EDITOR’s NOTE: This is another in a series of articles on the Peninsula Home Fund. Please print out a coupon by clicking on the Home Fund button at left.
Peninsula Home Fund was there to help Natalie McCulley after “all these things kept happening.”
McCulley, 29, has thyroid cancer, totaled her car on Thanksgiving Day, needs physical therapy — and is a single mother struggling to provide the best for her three children.
“If it wasn’t for my kids and the strength they give me, I don’t know what I would do,” she says.
“With all this happening, they are suffering and trying to take care of me — they should just be kids and not have to worry.”
Peninsula Home Fund is a safety net for people like McCulley and her children when they face emergency situations — and can’t find help elsewhere.
Also, 100 percent of the dollars donated go directly to assist those in need in Jefferson and Clallam counties.
Simply, the more you give, the more people will be helped. All contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
From Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to LaPush, Peninsula Home Fund is a helping hand for children, teens, families and the elderly.
Every dollar goes — without any deductions for costs — for hot meals for seniors, warm winter coats for kids, home repairs for the low income, needed prescription drugs, dental work, safe, drug-free temporary housing, eyeglasses — the list goes on and on.
All year long
The money makes a difference all year long, but the emphasis is on making sure no one falls through the cracks during the most demanding time of the year — winter.
Contributions from individuals, couples, businesses and school groups to Peninsula Home Fund have increased every year, last year raising $63,777.
Almost all of the money raised from our community in 2001 has been distributed — more than 700 families and individuals were helped.
So far this holiday season, $40,980 has been contributed.
Among the donations last week was $1,000 from the Clallam Transit Employee Association (See photo, page C2).
Peninsula Daily News employees raised $1,431 through a silent auction at their annual Christmas party.
Although donations can be made at any time, the holiday fund-raising period ends midnight Dec. 31.
Needed moving money
McCulley had returned to the Port Angeles area, a place she called home during the last 10 years, to stay with friends after she could not find affordable housing in Ocean Shores for herself and two of her children, Andrew, 12 and Sarra, 8.
McCulley’s youngest child, Aimee, 5, lives with her father and grandparents in Sequim.
McCulley left behind a stable job hoping to find another in Port Angeles or Sequim, but could not find one that pays enough to support the family.
McCulley’s former boss in Ocean Shores contacted her after finding a home she could afford and offered to give her job back if she could start by Dec. 30.
But McCulley didn’t have the money to move back.
Home Fund grant
A friend suggested contacting OlyCAP — Olympic Community Action Programs.
After an interview and screening, OlyCAP awarded her a $150 grant from the Peninsula Home Fund.
“If it were not for the Home Fund I wouldn’t be able to be able to move back to the only job I can find, and my kids would suffer,” she said.
Says Tim Hockett, deputy director of OlyCAP:
“We found the best way to stabilize her situation was for her to take the housing and job offered in Ocean Shores. So we are helping her relocate.”
Says McCulley: “There are people worse off than me that need the Home Fund, and I am grateful that it is here for us.
“I just have to wake up each day and keep going. My kids need me.”
McCulley and her children also received a surprise from Pastor Kerry Haynes of Faith Community Church and others in Ocean Shores.
When he heard about the family’s situation, Haynes and other members of the church bought Christmas gifts and groceries for the family.
The Ocean Shores Fire Department provided Wal-Mart gift certificate and a turkey for Christmas dinner.
No deductions
Now in its 14th year, the fund is managed for the Peninsula Daily News by OlyCAP, No. 1 emergency care agency on the North Olympic Peninsula.
* No money is diverted for administration or other overhead. All costs are absorbed by the Peninsula Daily News and OlyCAP.
* Your personal information is kept confidential. The Peninsula Daily News does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone, or make any other use of it.
* Money is commonly distributed from the Peninsula Home Fund in small amounts, usually up to $100.
* Assistance is limited to one time in a 12-month period.
Peninsula Home Fund contributions are often used in conjunction with money from churches, service clubs and other donors, enabling OlyCAP to stretch the value of the contributions.
To apply for a grant from the fund, phone OlyCAP at 360-452-4726 (Clallam County) or 360-385-2571 (Jefferson County). There are offices in Port Townsend, Port Angeles and Forks.
If you have any questions about the fund, contact John Brewer, Peninsula Daily News editor and publisher, at 360-417-3500, or e-mail john.brewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
How to donate
A gift of any size is welcome.
Peninsula Home Fund has never been a campaign of heavy hitters.
Every gift will make a difference in somebody’s life.
Please use the coupon generated by clicking on the button at the upper left.
Again, all contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
You will receive a written thank you and acknowledgment of your contribution; again, your address and all personal information are kept private.
The Peninsula Daily News publishes news stories every Wednesday and Sunday during this year’s campaign listing contributors and reporting on how the fund works.
New contributions
The following are contributions received between Dec. 18 and Dec. 20 — thank you very much for making a difference in the lives — and futures — of your neighbors:
* Clallam Transit Employee Association, Port Angeles, $1,000.
* Park View Villas Resident Council, Port Angeles, $200.
* John and Julie Kochanek, Port Angeles, $50, in loving memory of Audrey and Lemont Colvin.
* W.I.S.H. (Women into Scandinavian Heritage), Port Angeles, $100.
* Lee and Helen Baldwin, Sequim, $100, in honor of all military veterans.
* Richard and Judy Owen, Port Angeles, $100.
* Gerald and Arlene Weed, Sequim, $50.
* Peninsula Daily News employees, $1,431 ($34 in memory of Jim Roddick).
Donors who requested anonymity:
* Portage, Mich., $50, in memory of Irene Gugin.
* Sequim, $2,000.
* Port Angeles, $100, in memory of our parents.
* Brinnon, $25.
* Brinnon, $25.
* Port Angeles, $113, in memory of Beverly Jean Rice: “Gone, but not forgotten.”
* Port Angeles, $113, in memory of Paul Jay Raber: “Gone, but not forgotten.”
* Port Townsend, $50.
* Port Angeles, $50, in honor of The Spirit of Christmas.
* Forks, $50.
* Port Angeles, $100, in memory of my mother and father, five brothers and seven sisters.
* Sequim, $100.
* Sequim, $50.
* Sequim, $25.
* Port Angeles, $100.
* Port Angeles, $25.
* Sequim, $450.
* Sequim, $50.
* Sequim, $50.
* Sequim, $25.
* Port Angeles, $100.
* Sequim, $50.
* Forks, $25.
* Sequim, $50.
* Port Angeles, $25.
* Sequim, $100.
* Port Angeles, $100.
* Sequim, $50.
* Port Angeles, $10.
* Sequim, $100.
* Sequim, $20.
* Port Angeles, $60.
* Port Angeles, $100.
* Sequim, $25.
* *The Toggery, Port Angeles.
* *Willa Jeanne Hall, Sequim (with form for Pitney Bowes matching gift program).
* *Pat Sanders, no city given.
* *W.C. and Lora Harvey, Port Townsend, in memory of Fergie.
* *Ken and Marilyn Jacobson, Port Angeles, in memory of Mons and Nadene Botnen.
* *Phyllis and Ed Hopfner, Port Angeles.
* *Dale and Kathryn Hofer, Port Angeles.
* *Robert Scheuerman, Sequim, in memory of Al and Ingrid Niemela.
* *Rudy and April Hiener, Port Angeles, in memory of Ken and Charlotte Bradford.
* *Sam and Penny Naki, Port Angeles, in memory of Fred Hertzog.
* *Robert and Ruth Worley, Port Angeles.
* *Tommy and Cleone White, Port Angeles, in memory of our son, Bill Jefferson.
* *McElroy grandkids, Port Angeles, in memory of Grandpa Jack.
* *Mary and Chris James, Port Angeles, in memory of Louise and Janet Spawn.
* *Steve and Juanita Chamberlain, Port Angeles.
* *Margaret Nora Porter, Port Townsend.
* *Dick and Marlyce Jacobs, Sequim.
* *Joe and Cheryl Winney, Port Angeles.
* *Carol Ann Novak, Port Angeles, in memory of Kenneth R. Novak.
* *Carol Lee and Robin Moses, Carlsborg.
* *Gunnar and Frances Fagerlund, Sequim.
* *Richard Serkes, Sequim, in memory of Sammi and Snuggles.
* *John and Harriet Salathe, Sequim.
* *Kent Shellenberger and Marsha Melnick, Sequim, in honor of our parents.
* *Kemp, Cheri and Kali Curtis, Sequim, in memory of Nina Curtis.
* *Sharon Hollatz, Port Angeles.
* *Dr. and Mrs. Dale Burke, Sequim.
* *Sam and Martha Baker, Port Angeles.
* *Eugene and Lois Larsen, Port Angeles.
* *Ken and Marion Olson, Port Hadlock, in memory of Gertrude McMillen.
* *Frances Chavis, Port Angeles, in memory of Anna and Pauline Smith.
* *Doug and Marline Atterbury, Port Angeles.
*=Denotes amount of donation is private.