My son's dad and grandmother's house just burnt down and they need financial assistance to get a room for a couple days until they can get in somewhere, are there any agencies or churches that will help?
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Red Cross is the first agency I would contact.
I agree with the Red Cross is the best place to start and is good with short term needs. They may offer some longer term options also.
There are also a number of things you can do to help supplement this and for help them plan for long term needs.
If the family belongs to a religious institution, contact them immediately. Often times after a disaster, they will offer help to the family in the form of collections for food, clothing, gift cards for hotel stays, etc. Or you can ask if they have discretionary funds to help with these needs.
If you have a large social network circle, the Go Fund Me program works. Where you tell your story, post it on social media and people give what they can. Follow the site's directions and it is fairly easy to set up and manage, it just needs to be linked to a bank account to sweep the donations to.
Please note that this may be counted as income and the IRS may tax it...you may want to to talk to your local tax person (or your State Representative) to find out how much you can get in this method before it is taxable.
Your local state representative may also be able to help you with resources and red tape associated with the fire. I found mine by typing my state, my town and the word REPRESENTATIVE or Senator into Google. Their services are free (paid for by our tax dollars) so take advantage of what they have to offer.
Your local bank may help you set up a free donation account for people to make donations to the family to help with expenses. Typically these accounts can only be open for a year, they gather no interest, and are fee free. You would tell friends and family who want to help to make a check out to the name you set up on the account and give the family a banking card to make withdrawals. You can create business cards on the computer and give it to people who ask if they can help...giving the Go Fund Me info and the name to make the check out to if you go the bank account route.
Talk to local furniture and mattress stores to see if they will donate coupons or offer discounts when the family is ready to start rebuilding. Some are really generous in these situations.
Sending prayers up for all involved!
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