EDITOR’S NOTE — For 21 years, Peninsula Daily News readers in Jefferson and Clallam counties have supported the “hand up, not a handout” Peninsula Home Fund.
Today we feature another in a series of articles on how the fund operates and who benefits from our readers’ generosity.
The next article will appear Sunday with the latest list of donors.
By Tim Hockett
For Peninsula Daily News
CARLSBORG — It’s a scary thought — to have all you own disappear in flames.
But that’s exactly what happened to Michelle Urban, her daughter Gabrielle (known as “Gabby”) and Michelle’s partner, Carl Cook.
“Once we got past the shock and the pain of the loss, the real aggravation set in,” says Carl.
“We had been doing so well.
“We had bought several pieces of new furniture, a new TV, and we had turned the corner financially.”
Michelle continues their story:
“Things were looking up.
“Gabby had moved back in with us and was set up out in the garage and had begun to save money and buy some furniture as well.”
But on July 15, Michelle came out of her bathroom to see the two-bedroom duplex filled with smoke.
She immediately called 9-1-1 and went out of the house as she called for her animals — two dogs and three cats.
As she stood outside, she saw flames appear above the garage.
“The fire department arrived very quickly,” she recalls, “and were able to save the dogs and one cat, but we lost two cats to the fire along with everything we owned.”
Carl, who had been across town, arrived, and together they watched their Carlsborg home reduced to charcoal.
Gabby was safe. She was away at work.
“We received immediate help from the local Red Cross,” Michelle says.
“We only had the clothes on our backs and no other provisions.
“Thankfully, Carl’s dad had just left on vacation, and we were to house-sit while he was away.”
The couple moved in with Carl’s parents. But there was no room in the house for Gabby.
She lived outside, in a tent. She handled it well.
It was summer, and “I thought I’d make the most of the good weather,” she explains. “And I never missed a day of work” at a restaurant in Sequim.
The Red Cross assistance (about $300) didn’t last very long.
“We had received some energy assistance a few years ago from OlyCAP and went in to see if we could get some help,” says Michelle.
Michelle came in to the Port Angeles office of OlyCAP, was interviewed and received a voucher from the Peninsula Daily News’ Peninsula Home Fund to help purchase some much-needed household supplies.
OlyCAP is nonprofit Olympic Community Action Programs, the No. 1 emergency care agency in Jefferson and Clallam counties.
It also screens the applicants for the “hand up, not a handout” Peninsula Home Fund and distributes the funds.
A portion of the Peninsula Home Fund is set aside as a disaster relief fund and was available to the family.
“But OlyCAP didn’t stop there,” continues Michelle.
“When they heard that Gabby was living in a tent and was looking for an apartment, they had some furniture sent over from their thrift shop so she could have a good start.”
Betty Barnard, emergency services volunteer for OlyCAP, had put in a call to the OlyCAP Thrift Shoppe in Port Hadlock.
They trucked over a couch, a chair and a bed for Gabby.
OlyCAP also provided some bus passes so that Gabby had transportation to and from her job.
“I love this area,” says Michelle, who is originally from Wisconsin.
“It’s safe; people wave. And they pull together to help their neighbors when they need to.”
Carl agrees.
“And a community fund put together to help people is great,” he says.
The couple is still living with Carl’s parents while Gabby is living on her own in an apartment with a friend.
Soon the reconstruction of the duplex will be completed, and Michelle and Carl will return to what they hope will be a normal life.
They extend their thanks to all who have helped them — Red Cross, OlyCAP and, especially, the donors to the Peninsula Home Fund.
The Peninsula Home Fund provides a unique lifeline on the North Olympic Peninsula.
All the money collected for the Home Fund goes — without any deductions — for hot meals for seniors, warm winter coats for kids, home repairs for the low income, needed eyeglasses and prescription drugs, dental work, safe, drug-free temporary housing . . .
The list goes on and on.
From Jan. 1 through Nov. 23 this year, the Home Fund had helped more than 1,800 families — about 180 households every month — in Jefferson and Clallam counties.
On that list are Michelle and Gabby Urban and Carl Cook.
No administrative deductions
From Thanksgiving through Dec. 31, the PDN’s Peninsula Home Fund — a safety net for residents in Jefferson and Clallam counties when there is nowhere else to turn — is seeking contributions for its annual holiday season fund-raising campaign.
From Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to LaPush, it’s a “hand up, not a handout” for children, teens, families and the elderly.
• No money is deducted for administration or other overhead.
Your entire donation — 100 percent, every penny — goes to help those who are facing times of crisis.
• All contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
• Your personal information is kept confidential.
Peninsula Daily News does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone, or make any other use of the information.
• Instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through the crisis — and every effort is made to put them back on the path to self-sufficiency.
That’s the “hand up, not a handout” focus of the fund.
In many instances, Peninsula Home Fund case managers at OlyCAP 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.
• Begun in 1989, the fund is supported entirely by Jefferson and Clallam residents.
Individuals, couples, businesses, churches, service organizations and school groups set a record for contributions in 2009 — $230,806.95.
With heavy demand this year, the carefully rationed fund is being rapidly depleted.
All the money collected in 2009 is expected to be spent before Dec. 31.
• Peninsula Home Fund contributions are often used in conjunction with money from other agencies, enabling OlyCAP to stretch the value of the contribution.
• Money is usually distributed in small amounts, usually up to $150.
• Assistance is limited to one time in a 12-month period.
Applying for a grant
To apply for a grant from the fund, phone OlyCAP at 360-452-4726 (Clallam County) or 360-385-2571 (Jefferson County).
If you have any questions about the fund, contact John Brewer, Peninsula Daily News editor and publisher, at 360-417-3500.
Or e-mail him at john.brewer@peninsuladaily news.com.
Peninsula Daily News publishes stories every Sunday and Wednesday during the fund-raising campaign listing contributors and reporting on how the fund works.