PORT ANGELES — When Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County launched a pilot program to help its patients, it turned to the Peninsula Home Fund for support.
“The intention was simple: Patients in our care should not have to suffer because of a basic need that could be resolved with a small infusion of funds,” VHOCC Executive Director Priya Jayadev said.
The organization was one of 15 nonprofits to receive a total of $90,000 in grants from Peninsula Home Fund’s 2024 fundraising cycle.
This year, the goal remains the same — to offer Peninsula residents an opportunity to help those in need.
The Peninsula Home Fund is kicking off its 36th year with a fundraising campaign through the holiday season to provide an avenue for neighbors to help one another on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Although it runs throughout the year, a special fundraising campaign is conducted annually from Thanksgiving through January through a partnership with the Olympic View Community Foundation.
Donations, along with the names of the donors — should they elect to have them published — are presented in the Peninsula Daily News throughout the campaign.
“For 36 years, the Home Fund has been a vital resource, offering a ‘hand up, not a handout’ to residents in need across Clallam and Jefferson counties,” said Eran Kennedy, the publisher of the Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. “The fund has assisted countless individuals and families with essential needs.
“The continued generosity of the community and strategic partnerships, like the one with the Olympic View Community Foundation, ensure that the Home Fund can keep making a positive impact for years to come.”
Over the years, the Peninsula Home Fund has raised more than $5.05 million for those in need in Clallam and Jefferson counties. Some donate throughout the year while others provide one donation during the campaign months.
From children’s pennies to checks for thousands of dollars, each donation makes a difference, helping people from Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to Sequim, Port Angeles, Joyce and La Push.
All contributions are fully federally tax-deductible for the year in which the check is written.
Those who wish to donate can mail checks to Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA, 98362, or to Olympic View Community Foundation, P.O. Box 3651, Sequim, WA, 98382.
An online option is available at https://ov-cf.org/peninsula-home-fund-donation.
VHOCC was granted $10,000 from the Home Fund this year to establish its pilot Emergency Fund program in July. It had spent a little more than $8,200 by the end of October and helped 23 hospice/palliative patients, Jayadev said.
“One of VHOCC’s patients had been struggling daily with severe swelling in his legs,” Jayadev said. “His declining condition made movement difficult, and he spent most of his hours sitting in a rigid wooden chair with his feet down. As fluid pooled painfully in his legs, each day became heavier and more uncomfortable than the last.”
His family couldn’t afford to purchase specialized equipment, she said, and when VHOCC nurses visited, they saw a simple fix might be to get him a chair that allowed him to elevate his legs safely and frequently.
“Through the Emergency Basic Needs Fund, VHOCC helped the family purchase a used electric recliner from Habitat for Humanity,” Jayadev said. “It wasn’t shiny or new. But it worked. With the touch of a button that the patient could easily reach and operate himself, he could lift his legs, shift his position and ease the pressure that had been building for weeks.”
The change was almost immediate, Jayadev said.
“After just one day in the recliner, the swelling in his legs dropped by half,” she said. “After two days, it was mostly resolved.”
In addition, six patients were helped with accessing medications or medical supplies, two used funds for rent assistance, four needed help with food for supplemental access support, two were helped with funeral costs, six with specialty care and three received funding for home maintenance, Jayadev said.
VHOCC helped to purchase a heated blanket for someone who needed it. It also stepped in to help cover the costs for repair when the electricity in a patient’s garage wasn’t working, she added.
“We can do this because we get grants like this,” Jayadev said. “We can do this because we get support from our community.
“When we can offer something like this, where it’s supplemental and makes the family (breathe a sigh of relief), it’s huge. It’s incredible.”
VHOCC plans to allocate its remaining funds this year in collaboration with the Port Angeles Food Bank (PAFB) to purchase Comfort Cafe meals at a reduced price point, Jayadev said.
“These prepared, packaged meals will be available for VHOCC nurses to take to patient homes as they identify need,” she wrote in the grant report for the Peninsula Home Fund.
“It is anticipated that the purchased meals will serve an additional 20 to 30 patients. Since each purchased meal supports PAFB operations, the impact of the funds is further multiplied.”
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Editor Brian McLean can be reached by email at brian.mclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
