Jefferson commissioners to help OlyCAP with Community Development Block Grant

Dale Wilson

Dale Wilson

PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County commissioners have voted unanimously to again help Olympic Community Action Programs receive and administer a Community Development Block Grant from the state Department of Commerce.

The 2018-19 grant available is $103,958, with Jefferson County receiving $3,500 for administration costs. The money is designated for community action in Jefferson and Clallam counties.

According to Executive Director Dale Wilson, 82 percent of funding for Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP) comes from state and federal resources. The remainder comes from private donations and a few donation grants. Its annual budget is $7.3 million.

“This grant is important because it is not designated,” Wilson said at Monday’s commissioners meeting. “Other grants are very prescriptive. We treat the CDBG as a global fund. We have a broad brush to do some new things. If we want to work with certain partners to do an initiative or backfill some of the grants that do important work, we are not restricted.”

Wilson said that this is the starting point to submit the annual application for the CDBG. He provided the commissioners with a report that detailed the programs and services OlyCap provided for both Jefferson and Clallam counties last year.

He reported that in October, OlyCAP adopted a new data recording system that makes it much easier to parse out information and provide more accurate reports of those served.

According to the numbers presented, 7,500 individuals in both counties were OlyCAP clients. Of those, 42 percent were from Jefferson County.

Wilson said that single people make up 59 percent of those served. There are sightly more females than males, and 93 percent are white. They have a household income that is 50 percent of area median income. For a family of two, that’s $25,000, with 31 percent of those having social security as a main source of income.

“We are privileged to provide the early childhood services Head Start, Early Head Start, Early Childhood Education and Assistance program [ECEAP] to 505 children,” Wilson said.

“Classrooms are located in Grant Street Elementary Port Townsend and in the Chimacum Elementary School. We’re hoping that we can bring those services to Quilcene and Brinnon.”

Emergency Services includes rental assistance, which is money that goes directly to a landlord to pay the rent. Housing support pays for a deposit or a background check.

Wilson said that OlyCAP was the first agency on the Peninsula to offer in-home care and they continue to offer that service.

Wilson said 33,558 meals were home delivered and served as part of the Senior Nutrition program.

“We take a hard look at our nutrition programs and how they are operating,” he said. “We need to modernize and update them. We’re talking to private vendors, restaurants, cafeterias and hospitals on how we can give people options.

The Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) served about 1,500 last year.

“Jefferson County Public Utilities District [PUD] wants to expand [its] low income program and we just need to get those who are eligible signed up. Everyone who is on LIHEAP now is automatically eligible for PUD assistance,” Wilson said.

“The quietest OlyCAP program is our retired senior volunteer program,” he added. “A whole cadre of folks put in about 60,000 hours of volunteer time at the Food Bank, Marine Science Center and more.”

Commissioner David Sullivan represents Jefferson County on the OlyCAP board and was complimentary to Wilson and his staff for all of the good work they do.

“We made a profit the last few years, if you want to say that. It’s a nonprofit, but it’s good to be in the black.”

________

Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Jeannie McMacken can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jmcmacken@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Tim Morland, front, and Rich Lear of Tualatin, Ore.-based Field Turf USA add fill to the playing surface at the new Monroe Athletic Field on Tuesday at the site of the former Monroe School near Roosevelt Elementary School in Port Angeles. The synthetic turf field, which is expected to be completed by mid-autumn, is being developed by the Port Angeles School District and will be available for community athletic events. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Monroe field prep

Tim Morland, front, and Rich Lear of Tualatin, Ore.-based Field Turf USA… Continue reading

Petitions developed by local citizens seek to keep the “new” Towne Road unpaved and open to hikers and walkers. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Public comment sought about Sequim’s Towne Road future

Meeting for residents scheduled for Tuesday

Eran Kennedy.
Sound regional publisher stresses local connections

Partnerships offer lifeline despite struggling industry

A crew from Port Townsend Public Works watches as a backhoe removes water-logged timber from a sinkhole on Kearney Street outside the Food Co-op on Tuesday at the start of construction of a traffic circle at the intersection of state Highway 20/East Sims Way and Kearney Street in Port Townsend. Traffic heading eastbound toward Port Townsend will detour at Benedict Street and turn left on Washington Street to return to Highway 20/East Sims Way. Traffic going westbound away from Port Townsend will turn right at Kearney Street and left onto Jefferson Street to continue on Highway 20. The detour configuration will last about four weeks, according to the state Department of Transportation. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Roundabout construction

A crew from Port Townsend Public Works watches as a backhoe removes… Continue reading

Members of the Bagley family of Forsyth, Ill., from left, parents Jessica and Cameron Bagley, and children Cody, 10, Addie, 12, and C.J., 7, look at an information kiosk on the Olympic National Park wildfires on Tuesday in front of the park visitor center in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Blazes spread in center of Olympic National Park

Large helicopters requested to keep fires at bay

Wreck shuts down US 101 south of Brinnon for five hours

A semitrailer driver accused of falling asleep at the wheel… Continue reading

Peninsula College sophomores Ian Coughran, left, and Ciera Skelly were two of seven students participating in the inaugural Pathway Summer School at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory this summer that focused on education and career development in STEM fields. Both Coughran and Skelly plan to pursue degrees in environmental science. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
Internship through college presents career pathways

Students part of inaugural class at Sequim laboratory

Bathrooms possible at Ridge in November

Utility project may allow winter access

Most Read