Hundreds Lining Up Outside Nonprofit’s Neighborhood Centers

The third time was not the charm for El Pasoan Hector Montes, who was turned away for the third day in a row Thursday after waiting hours outside a nonprofit organization’s neighborhood center.

“It’s pretty upsetting,” said Montes.

Montes is one of hundreds of El Pasoans who have been lining up with no luck lately outside neighborhood centers belonging to Project Bravo, a local nonprofit organization focused on anti-poverty programs and services.

One of those services is the Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program, which provides qualifying applicants with funds to cover the full cost of up to two of their electric and gas bills.

“A lot of people are showing up, and they’re desperate,” said Roy Ortega, Project Bravo’s Community Relations Manager. “They need the help and we can help just a certain number of people at a time.”

Project Bravo has six neighborhood centers around El Paso. Ortega said this week some of those centers have seen a huge spike in applicants. He said the lines sometimes go 150-300 people deep.

“We are encouraging people not to come too early. We certainly don’t want them coming at 3 o’clock in the morning when it’s cold and uncomfortable,” said Ortega.

Most of the people who have been lining up overnight get turned away because Ortega said his staff is overwhelmed. Two to four caseworkers are assigned to every center, hence the daily cap in the number of applicants who are able to receive appointments with caseworkers to see if they qualify for the program. Depending on the center, those daily caps range from 14 to 30 available appointment spots.

“We don’t have the funding to hire more people, but we do have the funding to provide help for utility assistance,” explained Ortega. “It’s a matter of balancing the two.”

Ortega said the program receives funding from a number of different sources. He said the program’s popularity recently spread after it was announced among Project Bravo’s other clients that the program had received a $2 million boost from the state.

“They should help more people out because they get enough money to help people out,” said Montes.

Ortega said the program has been around for more than 10 years, and Project Bravo will make efforts to ensure it exists for several more years. “We’re going to take care of everybody who comes to us and qualifies to receive services, but they cannot come here at three in the morning for 30 slots that are going to be filled immediately,” he said.

Furthermore, Ortega explained applicants must do more than score an appointment with a caseworker to get help with their bills. “This is a process that involves them receiving an appointment for them to come back with the proper documents and verification of their income so we can qualify them for the program,” said Ortega.

Project Bravo goes by federal poverty guidelines to ensure applicants are eligible to receive certain services. If they do not qualify for the Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program, however, El Pasoans can learn about a range of other services the non-profit provides to improve their finances.