By Jodi Magallanes, Truth Staff
jmagallanes@etruth.com
They certainly wouldn't have volunteered to take a funding cut, yet being dropped from the United Way's rolls hasn't put the nine affected agencies out of business.
The Elkhart Childhood Development Center and the Cystic Fibrosis Council were let go in January because of an anticipated drop in donations and pledges to the 2009 annual campaign. Another seven were dropped in March when final figures revealed that 32 percent fewer dollars materialized, compared to 2008.
But not one of the agencies plans to lock the doors for good. Instead, the directors of all nine agencies met Thursday to discuss how they might support each other, perhaps by sharing office space, forming purchasing blocks or exploring other strategies.
Big Brothers/Big Sisters
The iconic mentoring program lost 25 percent of its funding when United Way pulled out.
Fortunately, the agency had responded to United Way's advice that agencies obtain funding from more than one source. Without United Way, BB/BS still has four funding sources.
Executive Director Tami Maier said the agency's board also had the foresight to put some money in reserve several years ago. They're tapping that money now, and Maier is researching new grant sources for next year.
Charging clients for services is out of the question, she said, because 88 percent of BB/BS families live in poverty. Instead, the agency has let one staff member go to reduce expenses. Maier hopes to avoid the step of denying access to the program to newly referred children.
If there is a bright side to the economic downturn that led to the program's dismissal, it's that some newly unemployed residents have begun to volunteer as a Big Brother or Big Sister.
Maier is grateful.
"We are busy. We have tons of people coming in ... plenty of kids to serve, and people coming in to volunteer. Our board of directors is brainstorming what else we can do," she said.
Big Brothers/Big Sisters is the designated recipient of a fundraising event April 18 at Christiana Creek Country Club featuring comedian Scott Dunn. But Maier isn't planning on asking the community for more money after that.
Center for Community Justice
A small reserve fund and funding from other sources will carry CCJ through June. Beyond that, Executive Director Tim Balko is searching for a new source to fund the Community Service Restitution Program, previously funded 98 percent by United Way.
Offenders ordered by judges to perform community service assist labor-deficient organizations like parks departments and nonprofit businesses by providing free labor. In the interest of two staff members who manage the program and supervise the offenders as needed, Balko is awaiting response on two grants he wrote to sustain the program.
Balko said that almost immediately after the cuts were announced, Martin's Super Markets offered to donate a fundraising tool to the agency. Five hundred Martin's coupon books arrived two days later, hand-delivered by Dave Mayfield of the grocery chain's advertising department.
Cystic Fibrosis Council
The directors' spirits need a little buoying.
"One resounding reaction I've heard is guilt on the directors' part. They're asking themselves, 'Have I run this agency into the ground?'" said Sandy Lichtenberger, director of the CFC.
She's asked herself the same question, despite the fact that she's now the agency's sole staff member and works four weeks a month while effectively only being paid for one.
The Cystic Fibrosis Council supports families dealing with the emotional and financial strain of caring for children stricken with the fatal disease. The CFC's funding was reduced gradually, from $18,000 in 2006 to nothing in 2009. She's applied to receive the kids' nutritional supplements at no or reduced cost, but has not heard back. After eliminating counseling and financial support to CF patients who want to train for a job in the adult world, the means of support she can offer families is waning. She's submitted a grant for some funding, but the grant process usually works at least six months out and tends to reward larger agencies.
Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana-Michiana
Girl Scouts Chief Operating Officer Mary Ann Forbes is disappointed that her program was dropped from funding, especially when local Boy Scouts weren't.
"We really feel like we enhance the quality of life for a community," she said. "These girls are the United Way allocation committee members and Chamber of Commerce members of the future."
More than 1,000 girls in Elkhart County are served by Girl Scouts programs, according to Forbes, who has no doubt the organization will redouble its efforts to recruit volunteers as a result -- despite the fact that 230 volunteers already make much of the agency's action happen.
Families have so many pressing needs that she isn't confident a plea to the community for volunteers will be successful, but the plan is to try.
No cuts to services are planned despite the loss of $24,000, although the Girl Scouts board of directors will meet this month to discuss a more specific plan.
Mental Health America
United Way funds had comprised one-third of Mental Health America's budget. After receiving the news that MHA was cut, Executive Director Lori Harrington reduced her agency's staff from four to three and now puts in 60- and 70-hour weeks to keep up with the workload.
MHA brings two mental health programs into Elkhart, Goshen and Wa-Nee schools that teach children coping and anger management skills -- both more crucial now than ever as the stress of job losses and families moving in together builds in youths. Until now, schools have only partially reimbursed the cost for those programs, but Harrington has met formally with administrators to request full funding for next year.
"We're really having to focus on the programs we can charge for" and try to do just that, Harrington said. MHA has also planned a big fundraising event, the 23rd annual Raising for a Reason, on the same day as the YMCA's Healthy Kids Day blowout and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters comedy star fundraiser.
Harrington said Thursday that collaboration between the displaced agencies would be a good idea so agencies would be able to avoid scheduling competing events.
YMCA
The Elkhart YMCA programs affected by lost United Way funding involve the disabled, or "special populations." A special populations open swim on Wednesday nights and a series of special populations swim classes held several times a week had been funded by the United Way for much of their 35-year existence.
YMCA Executive Director Joyce Forman knew that something was going to have to go when the usual amount of United Way funds failed to materialize this year.
"They had hard decisions to make. I don't envy them that," she said. But she also believes that the two aquatic programs are "extremely worthwhile" and deserve her best efforts at finding grant money to keep them going.
"I've seen it work. I've seen the good that it does over the years" to keep the programs going. "We even have a couple of kids who aged out of the program who are volunteering back -- coming in to help out now," Forman said.
YMCA volunteers have stepped up to lend a hand toward extending the programs' longevity.
Legal Aid
The sliding-scale clinic employs one full-time and one part-time lawyer with "huge" caseloads, according to Director Paula Michalos. The agency will use its savings to continue to provide services for as long as possible before further reducing staff or making another cost-saving decision.
Elkhart Childhood Development Center
ECDC lost $56,000 when it was cut from United Way in December. Area layoffs and job cuts have meant fewer children coming to the sliding-fee center, allowing Director Paula Mumaw to make staff cuts to save money and keep the doors open. She and her assistant director, Carol Bennett, are back in the classroom, teaching and supervising as well as running the center.
But enrollment is starting to bounce back, Mumaw said Friday. She's more optimistic than she was a few months ago that the ECDC will survive and maintain its state certification.
"It's starting to look a little better," Mumaw said. "It's just that we have to have so much staff, to meet state standards, so we're adjusting the hours of the people who are left."
Until the center can secure a funding source to underwrite its sliding fee scale, her main concern is that some staff are without health insurance because the center's coverage was provided through United Way. But she's ruled out making large increases in the center's fees. The center also has two fundraising events in the works for May and summer.
Life Treatment Centers
Director of Development Julia Shapiro-Newbill said that the loss of the United Way portion of its funding was definitely a blow to the alcohol and drug treatment facility, but she isn't yet sure to what extent services will be affected.
"We did have some idea this might happen, though," Shapiro said. "A lot of agencies are moving toward just funding children. But what we want to know is, if we don't get these parents right, how are they going to be able to help the kids? It's certainly going to be harder on us to continue."