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
