Lewis County Opportunities, Inc.  •  8265 State Route 812  •  Lowville, NY  13367
Telephone:  315-376-8202  •  Fax:  315-376-8421  •  Location and Business Hours  •   Contact Us

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Welcome to Lewis County Opportunities

 

- by Scott Mathys, Chief Executive Officer

picture of Scott Mathys, CEO

Meeting Needs in 2012 - Our Agency Annual Report
by Scott Mathys, Chief Executive Officer

Lewis County Opportunities is a Community Action Agency dedicated to respectfully supporting low income families and providing compassionate assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. We have been helping the community for the past 47 years.

Being rural and agricultural in nature, Lewis County is a community with unique strengths and needs. What really is a "need" anyway? I'll answer this by looking at Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The very most basic human needs are classified as "physiological" and include food, shelter, and warmth. We target this base layer with programs aimed at hunger, housing, and energy efficiency. The next level of this hierarchy is "safety" and includes security, stability, and freedom from fear. We target this need through our domestic violence and sexual assault program, as well as our car seat program. These basic human needs are at the forefront of our mission. It's as simple and complex as that. We're privileged to be able to help meet some of the needs of this community. We try to do so by operating diverse programs which are designed to be a hand-up instead of a hand-out. The following summary of 2012 should elicit some concern; as these faceless statistics are in fact representative of struggling individuals and families. These are our neighbors and friends.

Food is the first of Maslow's physiological needs. It's an essential need that many of us take for granted. Some families are not so fortunate. The pantry network (which includes pantries in Copenhagen, Croghan, Harrisville, New Bremen, and Port Leyden) served over 5,000 individuals in 2012. That's the equivalent of over 69,000 meals. The fact people struggle with food is disturbing. Please continue to support your local food pantries! In 2012 the New Bremen food pantry started a small garden. Produce from the garden is then used in the pantry. Farmers have donated to the pantries when able.  Other community projects and individual donors have contributed to these efforts as well. Thank you all so much! The Food Bank of Central New York is a great resource to all the food pantries and is backed by a matching grant from the Northern New York Community Foundation. Without them, we wouldn't be able maintain this much-needed service.

Shelter is also one of the bottom level basic needs. "Affordable housing" is a misnomer for many families. Even having any type of shelter is a problem for many people who are homeless, doubled up, or couch-surfing. To assist this need the agency managed over 1,400 rental vouchers in 2012 (within both Lewis County and Jefferson County). This equates to landlord payment subsidies totaling over $6.8 million. The agency also partnered with Jefferson County DSS to assist 109 participants through Shelter Plus Care, a program designed to provide affordable housing and supportive services for homeless individuals or families who have mental health and/or substance abuse issues. Also in Jefferson County, the agency assisted with the Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program, with 18 current housing vouchers to provide safe, affordable housing for homeless veterans. The agency would like to thank all of those landlords who work with us to create this network of private subsidized housing. Without your commitment, we wouldn't be able to meet this very important need. Looking to the future, we must acknowledge that we have a housing problem to tackle as a community; both in affordable housing and outright homelessness.

Warmth is another one of those bottom level basic needs and can be very expensive in our North Country winters. Our Weatherization program conducts energy audits and improves the energy efficiency of homes. This is done through window or door replacements, adding insulation, tuning furnaces, and other measures. The agency completed 46 units during 2012. Funding has been cut drastically for this program throughout the nation. We will be continuing to do the best we can with limited future dollars. In contrast to warmth, the heat during the summer can be very difficult on people with medical conditions exasperated by the heat. The Weatherization program completed 18 units in 2012 under the Cooling Initiative.

Safety: After the physiological needs are met, safety is the next human need on Maslow's hierarchy. To meet this need, the agency has a licensed domestic violence and sexual assault program. This is a vital service to our community. In 2012 the agency provided 254 protected nights at the safe dwelling to 11 adults and 16 children, coordinated 6,649 hours of coverage for the 24 hour hotline, performed 831 counseling services, and provided numerous outreach activities for the community. The program operates a live 24/7 Hotline (376-HELP) which is dependent upon an awesome group of volunteers who we thank very much for their time and commitment. In addition to personal safety, the safety of our children traveling in vehicles is paramount. The agency has 4 certified techs that in 2012 provided local parents with 103 car seats to ensure safe travel for our littlest county residents.

We have plenty of other programs not directly related to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. They are essential to our community's well-being just the same.
Transportation for example, is a major concern for this rural community. We operate multiple programs to meet this need; including self-funding a vehicle loan program, helping with vehicle repairs, assistance with insurance payments, and other services to keep people employed, with the ability to get to and from work. Funds from the United Way of Northern New York have been critical to keeping this program working. United Way also was a partner in a school supply/food drive this past summer which brought in essential supplies for both the local school and local food pantries. We encourage you to learn more about the United Way of Northern New York and  support their annual campaign drive.

Another relatively new agency project is our Opportunity Knocks Thrift Store. This second hand store was a fledgling last year; growing from the generous start-up funds provided by the Northern New York Community Foundation. The store has been evolving ever since. Proceeds from the store are used to further our mission. Success of the Thrift Store comes from a particularly resourceful employee and a solid core of dedicated volunteers.

Speaking of volunteers, the agency is humbled by our great volunteers. Some are the diehard Board members toiling with the big issues; others are staffing hotlines throughout the night; while others are working the Thrift Store and food pantries. In total (drumroll please) our volunteers accounted for over 10,000 hours of service in 2012. To that, we are extremely grateful.

An often silent and overlooked aspect of any nonprofit is the fiscal and governance operations. With an annual budget of $2 million, it can be refreshing to know the agency has a proven track record of diligent spending of our donations and grant revenues. Each year Opportunities has an outside auditor conduct an extensive review of our fiscal procedures, obedience to rules, and overall financial accountability. The agency has once again received a clean financial audit. For a closer look at our most recent audit, you can locate it here. There you will also find a listing of our major funding sources. Those funding sources also have their own monitoring standards and visit the agency regularly. We are proud to announce that those monitoring reports echo the same results of compliance. In addition, the agency received a CORE (Comprehensive Organizational Review and Evaluation) in 2012 from the Department of State. This major review is done every 3 years for Community Action Agencies. All categories were rated as "Stable", "Safe" or "Thriving".

Although 2012 is now frozen in history, the individuals and families represented above are still here and they still need assistance from time to time. Opportunities will continue to be here to try to meet those needs. We will be repeating our Strategic Planning process in 2013 to help ensure that we are striving to meet the changing needs of our community. Our mission is achievable through the hard work of our employees, diligent Board members, dedicated volunteers, and various local partner agencies. In addition, community response is our silent partner; providing encouragement, material and monetary donations, and prayer. Without the combined efforts of everyone, Opportunities wouldn't be able to make such an impact to our neighbors. Thank you!

 ~ Scott    

 

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