One-hundred percent OF the Peninsula Daily News’ Peninsula Home Fund is used to help people.
Every dollar donated goes to OlyCAP — Olympic Community Action Programs, the No. 1 emergency-care agency on the North Olympic Peninsula — without deductions by the PDN.
But because of the extraordinary demand experienced by OlyCAP — and plummeting cutbacks in grants and government support — for the first time in the history of the Home Fund, OlyCAP used a portion of the fund in 2012 to help pay for vital programs and services that help those in need.
This has continued in 2013 and is limited to 10 cents of every dollar donated. The agency actually has averaged 8.9 percent — just short of 9 cents per dollar.
OlyCAP can no longer absorb the costs of managing all the facets of the Home Fund — screening applicants, providing counseling and carefully disbursing the funds — without financial assistance.
It must tap a small portion of the fund as tough times compound the challenges it faces to help those in need.
The fund is not set up to hand out money passively; through OlyCAP, recipients play active roles in their own success, their own rehabilitation, their own futures.
That’s the “hand up, not a handout” focus of the Home Fund.
It will be detailed in stories every Wednesday and Sunday through Dec. 31 in the Peninsula Daily News.
As we begin our 25th annual fundraising campaign for the Home Fund, we acknowledge not just the challenges OlyCAP faces, but the success it has created thanks to generous PDN readers stepping up to donate.
3 biggest needs
Assistance from the Home Fund usually averages less than $100 and is also limited to one time in a 12-month period.
The average amount of help this year has been $69.86 per person or family.
Often, a one-time grant from the Home Fund is all it takes for recipients to get back on their feet again.
“We continue to see a huge need across the Peninsula, with the three highest needs being in housing, energy and transportation,” says Geoff Crump, OlyCAP executive director.
“Having just completed a community needs assessment across Clallam and Jefferson counties, our data tells us that these areas are indeed where people need the most help; they are their biggest expenses.
“In Jefferson County, for example, 46 percent of households pay more than 30 percent of their household income toward their rent; 39 percent in Clallam pay more than 30 percent of their income toward their rent.”
The Peninsula Home Fund is a powerful source of support for children, families and seniors throughout our North Olympic Peninsula community when there is no place else to turn.
It’s never been more important.
Peninsula Daily News
