ENGLEWOOD -- Gone are the days when Englewood residents had to take up to a day off from work to travel and apply for Department of Children and Families benefits in Venice or Port Charlotte.

Englewood Helping Hand at the Englewood United Methodist Church has lent a helping hand to Englewood residents in a variety of ways for nearly two decades.

The gold level, as it's called by DCF community partner liaison Donovan Thompson, means that everything an applicant needs to file for Medicaid, Medicare, cash or food assistance can be done at Helping Hand.

"It helps to process applications a lot faster, with the reduced staff," he said. "It's the only way we can meet the challenge of increasing applications with the reduction of staff."

Having DCF facilities handy makes it easier for working individuals to get the process taken care of much quicker and without having to take a lot of time out of a work day to drive out of town and accomplish the task.

"That is where the department is focusing their resources," he said. "That's the only way it can survive, with a reduced staff. It's the primary method of receiving and processing for assistance."

"They improved the online application," he said. "They made it simpler in terms of entering the demographics information. It's a little more easier, a little more intuitive."

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