Ways to give: Charities hit hard from both sides

Published 9:55 pm Wednesday, November 26, 2008

MONROE — Poverty here is hidden away from the lights along U.S. 2.

Sometimes, though, as Linda Paz found out earlier this month, poverty knocks on your door.

Within days of each other, two families stopped by her office looking for food.

Paz runs Matthew House, a program that aims to assist families of inmates incarcerated at the Monroe prison complex. However, neither of the hungry families who walked in off the street two weeks ago have any connection to the prison, Paz said.

The youngest of the three preschoolers in the first family wiped her runny nose, Paz recalled, and snuggled against her sobbing mother.

The little girl’s blond brother and sister stood by, wide-eyed and silent, while their unemployed father, a cast on his forearm, begged a meal for his family.

Paz didn’t hesitate. A few days later she fed four other children and their single mother, who had lost her job and her rental home and was sleeping with her kids in an abandoned garage outside of town.

“I’m not the food bank, but I am a grandma,” she said. “We took them in and got them lunch. Those kids were so hungry they ate with their hands.”

That the need is growing is clear. The state Department of Social and Health Services earlier this week reported that applications for its food stamp program had grown to 48,000 in October, up from 36,000 in September.

A total of 617,000 people in Washington state received food stamps in October.

The Snohomish County unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent in October, a figure that does not factor in the impacts of the recent Boeing strike, according to the state Employment Security Department. Retail stores, restaurants, construction companies, manufacturing plants and local governments cut jobs or cut hours, the department said.

During the same period, most food banks in the county saw increases of between 20 percent and 40 percent over last year in the number of people they feed. Volunteers of America officials, who run the Everett Food Bank, estimate that 15 percent of Snohomish County seniors live in poverty and that at least one in nine families need help from their local food bank.

With unemployment rates up and the needs even greater this year, many organizations are bracing for lean times as they see significant drops in charitable giving. Some larger organizations report that their donation levels remain stable, but many smaller nonprofit agencies and charities in Snohomish County tell a different story.

“My donors are telling me they plan to continue to support us, but some are cutting their giving in half,” Paz said. “The needs are through the roof and there are no reserves in the bank.”

Undeterred by this picture, Paz and the leaders of many other charities in Snohomish County are soldiering on, even to the point of helping those outside their intended focus. Food banks keep certain hours, Paz said, and often the distribution schedule doesn’t coincide with hunger pangs. She plans to continue to try to help people who come to her door.

Her Matthew House clients also have growing needs, however, with many unable to make rent payments, she said.

“What they don’t realize and what some of our donors may not know is that we’re down financially, too,” Paz said. “Like many people, we’re often one paycheck from being homeless.”

Along with paying rent, more people need help to pay their power bills, said South Everett Neighborhood Center director Winnie Corral.

“There have been some real tear-jerkers over the last month and yet people are thinking twice before donating,” Corral said.

Stanwood-Camano Christmas Room organizer Tracy Ulrich agrees.

“It’s the pebble in the pond thing,” Ulrich said. “We’re forecasting a drop in donations while we have more people than ever asking for help from us.”

The eviction-prevention rental assistance phone line at Snohomish County Salvation Army used to get a couple calls a week, but recently that number jumped to 20 or more calls a week, executive director Dana Libby said. In addition, more people are showing up at the Salvation Army for evening meals it hosts several times a week.

In the meantime, the number of contributors returning their annual donation envelopes decreased this year, Libby said.

Deaconess Children’s Services saw donations from individuals cut by half during the past three months, president Felicia Freeman said.

“So if our donors are struggling, then our clients have even less,” Freeman said. “As poverty has increased, stress is up and that leads to problems in the home.”

The Salvation Army often sees the result of those problems and works hard to get people plugged into the system of aid, deputy director Jerry Gadek said.

“I’m worried, but I like to think that our Snohomish County community will work collaboratively and do our best to stay ahead of this difficult time,” Gadek said.

To counteract the drop in contributions, Housing Hope is sending out a second letter to its regular donors and asking local businesses to do supply drives for the people who live in low-income housing, spokeswoman Jenny Cline said.

“I think people will rally,” Cline said. “The desire to give really hasn’t diminished. It may not be at the same level, but the heart and soul to give is still there in the community.”

Some organizations need help this year as much as they need supplies or money.

At Arlington Kids Kloset, topping the wish list is a steady stream of reliable volunteers, co-director Linda Dussault said.

“We feel fortunate that our community supports us,” Dussault said. “We do need steady help, and that doesn’t cost a thing.”

The Snohomish County Chapter of the American Red Cross also depends on volunteers and donations to help people in the county who suffer through house fires and flooding, executive director Chuck Morrison said.

“The Red Cross needs money,” Morrison said. “But I’m confident that the public will come through as history has proven, in good times and bad.”

At Christmas House, which provides gifts to Snohomish County children from low-income families, president Rick Kvangnes said community support also is holding steady, even though the organization registered an increase of 400 children last Christmas.

“With the state of the economy, all indicators are that our numbers could be up again — substantially,” Kvangnes said.

Despite the tough times, Linda Paz at Matthew House said her program is “blessed.”

“We’re going to hang on and have faith and do what we can,” she said. “That’s what we’re all here for.”

Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.