Emergency Food & Shelter Program

United Way of Mahaska County works hard to bring additional funding to Mahaska County by administering the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program to the Mahaska County area. 

This program was created in 1983 to supplement and expand the work of local social service agencies, both nonprofit and governmental, in an effort to help people with economic (not disaster-related) emergencies. The EFSP funding is open to all organizations helping hungry and homeless people.

Currently, United Way of Mahaska County partners with the Agency on Aging, Crisis Intervention Services, Homelessness Coalition, LOVE INC, and SIEDA to distribute funding. Most funding is used for mass shelter, rent assistance, energy assistance, food cards, and mileage to deliver meals to the elderly.