The Sylvia Jackson Fund helps Woodbury residents who have come upon financial difficulties through no fault of their own. Illnesses, lost jobs, fires, car problems, unending utility bills, increasing heating costs, needed home repairs, medical bills, any number of things can put a family behind.
Woodbury residents can request help with such problems, or others not listed. An application form is available at the Town Office. Requests remain confidential as much as possible. If you have a friend or neighbor in need of help, you can request an application and help them fill it out, but the recipient must be willing and able to sign the application form. Payments are ordinarily made to third parties (fuel or utility companies, for example). Direct cash payments are not usually made to the applicants.
Sylvia Jackson of Brookline, Massachusetts, died in 1928 and left behind a list of bequests, including two for the Town of Woodbury. One was for the perpetual care of the Jackson Family Cemetery Plot (perhaps in the Buck Lake Road Cemetery) and the other was $1,000 to be set aside for “the care and comfort of the poor” of Woodbury. We have no records of her connection to the town. The $1,000 bequest has been supplemented over the years by private donations and small appropriations from the town taxpayers.
Donations are welcome and appreciated. If you wish to donate, send a check to the Town Office made out to Town of Woodbury with a notation for Sylvia Jackson Fund.