EDITOR’S NOTE: This is another in a series of articles on the Peninsula Home Fund. Click on the HOME FUND link at left to get a printable form to accompany your donation.
BEAVER — Michael Staley is a soft-spoken man who takes a lot of pride in his 12-year-old daughter, Tezara.
“She’s got a concert tonight at school, and I’m going to help set up for it,” he says.
A single parent, Staley has had sole custody of Tezara since she was 5.
“I have to admit it was a little easier when she was 5; life gets more complicated and busy when you’re 12,” he says, laughing.
Staley and his daughter live in a small trailer in Beaver, about 10 miles outside of Forks.
He had been able to provide well for himself and his daughter until an injury propelled him into the ranks of displaced timber workers.
“I was working in a mill and broke my arm so badly that I couldn’t return,” he recalls.
He was forced to ask for help from the state, and the family’s income fell to a subsistence level.
Home Fund helps
Then bureaucracy made it tougher on them.
“Michael was enrolled in a back-to-work program called Community Jobs and got a part-time position on the maintenance crew with the Quillayute Valley School District,” explains his OlyCAP case manager, Cathy Ulin.
“But his other state support stopped two weeks short of his receiving his initial paycheck from his job.”
The two faced eviction from the trailer if Michael couldn’t pay the space rental.
“We used the Peninsula Daily News’ Peninsula Home Fund to help him bridge the gap,” says Ulin.
“Michael was able to pay his bills, retain his trailer and transition into his new position.”
Says Staley: “I was really frustrated and discouraged, but the Home Fund gave me hope.”
Today, Staley is determined to move forward.
“I am trying to get on my feet and get a decent income so that Tezara and I can move into a regular home.
“I love working for the school district. They treat me great, and there is always plenty to do, from grounds maintenance in the summer to building repairs and custodial work all school year.
“My hope is that I will become a regular-status, full-time employee.”
‘Tough circumstances’
Says Dan Wollam, OlyCAP’s executive director:
“Our experience is that the vast majority of our neighbors that need help are willing to work hard to become self-sufficient.
“They have hopes and dreams for their kids and a drive to stand on their own.
“Most have simply fallen into tough circumstances that could happen to any of us.”
To help North Olympic Peninsula people like Staley and his daughter through emergency situations — when they need hand-up, not a hand-out — the Peninsula Home Fund is seeking contributions for its annual holiday-season fund-raising campaign.
Now in its 15th year, the fund is supported entirely by Jefferson and Clallam residents.
It is managed for the Peninsula Daily News by OlyCAP, the No. 1 emergency care agency on the North Olympic Peninsula.
* In the past 12 months, the fund has assisted more than 750 households.
* No money is deducted for administration or other overhead.
* All contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
* No money is diverted for administration or other overhead. All costs are absorbed by the PDN and OlyCAP.
* All instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through the crisis — and back on the path to self-sufficiency.
* Home Fund case managers work with each individual or family to develop a plan to become financially stable — and avoid a recurrence of the emergency that prompted aid from the fund.
Kept confidential
* Donors’ personal information is kept confidential.
The PDN does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone, or make any other use of it.
* Individuals, couples, businesses and school groups set a new record for contributions in 2002 — $67,048. All of that money is expected to be spent by Dec. 31.
* 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 contribution.
* 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.
Through the end of December, the PDN will do stories every Wednesday and Sunday on how the fund operates.