A PORT LUDLOW FAMILY received money to buy gasoline to go to medical appointments and pay the heating bill after the bread-winner suffered a stroke.
A $50 voucher for food and school supplies was enough to tide over a recent transplant to Port Townsend and his daughter before he found a job.
A new mother received the money she needed to pay the utility deposit and move into an apartment.
A Forks family got a voucher for winter boots and jackets for the children and work clothes for a new job.
A Port Angeles woman who had lost her job got help paying her rent and electric bill and, she said, found out she wasn’t alone.
Using a record-breaking $271,981 in 2014, more than 2,700 individuals and households in Jefferson and Clallam counties have received help so far this year from the Peninsula Daily News’ “hand up, not a handout” Peninsula Home Fund.
From today to New Year’s Eve, the Peninsula Home Fund — a safety net for North Olympic Peninsula residents when there is nowhere else to turn — is seeking contributions for its 27th annual holiday fundraising campaign.
Peninsula Daily News will publish stories every Wednesday and Sunday during the campaign listing contributors and reporting on how the fund works.
Peninsula Home Fund is a unique nonprofit program:
■ No money is deducted by the Peninsula Daily News for administration fees or any other overhead.
Every penny goes to OlyCAP — nonprofit Olympic Community Action Programs — the No. 1 emergency-care agency on the Peninsula.
The money goes to help the most vulnerable members of our community, from infants to families to seniors.
Please note: Because of heavy community demands, the loss of grants because of the economy and recent cuts in government funding, OlyCAP beginning in 2012 was permitted to use 10 percent — 10 cents of every dollar donated — to pay for the vital programs and services for Home Fund clients. (Previously there were no deductions.)
OlyCAP has kept it in the area of 8 percent to 10 percent, a fraction of the average overhead of other nonprofits.
■ The Home Fund is not a welfare program.
Money is used to give families and individuals from Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to Sequim, Joyce and LaPush “a hand up, not a handout” to get through an emergency situation.
Assistance, which usually averages less than $100, is limited to one time in a 12-month period.
The average amount of help this year has been $62.04 per person.
Money from the fund is used for hot meals for seniors in Jefferson and Clallam counties; warm winter coats for kids; home repairs for a low-income family; needed prescription drugs; dental work; safe, drug-free temporary housing; eyeglasses — the list goes on and on.
All instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through a crisis — and back on the path to self-sufficiency.
Home Fund case managers often 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.
As needed, 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 contribution.
The goal again: “a hand up, not a handout.”
■ All contributions are IRS tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law for the year in which the check is written.
Your personal information is kept confidential.
PDN does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone or make any other use of it.
Since its beginning in 1989, the fund has relied on the support of Jefferson and Clallam residents.
Individuals, couples, businesses, churches, organizations and school groups set a new record for contributions in 2014 — $271,981 — smashing the old record of $268,389 set Dec. 31, 2013.
As Sept. 30, $168,364 has been spent for Home Fund grants.
And as we move into winter, the toughest period of the year, all of the remaining money — $119,000 — is expected to be spent before Dec. 31.
How to apply
To apply for a Peninsula Home Fund grant, contact one of the three OlyCAP offices:
■ OlyCAP’s Port Angeles office is at 228 W. First St., Suite J (Armory Square Mall); 360-452-4726. For Port Angeles and Sequim area residents.
■ Its Port Townsend office is at 823 Commerce Loop; 360-385-2571. For Jefferson County residents.
■ The Forks office is at 421 Fifth Ave.; 360-374-6193. For West End residents.
Leave a message in the voice mail box at any of the three numbers, and a Home Fund caseworker will phone you back.
OlyCAP’s website: www.olycap.org; email: action@olycap.org.
Dale Wilson, OlyCAP’s executive director, oversees disbursements from the Peninsula Home Fund.
How to donate
To donate, write a check to “Peninsula Home Fund” and attach it to the coupon that appears in today’s PDN.
Mail both items to Peninsula Home Fund, Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
You can also contribute online using a credit card:
Just click on https://secure.peninsuladailynews.com/homefund/
If you have any questions about the fund, phone Terry Ward, PDN publisher, at 360-417-3500.
