s talked to directly have agreed, she said. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed an executive order prohibiting evictions until at least April 17.

Being part of a supportive community has its downside, LaCross said. People want to give, but there’s no room. Many people are cleaning out their closets, eager to donate to the St. Vincent DePaul thrift store, but the store is closed, and there’s nobody to take in or sort donations, and no more room to put them.

“Keep it at home,” she said. “Then, when we open up, bring it in. We’re more than happy to take your donations.”

‘ALL HANDS ON DECK’

The doors of the Alpena office of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services are locked, said Director John Keller, but the office isn’t closed.

“We have all hands on deck,” Keller said from his home, practicing social distancing along with most of the rest of his staff while still making sure the business of helping people continues in Alpena County.

Minimally staffed by a few essential employees, the DHHS building at 711 W. Chisholm St. offers paperwork in its unlocked outer vestibule and a dropbox, where papers can be deposited, checked several times a day.

Requests for help have actually been down since the shutdown of businesses and Whitmer’s stay-at-home order reordered life for many in the region, Keller said. But he’s sure the number will rise as people face utility shutoffs, furnace repairs, or an empty cupboard.

“At this time, more than ever, people need us,” said the director of the organization responsible for connecting people with financial, health, and safety needs to state assistance.

While taking every precaution, DHHS workers are still making checks on children and vulnerable adults on their rosters, still processing paperwork and making sure local residents get the help they need, Keller said.

‘WHAT MAKES US A COMMUNITY’

The need for help is just beginning, said Frances Whitney, of the Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency.

People reaching out for help for the first time may connect with the agency next week, or it may be three months down the road, as their financial and personal situations evolve to meet the strictures of the pandemic, she said.

The service agency has been busy handing out food at drive-thru food pantries, finding housing, and providing other life-sustaining services, Whitney said.

A matching-funds grant from DTE Energy, offering dollar-for-dollar matching of donations to community action agencies, presents an exciting possibility to agencies like NEMCSA, potentially allowing them more unrestricted funds to buy cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, and other basic needs to equip the people they serve.

The agency would appreciate the donation of hand-sewn face masks, Whitney said, both for its workers still making face-to-face contact and to hand out to the people they visit, especially the homeless and the many elderly people enrolled in the agency’s programs. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday recommended everyone wear cloth face masks when out in public.

The economic fallout of mass closures and drastic societal changes can hit anyone, at any income, in any geographic spectrum, Whitney said. For those feeling the economic crunch, who need to ask for help, there’s support available on all sides.

“That’s what makes us a community,” Whitney said. “I don’t mean to sound hokey, but we’re all in this together, right?”

‘A HAND UP’

At the Salvation Army, hands and supplies are ready for those who need them.

“This is the kind of thing that we love,” said Salvation Army Capt. Amy Cedervall, eager for community members to reach out for assistance. “To be able to help those people that need that really quick hand up. A hand up, not a handout.”

The organization, which offers food, supplies, and financial assistance, has had fewer requests for help than usual lately, which Cedarvall chalks up to people staying home more and the availability — and popularity — of pop-up food pantries that have been supplying produce and staples to anyone who needs them at many locations around the region. Public schools, ordered closed for the rest of the academic year, are handing out food regularly.

When people do call on the Salvation Army — many of them not used to asking for help, not sure what to expect — they’ll find food and basic necessities, from shampoo to feminie hygiene supplies, stocked up and ready to be given away as they are needed.

“We even have toilet paper!” Cedarvall said with a laugh.

There’s even help paying utility bills, the one category of assistance with an income restriction, because it’s state-funded, she reported.

Asking for help can be tough, Cedarvall said. She wouldn’t want to do it, herself. But, in the midst of unforeseen circumstances, providing that assistance is what they’re there for.

“It’s good for our souls to see that, hey, we can help in this moment,” Cedarvall said. “We can know that it’s going to be enough to get you back on your feet, and you’re going to be OK again.”

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.

To ask for help

Department of Health and Human Services

844-464-3447; michigan.gov\mibridges

Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency

989-358-4600; nemcsa.org

Salvation Army

989-358-2769

St. Vincent DePaul Society

989-354-3671