We Are Here to Help

As our nation navigates the challenges brought on by the federal government shutdown, Victory In Christ Christian Center wants to assure you that you are not alone. We recognize that many individuals, families, and organizations in our community may be experiencing uncertainty — from delayed paychecks to disrupted services to increased needs in our neighborhoods. During this time, know that we are here and will navigate this together.

If you or someone you know is affected by the government shutdown, we have resources available to assist you.

We’re standing in faith and unity — no one should walk through this season alone. For more information and resources, please visit our website or fill out a Partner Care Request Form, and someone from our team will contact you.

Food assistance

• Food Pantries: These local organizations provide free groceries to those in need. Many operate on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule and have minimal eligibility requirements. To find a pantry in your area, contact United Way's 2-1-1 service or do a local search. Some examples near Voorhees, NJ, include the Cherry Hill Food Pantry and Jewish Family and Children's Service food pantry in Cherry Hill.
• Second Harvest: This is a large network of food banks that distributes food to member food pantries and feeding programs across the country.
• WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children): WIC provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.

Find Local Food Assistance

• Feeding America Food Bank Locator - https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank
• Hunger Free America - https://findfood.hungerfreeamerica.org
• Food Finder Interactive Map - https://foodfinder.us/
• WhyHunger Find Food Database - https://whyhunger.org/find-food
• Meals on Wheels America: Delivers nutritious meals directly to homes. Find a provider - https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/
• Little Food Pantries - https://www.thelittlefreepantries.org/
• Local Area Agencies on Aging (AAA): These agencies often coordinate food delivery, congregate meals, and other support services. Find your local AAA - https://eldercare.acl.gov/home

National Hotlines for Immediate Help

• National Hunger Hotline: Call 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (Spanish)
• WhyHunger Hotline: Call 1-800-5-HUNGRY or text your ZIP code to 1-800-548-6479
• Call 2-1-1 or visit 211.org to connect with local food programs.

Financial and housing assistance

• Cash Assistance Programs: State-level programs can provide temporary cash assistance. In New Jersey, the Work First New Jersey (WFNJ) program offers monthly cash assistance, child care, and short-term housing support for eligible families and single adults. Work First New Jersey
• United Way's 2-1-1: This is a hotline and online database that connects individuals with a wide range of local health and human service programs, including housing and utility assistance.
• Housing and Homelessness Programs: States often run programs to help families and individuals with housing instability. California's CalWORKs Homeless Assistance program, for instance, offers aid to families who have received an eviction notice.
• State Rental Assistance Programs (SRAP): New Jersey's program provides vouchers to help low-income households afford housing. There may be waitlists for these programs.
• Emergency housing assistance: USAGov can direct you to government programs that help find short-term housing if you are facing or experiencing homelessness.
• Local rental assistance: Contact your state's 211 program or visit USAGov to find emergency help paying your rent. In some cities, additional rental assistance may be available for government workers.
• Mortgage and utility relief: If you were affected by a government shutdown, you can use a sample letter from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to request payment deferrals from your mortgage lender or utility company.

Employment support

• Unemployment Insurance (UI): If you were laid off, you are likely eligible for unemployment benefits.
• How to apply: In New Jersey, you can file a new claim online or by phone. To verify your identity, you will need to upload government-issued ID and provide details about your work history.
• Maximum benefits in 2025: In New Jersey, the maximum weekly benefit rate is $875 for eligible claims filed in 2025.
• American Job Centers (AJC): These centers, available through the U.S. Department of Labor, provide training programs and services to assist laid-off workers. In New Jersey, they are called One-Stop Career Centers and offer job search assistance, career counseling, resume help, and other employment resources at no cost.
• Dislocated Worker Grants: These are federal grants that provide temporary services in response to major layoffs in a state or local area.

How to find resources

• NJHelps.gov: This is an online tool for New Jersey residents to screen their eligibility for various state programs, including cash assistance .
• United Way's 2-1-1: Dialing 2-1-1 or visiting 211.org connects you with a wide range of community services.
• Contact Your County: Search for your county's board of social services or human services department online to find local programs. For example, Ocean County, NJ, has an Emergency Rental Relief program

Additional resources:

As this government shut down continues, here is a list of resources you can share with anyone affected.

• Bank of America: announced assistance available to furloughed Federal employees. Call the priority assistance line 844.219.0690.
• Chase Bank: Chase today announced efforts to help its customers who are U.S. government employees affected by the U.S. government shutdown. Here’s the special line they set up 1-888-356-0023.
• Congressional Federal Credit Union: For more information on our Relief Line of Credit or any of our assistance programs, contact our Member Service Representatives at 800-491-2328 or stop by one of our branch locations.
• Fed Choice: They’re offering quite a few different options to assist – for existing and new members.
• Interior Federal Credit Union: They’re offering a special loan for both member and non-member furloughed Federal workers. Net paycheck up to $15,000, interest free up to 30 days. Members may apply for a limit up to the equivalent of 2 net paychecks. More offers are available on the site or call 800-914-8619
• Navy Federal Credit Union: These guys are offering a special loan program. Read the FAQs PDF from this link to see if you qualify or call 1-888-842-6328
• PayPal: PayPal has made a very generous offer. They’ve allocated $25 million to fund interest-free cash advances to our furloughed Federal workers that need assistance right now. This is for both new and existing PayPal Credit customers. Minimum loan is $250 with a maximum cash advance of $500. Your account does need to be in good standing if you’re an existing PayPal Credit customer. Existing customers call 1-877-689-1975. For new accounts, apply here first, then after approval call 1-877-689-1975.
• U.S. Bank: Will waive all late fees if you miss a mortgage payment due to the shutdown. Also mentioned they will defer first payment dates for new mortgages.
• U.S. Employees Credit Union: USECU is also offering shutdown loans, but only until Tuesday, January 15th. Call (312) 922.5310 to get help.
• SunTrust: SunTrust didn’t make a specific offer, but they did make a public announcement that they have programs in place to help clients affected by the shutdown.
• Synchrony Bank: These guys handle store cards for Amazon, Lowes, Walmart, JCPenney, Chevron/Texaco, and many other large nationwide companies that you might do business with on a day-to-day basis. They are allowing affected customers to defer payments until after the shutdown. Contact them for more information.
• Union Plus: For union members, there are a great number of options available if you’re with Union Plus. Call them at 800-472-2005 to ask about these offers: $300 Furlough Grant for eligible Union Plus credit card holders, Mortgage Assistance Loan & $300 Grant: payment grace period for your Union Plus Life and Accident Insurance, payment grace period for Union Plus Auto Insurance, and payment grace period for Union Plus Life and Accident Insurance.
• Wells Fargo: Here’s a full list of all shutdown assistance lines at Wells Fargo. They’ve got a few different options to help depending on the services you have with their bank.

Furlough Grants

• FEEA-NARFE: This is an awesome offer that every furloughed Federal worker needs to take advantage of. FEEA-NARFE fund is offering $100 grants to active federal employee members who are not receiving a paycheck during the current shutdown due to being furloughed or working in excepted status. To apply, visit the FEEA website.

Thrift Savings Plan

• TSP Plan News and Announcements: TSP allows for the suspension of loan payments when you go into non-pay status. They do not require documentation about your furlough currently. Missing one or two payments will not cause your loan to go into default. Log in to your account to check your status or simply call the Thrift Line at 1-877-968-3778.

Auto Assistance

• Toyota Financial Services & Lexus Financial Services: Affected lease and finance customers in good standing with their accounts may be eligible to take advantage of up to two months of finance contract payment extensions or lease deferred payments. Toyota Financial Services call 800-874-8822 and Lexus Financial Services call 800-874-7050.
• Hyundai Capital: Hyundai will extend all Hyundai Capital auto loans and lease payments for 30 days for current Hyundai owners who are federal government employees furloughed during the shutdown. Impacted consumers should contact Hyundai Motor Finance at 1-800-523-4030 to take advantage of this offer.
• Kia Motors Finance: Kia has announced they’re offering deferred payments of 30 days. If you’ve been affected by the current Government Shutdown and need assistance from Kia Finance, please contact us at 1-866-331-5632.
• Ford Credit, GM Financial, & Mercedes-Benz Financial Services: It has been reported that these companies are among those providing qualified customers options such as payment deferrals, late fee waivers and special care lines to address their individual problems, though official announcements from these companies have not been released online.

Mobile Telephone Service Providers

• AT&T: Will assist with adjusting late fees, providing extensions, and revising payment schedules.
• Sprint: Will provide short-term payment solutions. Call 1-888-211-4747
• T-Mobile: Offering short-term assistance and can spread out service payments over time. Call 1-877-746-0909 or 611 from a T-Mobile device.
• Verizon: Offering flexible payment options and has a Promise to Pay program to set payments for a future date. Call 1-866-266-1445.

Rental Home Assistance

• National Rental Home Council: Represents many of the nation’s largest operators of single-family rental homes. They’re offering deferred rent payment options with no late fees to any renter who has been furloughed.
• OPM Sample Letters for Creditors and Mortgage Companies: OPM created these sample letters for Federal workers to contact their landlords, mortgage lenders, and utilities, to request help during the shutdown.

National Food Resources & Advice

• Feeding America: These guys have a nationwide network of 200 food banks. From those food banks, they have 60,000 partner pantries from which they can serve every community across the United States. This is an awesome resource, and they have already begun serving Federal employees affected by the government shutdown.
• Your School District: To save on food and ensure your kid eats breakfast and/or lunch free (less stress and worry for you), notify the district of your furlough. No income is an emergency and normally qualifies you for the free meal program.

Home, Auto & Life Insurance Relief

• MetLife: For those not receiving a paycheck from the federal government because of the current shutdown, MetLife Auto & Home may grant a one-time, 30-day grace period on your payment of premium on a MetLife Auto & Home policy. Members must request this one-time allowance by calling 1-800-GET-MET8. Certain restrictions apply, and premium remains due after delay expires.
• Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company: To help the nearly 27,000 AFGE members who currently have a policy with the company during this government shutdown, the company “will keep the policy-in-force by waving the cost of insurance charges for the next 30 days.”. Policies beginning with the letter "Y" call: 844-800-9146, all other policies call: 888-513-8797

Other Notable Mentions for Relief & Assistance.

• Rent-A-Center (Benefits Plus Membership): If your account was up to date at the time of furlough and you are a part of benefits plus you may be eligible for a payment waiver based on your state: “Involuntary Unemployment Payment Waiver: Losing a job is hard and making payments while unemployed is even harder. Fortunately, your Membership waives your payments when you are involuntarily unemployed. Whether you were fired, laid off, suspended, or are out of work due to a labor dispute or strike, your payments are covered for up to four (4) months, up to $1,000, or when you’re able to return to work.”

National Freebie Offers

• U.S. Office of Personnel Management: Their fact sheet states that federal employees may be eligible for unemployment compensation administered by state unemployment insurance agencies. So, eligibility is determined by state law, not on the Federal level, which may work in your favor.
• USAA Are offering deferments for all loans and credit card payments.