Charities hurting for dollars

unedtied 4/09 Tahoe Mountain News

By Kathryn Reed

Clothes sit in piles. Loaves of bread are nearby. The counter has baby food. Pamphlets covering issues running the gamut from health to contractors to parenting fill a wall.
This is clearly a resource center. And it’s a center whose resources are failing to meet the needs of the community.
The Family Resource Center adjacent to Bijou Community School provides the basic needs of food and clothing to anyone in the community. Many of the other services, like parenting classes, women’s support groups, translation services, child care and English-as-a-second-language classes are for the Latino community.
“We really work with the Latino population to get them integrated into the community,” said Delicia Spees, executive director.
With the last bilingual counselor leaving county mental health April 15, that person will help FRC where he can. With stress levels going up, the need for counseling is bound to grow.
For nearly 20 years FRC has been giving away its services. Volunteers make it work. Grants, fundraisers, money from Bookworks (the used bookstore near Freshies) and donations keep the agency afloat.
But with the need escalating, the coffers are running low. Spees said if the grants she applied for don’t arrive in May, FRC may have to shut its doors.
Where people would go is unknown. So many nonprofits on the South Shore are reeling from the economic debacle. With service clubs raising less money, they have less to give. With people out of work, they have less discretionary income and may now need to be on the receiving end.
In February 2008, 2,567 people were served in some way by the Family Resource Center. That number grew to 4,204 two months ago.
People in need of food in February 2009 totaled 730. That’s up from 402 a year ago.
Those searching for clothes went from 85 in February ’08 to 219 in February ’09.
“We try to make sure the families that are hurting are taken care of,” Spees said.
She relayed a story about a woman who recently came into the FRC. The woman had worked in the casinos for 23 years, part of it as a pit boss.
“She looked at me and her eyes started watering because she recognized me,” Spees said. “She said, ‘I can’t believe I’m here.’ She said, ‘I never thought I’d be here.’”
That woman needed food to feed her family.
“Any of us could be there and now it’s worse,” Spees said.
She is grateful for the donations that keep coming. Safeway brings bread twice a week, sometimes milk. Commodities come from the El Dorado County Food Bank.
Money comes from mental health, First 5, Lake Tahoe Community College, Lake Tahoe Unified, United Way and other places.
The annual Cinco de Mayo party is the one fundraiser the group stages. This year it is May 4 at Heavenly’s California Lodge from 5-10pm.
Spees said the center’s biggest need is cash. It goes back into the community. Sometimes it’s given out to people who need help with rent, to buy food, pay utilities.
“We make sure it’s for people who really need it,” Spees said.
However, not many questions are asked of the people who walk through those doors. Paperwork is not part of the process to receive aid. Spees’ philosophy is that asking for help is hard enough.
Through the everyday stress of her job, Spees has been dealing with rebuilding her home that burned in the 2007 Angora Fire. She moved back in last month.

Bread and Broth

People are milling about outside St. Theresa Church. It has little to do with hearing the gospel. It has everything to do with getting a hot meal.
“We plan a meal for 100 servings each week. When we have leftovers, they are distributed at the end of the meal for folks to take home,” explained Diane Weidinger who runs Bread and Broth. “We save everything and waste nothing.”
The number of people served fluctuates – 65 to 100 every Monday. However, in January and February the numbers spiked 15 percent compared to a year ago.
Bread and Broth, which is non-denominational, started in 1989 by parishioners at St. Theresa and Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian churches.
No questions are asked of those who take a seat. Elderly on fixed incomes, families, homeless – the eclectic mix break bread together. Socializing is up to the individual.
It may be their one well-balanced hot meal of the week.
Donations are what keep the pantry full. Raley’s, Safeway, Grass Roots and Starbucks bring in bread, dairy products, vegetables and desserts.
“We have no idea until the Friday before we serve on Monday what is donated. This is where a cook needs to get creative,” said Weidinger, who also wears the chef’s hat.
El Dorado County Food Bank was responsible for providing one-third of the nonprofit’s food at the start of the year.
It takes nearly 4,000 volunteer hours to run the program.
“We have been able to keep afloat in these rough economic times with cost cutting measures, great PR and food donations,” Weidinger said. “Future financial stability will include these, in addition to creative fund-raising activities.”
To keep money coming in, Bread and Broth has come up with a couple ways to donate. Adopt-a-Day costs $250 – the expense of cooking a meal for 100 people. A business, individual, group of friends or the like can pick a day to sponsor a Bread and Broth meal.
If enough people pick a day, it’s possible the program could add a day.
On May 31 the group is raising funds through “Clean Out Your Pantry to Help Ours.” Bread and Broth hopes to make money from gently used kitchen and house ware items. Email Evye Szanto at evyeszanto@gmail.com for details.

Boys & Girls Club

Families are on a waiting list for the local Boys & Girls Club. About 60 elementary kids who want to participate in the after school program have been denied.
Money is the culprit.
“Right now our elementary kids are the ones who are impacted. We can accommodate all the middle school kids,” said Karen Houser, executive director. “Our needs grew so much in the last four years.”
Kids who go to the center at least four days a week got first priority.
It’s not just at-risk kids who go to Boys & Girls Clubs. It’s for anyone.
Still, programs keep being added as staff and resources allow, whether it’s sports or academic oriented.
With less money coming in, the agency’s budget has been reduced by 33 percent to deal with declining revenue. It went from about $750,000 a year to approximately $490,000.
About 120 students go to the Al Tahoe site, while another 80 are at the Bijou facility.
Jenessa Crouch, 14, was elected student club president April 1. She can’t imagine Boys & Girls Club not being around. She knows the food served there is sometimes dinner for those who attend.
Sarah Miranda, 14, likes that she is able to do her homework at the club.
Power Plus is an academic support system that all kids through grade eight must participate in.
Even though Boys & Girls Clubs are national, no money comes from the parent organization. It must be raised locally. Grants, fund raising and donations – even in-kind goods like paper towels and toilet paper – are what keep this group going.
The South Tahoe group last month was awarded a chunk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s $9.2 million in grants to combat gang violence. The $154,072 will go toward gang prevention, work with the Youth Task Force and the Unity Project.

Community needs

These three organizations represent a sampling of the nonprofits on the South Shore serving varied clientele. What they have in common are dwindling resources and escalating demand for services.
They are not alone. No nonprofit has gone unscathed in this economic downturn.
What is worrisome is that the need is likely to grow.
With ski resorts shutting down this month, the number of unemployed locals will rise. Barton’s 43 announced layoffs didn’t account for the handful of others who were let go earlier. Pier 1 Import’s closing means about six more are out of work next month. AAA’s closure this month will see the elimination of three jobs. The casinos have a skeleton crew.
Add the self-employed who don’t show up in unemployment statistics, along with those who’ve had pay cuts, hours cuts and forced furloughs to the list, and the picture is more dismal.
The one bright spot might be that with people out of work it will mean the potential for more volunteers at the nonprofits.