EDITOR’S NOTE: For 27 years, Peninsula Daily News readers in Jefferson and Clallam counties have supported the “hand up, not a handout” Peninsula Home Fund.
Today, we feature the first in a series of articles on how the fund operates and who benefits from our readers’ generosity.
To donate online by credit card, click on https://secure.peninsuladailynews.com/homefund.
PORT ANGELES — Taren Christenson had injured her ankle in an accident so severely she was unable to work.
A waitress, she had already been struggling to make ends meet.
Soon, without a paycheck, she was down to her last few dollars — and faced eviction from her modest apartment.
Worried she’d be out on the streets and homeless, she talked to a neighbor who suggested going “to OlyCAP to see if there was any way they could help.”
OlyCAP — Olympic Community Action Programs — is the No. 1 emergency-care agency on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Among its many responsibilities, it manages the Peninsula Daily News’ Peninsula Home Fund, screening the applicants, carefully disbursing the funds and providing life-changing counseling and services to those who need a “hand up, not a handout.”
For 27 years, the Home Fund has demonstrated how even a seemingly modest sum of money can temporarily relieve or vastly improve the lives of our neighbors and get them through a seemingly insurmountable crisis or setback.
After sitting down with a case manager to discuss her situation, the Peninsula Home Fund was tapped for $99 to pay past-due utilities and another $159.73 to meet the balance needed for her rent.
“I’m so grateful,” said Taren, 35, who was soon back on her feet and at work.
“It was a scary position to be in, so it was really, really a blessing for me to have the community’s help.”
Before, she said, she didn’t realize the importance of OlyCAP or the Home Fund, nor what a “wonderful, supportive community Port Angeles is.”
Originally from Montana, she had moved to Port Angeles after a painful divorce in 2008.
She was one step away from homelessness. How she had been helped brought out “my own community spirit and desire to help others,” she said.
As a waitress, she receives one free meal per shift, which, she says, she likes to take home to enjoy.
Now, when she sees someone homeless, “I stop and give it to him, because I know what it’s like to be down and out.”
The Peninsula Home Fund — a safety net for local residents when there is nowhere else to turn — is seeking contributions for its annual holiday season fundraising campaign.
From Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to Sequim and LaPush, the Home Fund is a “hand up, not a handout” for children, teens, families and the elderly to get through an emergency situation.
Money from the Home Fund is used for hot meals for seniors in Jefferson and Clallam counties; warm winter coats for kids; keeping the heat on, home repairs, clothing, furniture, food, rent and other essentials for a low-income family; needed prescription drugs; dental work; safe, drug-free temporary housing; eyeglasses — the list goes on and on.
The Home Fund is not a welfare program.
The average amount of help is usually below $100 — this year it has been $62.04 per person — with a limit of one grant from the fund within 12 months.
But even though the dollar figure is small — some call it “shoestring philanthropy” — the impact can be big, in huge, life-changing ways:
Instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through a crisis like that faced by Taren — and every effort is also made to put them back on the path to self-sufficiency.
Whenever possible, volunteer Home Fund case managers at OlyCAP will work with individuals or families to develop a plan to become financially stable — and avoid a recurrence of the emergency that prompted aid from the fund.
And, as needed, Peninsula Home Fund contributions are often used in conjunction with money from other agencies, enabling OlyCAP to stretch the value of the contribution. The maximum amount the Home Fund provides a needy household is $350 per year.
No money is deducted by the Peninsula Daily News for administration, fees or any other overhead.
Every penny contributed goes to OlyCAP to support our neighbors in need in Jefferson and Clallam counties.
All contributions are IRS tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law for the year in which the check is written.(See accompanying box)
Your personal information is kept confidential.
The PDN does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone or make any other use of it.
Individuals, couples, families, businesses, churches, service organizations and school groups set a record for Home Fund contributions in 2014: $271,981.
With heavy demand again this year, the carefully rationed fund is being depleted rapidly.
Since Jan. 1, the Home Fund has helped more than 2,700 individuals and households, many with children.
As we move into winter, the toughest period of the year, all of the money collected in 2014 is expected to be exhausted by Dec. 31.
To apply for a Peninsula Home Fund grant, contact one of the three OlyCAP offices:
■ Its Port Angeles office is at 228 W. First St., Suite J (Armory Square Mall); 360-452-4726. For Port Angeles and Sequim area residents.
■ Its Port Townsend office is at 823 Commerce Loop; 360-385-2571. For Jefferson County residents.
■ The Forks office is at 421 Fifth Ave.; 360-374-6193. For West End residents.
Leave a message in the voice mail box at any of the three numbers, and a Home Fund caseworker will phone you back.
OlyCAP’s website is www.olycap.org; email is action@olycap.org.
If you have any questions about the fund, phone Terry Ward, PDN publisher, at 360-417-3500 or email tward@peninsuladailynews.com.
