Helping Drycleaning Employees Access Community Resources (Part 1)

YORK, Penn. — Drycleaning business owners often wear many hats, but “human resources specialist” typically isn’t one of them. Even so, their employees may face challenges that impact their work performance and attendance, and knowing where to find assistance can make a huge difference.

This was the topic of “Explore & Promote Available Community Resources for Your Employees,” a Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) webinar. Dr. Heidi Kimmel, a York County, Pennsylvania, social worker with more than 25 years of experience in the field, was host.

She shared valuable insights on how dry cleaners can help their employees access community resources.

Understanding Your Role as an Employer

Employees often look to their leaders, as authority figures, for things beyond the borders of the job when there are needs in their lives, Kimmel says.

“You are employers, but you are also caregivers,” she says while acknowledging that small-business owners typically don’t have human resources departments. “And, because you are the owner, you are not human resources. You’ve never been trained in HR. You don’t know what’s out there.”

The good news, Kimmel says, is that employers don’t need to become experts in social services to help their employees: “‘I’m not an HR person,’ you might say. ‘I’m not a nurse. I’m not a doctor. But I can give them resources. I can give them links to try to help them help themselves.’”

The One Number to Remember

Kimmel emphasizes the importance of 211 — a national service available throughout the United States — when it comes to connecting people in need with available resources.

In addition to being able to phone 2-1-1 to reach the service, one can also visit 211.org.

Maintained by thousands of staff and volunteers across the country, the service can aid people who need help, assistance or information about healthcare expenses, mental health service, substance use, disaster recovery, housing expenses, utilities expenses, and food programs and benefits.

The Transportation Challenge

Transportation ranks as the No. 1 need Kimmel encounters in her work.

“The thing that I consistently hear is that they need transportation,” she says. “So, I’m sure this is something that some of your workers constantly have a battle with getting reliable, affordable, available transportation.”

For businesses in cities with public transportation, Kimmel suggested several approaches employers might take:

Research “subsidized low-income public transportation passes.”
Partner with other businesses to help employees get low-income passes.
Consider reimbursing employees for work transportation costs.
Explore pre-tax transportation benefits.

Sometimes, just asking questions can lead to savings that could make a big difference for those with tight budgets.

“Can your employee get public transportation money pre-tax by taking out their paychecks and submitting it to a flex account?” Kimmel asks. She explains how this worked at her previous job: “I used to have to pay to park. It was the government parking lot, but they still charged me as their employee to pay to park. What the government did was take out the money that I would spend to park in their lot pre-tax, which led to about a 33% savings.”

Understanding Poverty Guidelines

To help employees access many community resources, employers should understand federal poverty guidelines, which serve as eligibility benchmarks for many services.

“A lot of the non-profits and government institutions go by these guidelines when they determine who is eligible for services,” Kimmel says. “Additionally, some private companies such as utilities, telephone companies and pharmaceutical companies also use these charts for setting eligibility.”

She points out that “if your employee is a single parent with two kids and they’re earning $26,650 a year, they are within the poverty level.”

Kimmel also notes that many employees may be struggling with multi-generational caregiving responsibilities, and this is also taken into account when determining poverty levels.

“Some of your employees may be not only caregiving for kids, but also caregiving for their parents or their in-laws.”

Food Assistance Programs

For employees struggling with food security, Kimmel highlights several resources:

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) — “They used to call them ‘food stamps.’ Now, it’s a SNAP program. They go by the 160% of poverty level.”
Local food banks — “Your employees might be looking for help with food banks to not only help themselves, but also help grandma and grandpa, and whoever else is living in their home.”
WIC (Women, Infants and Children) — “If your employee is a woman who has an infant or a child, they might be able to get some eligibility for money and services through the WIC program.”
School backpack programs — “Some kids who are in school have a ‘backpack program,’ where every Friday a local food pantry fills a backpack with food so that the child, and hopefully their family, can have food over the weekend.”

Come back Tuesday for the conclusion, where we’ll explore housing assistance, healthcare resources, utility assistance and mental health support resources that employers can share with their employees.