With no money left, an Ames emergency assistance program that has been giving out $10,000 each month, must now tell those in need to go elsewhere.

The program, Good Neighbor, was formed in 1997 and receives most of its funding from 19 local churches. It offered $200 to families and $150 annual gifts to individuals in need. With new budget constraints, it will no longer be able to offer the money.

“It’s bad, that’s all I can say,” said Sieglinde Prior, director of Ames’ Good Neighbor Emergency Assistance Cooperative. “With winter coming, I’m frightened for people.”

Prior said she can put people on a waiting list for funds that will be distributed as money comes in, but there is no guarantee of timely assistance.

“For a lot of people, their situation is desperate,” Prior said. “They can’t come to us [anymore] because they can’t wait for the money.”

Prior said she has been telling people to seek help from Ames’ Emergency Residence Project, another assistance program that often partners with Good Neighbor.

“They just started referring people over the last few days,” said Vic Moss, director of ERP. “I think we had four or five people contact us yesterday who had been referred by Good Neighbor.”

Moss said ERP has been giving around the same amount of money as Good Neighbor, but that will change as funds are depleted.

“Most of the people who come to us have received an eviction notice or a demand letter from their landlord,” Moss said. “We try to help them stay in their homes.”

Money being donated to ERP and Good Neighbor will not decline. Prior said the community has been helpful.

“Ames is a very generous community,” Prior said.

The main problem, Prior and Moss said, is that livable wages are becoming harder to come by.

“The real problem we’re finding is that families are increasingly unable to stay in their homes because incomes haven’t gone up nearly as fast as housing costs have,” Moss said. “Most of the people we deal with are paying half of their incomes or more for rent, so they’re barely hanging on.”

Moss said assistance is usually given to each family only once per year.

“Right now, all of our donations are going toward helping families get their heat turned back on and keeping them in their houses a while longer,” Moss said.

ERP has been helping 50 to 60 families per month during the last few months. Moss said this time of year is especially busy because new leases are signed and there are more families moving into the area.

Moss said he feels the government is partially to blame for this growing problem.

“We’re going down a path right now of Social Darwinism,” Moss said. “The government is pretty much getting out of the business of helping the poor.”

According to a study by the city of Ames, 48.3 percent of rental households in Ames can’t afford their rent. This number does not include student households.

“It is a predicament,” Moss said. “It’s something that’s affecting so many families in Story County that it’s on a scale that is unimaginable for most people.”