United Way of Chester County, in partnership with Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania is offering assistance to mobile home owners in Chester County to file for property tax reassessment appeals. They will do all the work and pay the fees on behalf of the homeowners in the program.

Your mobile home depreciates over time, but the tax authority won’t lower your assessment unless you appeal. In their pilot year, they helped 177 of your neighbors in the Honey Brook and Downingtown area. On average, these residents each lowered their assessment by 70% and their taxes in 2020 will amount to 30% of what they owed in previous years.

HOW IT WORKS

Fill out and return the following flyer, also found here. Include all the ways we can contact you. We will schedule your appointment starting in Spring 2020 and take it from there!

You tell us about your home at a 30 minute appointment and we do the rest.

We complete and file your appeal, pay for the book value (appraisal) and county filing fees, and attend the appeal hearing for you. You don’t even have to face the appeal board! We do that!

For more information, please contact: Darshana Shyamsunder

610-429-9400 mobilehome@uwchestercounty.org

The Chester County COVID-19 Business Task Force is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May, 26, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. for county businesses and organizations looking to reopen, revise, or expand operations due to the impact of the Coronavirus. 

The first webinar, led by Lucia Mullen, MPH, an analyst at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, will focus on preparing businesses and organizations of all sizes and types to determine their risk of transmission of COVID-19. The webinar will also provide a toolkit that enables businesses to identify their areas of risk and suggestions to reduce it. 

To access the webinar, click here.

The 2020 Census is underway – more than half the households across America have responded – and more are responding every day. Online, phone and mailed self-responses will continue throughout the data collection process.  

In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. Census Bureau has adjusted 2020 Census operations in order to:

• Protect the health and safety of the American public and Census Bureau employees.
• Implement guidance from Federal, State, and local authorities regarding COVID-19.
• Ensure a complete and accurate count of all communities.

Now the Census will continue to collect responses through October 31, 2020.

If you haven’t yet responded to the Census, find out how you can here.

The Chester County Food Bank will accept produce donations beginning next week on Tuesday 5/26. They will accept produce donations from HOME GROWERS Monday and Wednesday 10-12 PM and Raised Bed Garden PARTNERS on Tuesday and Thursday 10-12PM. Gardeners can pull up to the side of the building where you will see a station set up with a produce scale and donation slips to fill out. There will be a pallet with crates for the produce to be placed into. After placing the produce in the crates, the gardener will ring the bell that is set up near the stairs and then return to their vehicle. A staff member will respond to the bell and bring the produce in immediately. 

*In the case of severe weather, the drop-off station will be moved directly inside of the warehouse door.

When donating to CCFB bagging in bulk is preferred – organized by crop. Do not mix muddy roots with leafy greens. Do not seal bags completely, leave them slightly opened to allow respiration/moisture to escape. Large clear bags or produce bags can be provided by CCFB.

When donating directly to food cupboards bag produce in household sized portions in produce bags. 

Please review our recommendations for best practices for harvesting and donating produce. 

• Do not harvest while sick.
• Wash hands thoroughly and wear glovesUse clean tools and containers
• Only donate quality produce you would enjoy eating yourself.
• Agencies reserve the right to decline your donation if it does not meet their standards of quality. For example: bolted, excessively muddy, or inedible.

Here are agencies that will also accept produce donations:

Earlier this week, Pennsylvania received approval from Food and Nutrition Service to join the pilot program that lets SNAP recipients purchase groceries online through participating retailers in early June.

Now that approval has been received, DHS is working with its EBT vendor and approved retailers to implement system changes necessary to implement online payment for PA’s SNAP recipients. These system changes will take approximately two weeks to complete the testing and validation. Implementation could not begin without FNS’ approval. Now that approval has been received, OHS expects to have online grocery purchasing activated for SNAP recipients by the beginning of June. Once active, only eligible food items normally paid for by SNAP will be able to be purchased online with SNAP benefits. Delivery fees, driver tips, and other associated charges may not be paid for with SNAP benefits. Due to the expedited timeframe to implement this initiative does not include the ability to transact Cash Assistance benefits using the EBT card. Therefore, individuals will need to use another method of payment to cover the non-allowable fees such as a pre-paid debit card.

The pilot program currently includes three approved retailers: Amazon, Walmart, and ShopRite. Retailers that are interested in participating must contact FNS to review the requirements to be added to the program. And, just as a reminder, retailers that do not wish to join the pilot program can still offer delivery or pick-up flexibility options for SNAP recipients by using mobile EBT processing equipment that would allow customers to pay with SNAP when groceries are delivered or picked up. Farmers markets may be able to receive this processing equipment at no cost through a grant opportunity provided by DI-IS.

Animal Care PA is offering help for seniors who do not have money to pay for pet food or veterinary bills.

Henry’s Helping Paws program provides food to the pets of senior citizens so the pets and their owners to stay together. This program was launched in March of 2016 in a partnership with Meals on Wheels in Chester County.

This program is currently in 3 locations:

• Meals on Wheels, Chester County, PA
• Phoenixville Senior Center, Phoenixville, PA
• Coatesville Senior Center, Coatesville, PA

To apply for food for your pet, click here.

“TLC” stands for The Last Chance program, as well as “tender loving care,” because that is what we strive to offer for animals who may not get any care at all without the fund. The Pennsylvania Veterinary Foundation (PVF) established our The Last Chance (TLC) program in 2009 to help ensure a source of funding for the care of abused or neglected, owned and unowned companion animals that might otherwise be euthanized or turned over to an animal shelter that is already overburdened.