Polish American Social Services, PASS, a non-profit agency, provides services to thousands of individuals each year in the Philadelphia area.

Through its United Social Services Outreach Program, PASS provides bilingual benefits counseling, information, referral, translation and direct social services to low-income individuals, with a focus on the Polish speaking elderly with language and cultural barriers to economic stability and self-sufficiency. PASS is also well-known in its outreach areas, for assisting individuals from several ethnic groups who reside in the agency’s service areas.

Ongoing agency objectives include:

1.	To make social service information available to individuals, family members, care-givers and the community-at-large to insure that they know about and understand available services and can overcome language or cultural barriers to self-sufficiency.
2.	To enable eligible individuals to make better use of available income through timely and well-informed money management and benefits counseling, information about health care and home health care options, employment programs and a variety of other services.
3.	To establish and coordinate linkages between public and private social service programs to assure effective service delivery to individuals.
4.	To help elderly and other residents retain and maintain their homes through information, referral and direct service of various housing programs, and to obtain emergency assistance for individuals facing urgent needs which threaten to displace them from their homes.

Individuals seeking information are informed of agency services through its outreach information network which includes information in newsletters, local newspapers, church bulletins, radio program presentations, phone calls, mailings and word-of-mouth. Once an individual’s initial questions are answered, his or her needs are assessed, eligibility for a service is determined and the individual receives appropriate assistance.

Through its main office and part-time community outreach sites, PASS provides a “one-stop shopping” program with convenient access to a comprehensive range of services and benefits programs, including a phone helpline, which is particularly beneficial to individuals for whom travel is difficult. PASS’s services help build self-sufficiency and community stability.

Each year over 8,000 individuals contact PASS for information or assistance. Some individuals require extensive services, while others need basic information or referral services.

See our Featured Programs link for additional information.