HelpWest (Employee Benevolence Fund)

HelpWest

HelpWest, the UWG employee benevolence fund, is an assistance program dedicated to providing emergency relief to eligible UWG faculty and staff who are facing unforeseen financial hardship. Since FY2018, the HelpWest fund has provided $21,150 in assistance to UWG employees in need.

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  • HelpWest is an assistance program dedicated to providing emergency relief to eligible UWG faculty and staff who are facing unforeseen financial hardship. The fund is overseen by the HelpWest steering committee. 
  • The committee consists of the Ombuds Office, a representative from each University division, and a representative from the Faculty Senate and Staff Advisory Council.
  • Additional information can be found in the HelpWest Employee Benevolence Program Guidelines.
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  • The requestor must be a full-time or part-time regular employee of the University of West Georgia. Student employees are encouraged to contact the Dean of Students for support. 
  • The requestor's need for financial assistance must be directly attributed to or caused by undue hardship or crisis. Examples include large medical bills, extensive loss of property due to fire or other natural disaster, or other unexpected financial challenges due to circumstances beyond the requestor’s control.
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  • Requests for assistance can be made by clicking the red button (above on this page) that reads "Request Assistance."
  • You can also contact the Ombuds Office directly for a paper application.
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 The Ombuds office will receive your request for assistance, and will process the personal information you provide.

  • The Ombuds Office will keep identifying information related to requests confidential, except as required by other University policies and
    procedures or by law.
  • The HelpWest committee reviews each request. The information provided to the committee is anonymized, so your name will not be associated with the information presented to the committee. The committee approves or denies requests according to the criteria listed in the HelpWest Employee Assistance Program Guidelines.
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  • The HelpWest committee shall approve or deny requests according to the criteria listed in the HelpWest Program Guidelines.
  • Decisions of the committee are final.
  • The person requesting assistance will be notified of the committee’s decision by the Ombuds Office within two business days.
  • Upon approval of the request for assistance, funds shall be made payable directly to the beneficiary.
  • Supporting documentation may be requested to determine approval of the request.
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