Published in The New Haven Register on Saturday, April 7, 2012 By Steve Higgins, Special to the Register.

The Neighbor-to-Neighbor LifeLine fund-raising program distributed $490,000 to support area nonprofit organizations this year. Since the program started in 2009, it has raised $2 million to provide area residents with emergency food, shelter, energy assistance and other needs.

United Way of Greater New Haven and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven teamed up to raise emergency funds during the winter months after the financial crisis hit in 2008. The need for emergency services has increased in the years since.

“The effort has evolved and adapted to meet changing needs in our community and be a real-time, local response,” said Bob Lyons, co-chair of Neighbor-to-Neighbor LifeLine.