Nonprofits, families feel hard times, not holiday joy

Drop in donations adds to desperation

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by GARY SMITH Louis Knight, the deacon in charge of the food pantry at Potomac Heights Baptist Church and chairman of the Neighbors Eager to Serve food pantry committee, takes stock of the food in the church's pantry that is collected by NETS to feed needy families in western Charles County. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

While many families are scurrying around trying to tie up loose ends before the Christmas holiday arrives, Treva Burton is scrambling to figure out a way to keep a roof over her head and put food on the table.

The 34-year-old Waldorf resident said that her car was repossessed in August, she lost her job in September and she received an eviction notice on her single-family rental home last month. Although she has finally found a part-time job at a local grocery store, Burton said that she and her 12-year-old son are still in dire straits.

"I'm the last person to ask for anything, but if I don't ask for help, we're going to be out on the street," she said.

"My landlord is a nice lady. She's trying her best to help, but she's got bills that have to be paid, too."

Burton said she has contacted several nonprofit agencies to try to obtain some help, but she said that she has been repeatedly told there isn't much they can do because of a lack of funding. The sharp downturn in the economy has left thousands of families to face foreclosures, evictions, utility cutoffs and empty cupboards this season, according to the heads of local nonprofit agencies.

"They're going to put all of my stuff on the street; my son and I won't have a place to live," she said.

"I've called everybody that I know, but they're all doing as badly as I am right now."

Burton is certainly not the only county resident who is facing tough times, said Sandy Washington, executive director of LifeStyles of Maryland in La Plata. The nonprofit agency assists persons who are economically disadvantaged by providing counseling, food and housing services.

"People who have been employed for 15 to 20 years are losing their jobs," she said. "I've never seen anything like this. And, if they're paid minimum wage they're already living paycheck to paycheck. If they lose one paycheck they're out."

Local nonprofit agencies that assist the needy are struggling to make ends meet right now, especially with the holiday season looming just around the corner, Washington said.

"We're getting more requests than we can handle this year," she said, adding that monetary donations are way down. "I thank God that we were able to get through Thanksgiving. People started calling about Christmas even before Thanksgiving. It's rough. People aren't shopping. Folks don't know what is going to happen in their own lives right now."

LifeStyles was able to provide a Thanksgiving meal for more than 2,000 needy people, but trying to keep donated food on the shelves in getting more and more difficult, Washington said.

"Food comes in and goes out so quickly," she said. "People need the basics. They need food. Who would have thought that it would get to this point? People can't even feed their families. It's just really, really rough."

Foreclosures and evictions have skyrocketed during the last year, Washington said.

"Where are these people going to go?" she said. "They come to us as a last resort, and we don't have the money to bail people out of the situations that they found themselves in.

"We keep hearing about these big bailouts," she added. "Who's going to bail these people out? Nonprofits try to help them because when they suffer we suffer, too."

Dorothy Harper, president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Charles County in La Plata, said donations to the organization's capital campaign are a little down so far this year. United Way has 35 partner agencies that assist the county's needy population.

"Everybody is having a tough time," she said. "People call here who need help with mortgage, rent and utilities and we tell them to call places and they tell us that they've already called them. They're out of money."

The Charles County Children's Aid Society in Waldorf is also feeling the pinch, said Maria Bryan, executive director, in an interview last week. The organization struggled to solicit enough toy donations to participate in the annual Christmas Connection program that runs through today, Dec. 17, at the Maryland National Guard Armory in La Plata.

There are 3,000 needy children who were pre-qualified to receive toys from the program, but donations were drastically down, Bryan said, adding that the organization particularly needed new gift items for teen boys and girls 12 to 18 and for infants to 2-year-olds. Christmas connection is still accepting donations today, Dec. 17, at the Armory at 14 W. Hawthorne Drive in La Plata from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In addition to the Christmas Connection program, the organization provides emergency assistance year-round to needy families with children younger than 18, food baskets during the holidays and sponsors a school supply program before the start of each new school year.

Neighbors Eager to Serve, a nonprofit organization established in 2001 by Corrine Pearson to help the needy population in western Charles County, primarily focuses on providing food, shelter and utility services, said Louis Knight, chairman of the group's food pantry committee. The job is getting more and more difficult as the economy worsens, he said.

"We're struggling right now," he said. "We're cutting back on some nonessential things. We're trying to prioritize and focus on food, a place to stay and utilities."

Knight said that the organization was able to provide 157 Thanksgiving dinner baskets to western Charles County's needy population and the plan is to provide 145 Christmas dinners, as well.

The NETS office is open two days a week and often there are more people seeking help than the organization can handle, Knight said, adding that, on average, the nonprofit serves 25 to 30 clients a month.

"The need has increased drastically," he said, adding that churches in the area are very supportive of the organization. "People are coming to see us who ordinarily wouldn't come. They have jobs, but they can't feed themselves and their children and maintain their homes."

The Robert J. Fuller Transitional House for Men in Waldorf and Angel's Watch Regional Shelter for women and children in Hughesville are pretty much always at capacity, Washington said. She works closely with the shelters and the Charles County Department of Social Services to try to house the homeless population, particularly in the winter months.

So far, Angel's Watch is holding its own, said Dora Carter, the shelter's program manager.

"We're doing OK," she said, adding that the recent frigid temperatures have been filling the shelter's 52 beds very quickly. "We're trying to hold our own as much as possible. We're just trying to make it through to the best of our ability."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com