Boca Helping Hands Expands Services to Delray
Boca Helping Hands (BHH) is expanding its services in Delray Beach as part of its plan to help more people across Palm Beach County over the next three years. This includes making emergency financial assistance and childcare funding available to Delray Beach residents, as well as opening the organization’s first food pantry in West Delray Beach.
Starting October 5th, Boca Helping Hands will expand its food distribution schedule to include Delray Beach two days a week. The organization’s decision to service the west Delray Beach community came from the area’s lack of hunger relief services. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the area south of Atlantic Avenue on Jog Road is considered to have low access to healthy food sources, combined with low income and a shortage of nearby food pantries. As a response to the growing need within this community, BHH is adding a bi-weekly distribution at Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church on Tuesdays from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and Thursdays from 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm starting on Tuesday, October 5.
“We have been able to expand the footprint of our pantry bag distribution largely through the support of our partners in the faith community who have made their facilities available to us,” said Greg Hazle, Boca Helping Hands Executive Director. “We are happy to be working alongside Pastor Jules and his team at Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church to continue the expansion of our feeding program into Delray Beach. We hope our partnership will serve the needs of many food-insecure families in that community.”
Pantry Bag Program client Patrice Delorantis says the food helps to supplement her family’s income. “There’s five of us in the family. It helps us with the food, and if my husband doesn’t have work, which he usually does, but sometimes he doesn’t have work.”
In addition, BHH is making financial assistance for rent, utilities, and childcare expenses available to Delray Beach residents in crisis through its Resource Center. The plan is to also expand the program to Lantana/Lake Worth residents and eventually to the other zip codes in Palm Beach County that BHH serves. Previously, this financial assistance was limited to Boca Raton and Boynton Beach residents.
Since the inception of the BHH Resource Center in 2003, BHH has helped over 3,850 families from Boca Raton and Boynton Beach by distributing almost $1.1 million to help with rent and utilities. As federally funded pandemic financial assistance and eviction moratoriums expire, Boca Helping Hands expects to see increased demand for its financial services from families in crisis throughout Palm Beach County. Boca Helping Hands works in partnership with Spanish River Church and Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services to provide joint emergency financial support to clients by combining resources and funds.
Boca Helping Hands also provides a Children’s Assistance Program (CAP), which was started in 2006 out of the need to help working families pay for safe, reliable childcare to maintain full-time employment. Since then, BHH has assisted over 850 kids and their families with more than $472,000 to help cover the cost of daycare, summer camp, and after school care, enabling parents like Daniella DiVentura to continue to work. Last year, Daniella received financial assistance for both rent and childcare costs. At the time, she was a single mom struggling to make ends meet.
“I felt so humbled. I’d never received financial assistance before in my life, so it was a weird feeling to accept help,” she said. “But at the same time, I felt so grateful, and it allowed me to continue to work. If I can’t work, I can’t do anything, so it really meant a lot that people donate to Boca Helping Hands.”
To apply for help, documentation must be submitted to Boca Helping Hands and is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Requirements and additional information about applying for financial assistance can be found on the website at bocahelpinghands.org/financialresources.
Information on how to register for the Pantry Bag Program, hours, and distribution locations can be found on BHH’s website at bocahelpinghands.org/pantrybagprogram.
