THE PROGRAM: The Boyd Gaming Team Member Crisis Fund is maintained and operated by United Way of Greater St. Louis. The Crisis Fund is not meant to replace the many community-based programs that may be available, but to enhance them and directly assist the Team members of Boyd Gaming Corporation. Team members are encouraged to seek other avenues of assistance before applying for assistance from the Crisis Fund. United Way may assist the team member in identifying other available community resources (in St. Louis) and direct the team member to United Way 2-1-1 for referral information.
ELIGIBILITY: Team members requesting assistance from the Crisis Fund must be current full-time team members of Boyd Gaming Corporation, and have completed their introductory period, in order to be eligible for relief through the Crisis Fund. Team members on leave must be on a job-protected leave to be considered for relief funds; team members on personal leave are not eligible. However, consideration may be given to team members on personal leave for their own medical reason prior to satisfying the one year and the 1,250 hour requirement for family medical leave.
Team members, who meet all eligibility requirements, may apply for assistance for themselves and their immediate family (as defined by the Internal Revenue Code at the time of an application). Team members may request assistance one time only during any rolling twelve-month period. Crisis Fund assistance must not exceed the maximum allowable amount within such period. If it is suspected that a team member has a substance abuse or gambling problem, they will not be considered as a candidate to receive Crisis Fund relief.
APPLICATIONS: Boyd Gaming team members must apply for crisis assistance by completing an Application for Assistance as provided by United Way. United Way will review the application on a preliminary basis and ensure that all information and documentation is provided as required. United Way will ensure the team member has completed the application and has provided supportive documentation, such as utility bills and rental agreements. Upon receiving a team member's consent to do so, United Way will request certain information from Boyd Gaming Corporation in order to confirm eligibility and financial need, such as confirmation of current, full-time employment, leave status (if applicable), and an IRS Form W-2 for the team member's last tax year. NOTE: an IRS Form W-9 (Taxpayer ID # & Certification) form must be included with the application packet or otherwise obtained by United Way if an assistance payment is to be made to a company, business or individual that is not operating as a corporation (i.e., landlords). The application and any corresponding confidential information must be housed in a confidential, secure file location and may not be shared with anyone outside of United Way.
DISTRIBUTION: Unless otherwise designated by United Way for any particular Boyd Gaming Corporation or location, a maximum of $1,000 per team member may be expended for a team member in a rolling twelve-month period, and only one application for assistance may be processed for a team member during each twelve-month period (even if a previous grant award in the previous twelve-month period was for less than the $1,000 maximum amount). Assistance will be paid directly to the agency providing the service to team member, i.e., hospitals, utility companies, property management companies and other entities, subject to availability of funds. Assistance may not be paid directly to the team member. Non-essential bills, such as cable television are not eligible for relief funds. Payments to payday loan companies are not allowed.
COMMITTEE: The United Way Crisis Fund Committee shall evaluate all applications for assistance. The Crisis Fund Committee members shall be United Way employees or volunteers with no current or past affiliation with Boyd Gaming Corporation. The Crisis Fund shall consist of 3-6 members.
The Crisis Fund Committee will review cases within three working days of receiving a completed application and all information relevant to considering such application (included any information requested from Boyd Gaming Corporation as described above). After its review, the Crisis Fund Committee will confirm how much assistance, if any, will be granted. Disbursement of funds will be made within 24 hours of application approval. A majority decision by the committee is required to approve, deny or amend crisis fund requests. Consideration for fund approval by the Crisis Fund Committee includes, but is not limited to, the nature and reason for the crisis, work history, availability of PTO, availability of savings, number of children living in the house, second income in the house, coverage through home owners insurance, etc.
The Crisis Fund Committee will designate a United Way employee to contact the team member within 24 hours of the committee's decision. The decision of the Crisis Fund Committee is final.
The fund is powered by United Way of Greater St. Louis and United Way staff is available to assist all applicants with this process. Call 1-866-240-4522 or email AmeristarHardshipFund@stl.unitedway.org with questions.