Central States Shine Employee Relief Fund

The Central States Shine Fund is designed to provide short-term assistance to employees experiencing severe financial need due to unexpected and unavoidable emergencies.You must be a Central States employee to be eligible to apply.  If you have other resources to meet your needs, you are likely not eligible for this crisis program.

The Central States Shine Employee Relief Fund is administered by the Tulsa Community Foundation, an organization specializing in assisting corporations in creating emergency assistance and disaster relief funds for employees. Applications are confidential and identifying details are never shared with Central States.  

For more information about the Central States Shine Employee Relief Fund, a list of Frequently Asked Questions is available here.

Employee Relief Program Guidelines

Eligible to Apply: Central States employees are eligible to apply for assistance. Contractors, and others not employed by Central States cannot apply.

In the event of an unexpected and unavoidable emergency that causes a severe financial hardship, Central States employees may apply for assistance within the following categories and qualifications (Please remember that not all emergencies will warrant the maximum assistance):

CRITICAL NEEDS

• Home Catastrophe/Natural Disaster – Amount of Grant: Up to $6,000
  Assistance after a natural or localized disaster has destroyed the employee’s personal residence, rendered it unlivable or it is otherwise in need of costly repairs, in excess of insurance, after the disaster (hurricane, fire, flood, tornado, mudslide, etc.).
• Funeral or Emergency Travel for Immediate Family – Amount of Grant: Up to $6,000
  Assistance for those who have incurred the loss of an immediate family member*, if the employee is financially responsible for funeral arrangements and no other resources exist. For employees who must travel to visit or care for a terminally ill immediate family member or escort a critically ill immediate family member to an out-of-state medical facility.
  
  *Immediate Family Defined: spouse, children (employee’s or spouse’s children), or parents (employee’s or spouse’s) or other legal dependent.
  
• Medical Emergency (emergency hospitalization, injury, etc.) – Amount of Grant: Up to $6,000
  For employees who have encountered financial hardships due to medical emergencies in the household (injury, hospitalization, loss of income during medical emergency, etc.).

TEMPORARY NEEDS

• Personal Emergency (theft, partner laid off, acts of violence) – Amount of Grant: Up to $3,000 per incident and 3 grants per lifetime.
  For employees who have encountered financial hardships for unexpected, unavoidable reasons beyond their control (spouse’s layoff, unexpected loss of income, non-routine vehicle or home repair that restricts ability of applicant to care for self and household, etc.).

Documentation will be requested from each applicant.
Additional information and examples are available here. 

Note: To comply with IRS conditions, program guidelines restrict assistance to employees experiencing severe financial need due to specific unexpected, unavoidable emergencies which can be documented. While all emergencies and financial hardships are unfortunate, incidents outside of program guidelines cannot be approved.

Employees should use available resources such as medical/life insurance, PTO, short/long term disability, personal savings, assistance from family members, etc. before applying for assistance.  If ineligible, TCF can refer applicants to other resources in their community.

Upon approval, grant recipients are typically mailed a check made payable to the vendor requesting payment (i.e. landlord, utility company, contractor, etc.). We understand that each situation is unique so please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Situations that will NOT be Considered: Elective bills; bills related to routine vehicle repairs; child support payments by applicant; expenses/bills resulting from divorce or separation; attorney fees; medical expenses not related to medical emergencies; situations related to extended family members; or garnishments of an employee’s paycheck due to past debt.

*Immediate Family Defined: spouse, children (employee’s or spouse’s children), or parents (employee’s or spouse’s) or other legal dependent.