Ojai Valley News Blog

Bennett talks about Ojai’s high unemployment rate, growing need for services

By Nancy Gross
Help of Ojai’s 2009 annual meeting combined efficiency with a warm sense of community, which is what Help is known for.

Dave Neville welcomed members and Jeff Holland, Ojai Presbyterian Church pastor, gave the invocation, offering thanks for “the privilege of serving our neighbors.”

Peggy Russell, who stocked the refreshments table with some of her famously good cookies, succinctly read the minutes from the 2008 annual meeting.

The firm of Soares, Sandall, Bernacchi and Petrovich was brought in to conduct this year’s audit, and Rick Heldwein, senior partner, went over the statements of financial activities, which is equivalent to a balance sheet in a for-profit company, and the statements of activities, which would be the income statement in a for-profit business.

Heldwein clarified the numbers, and addressed the gathering, “Good job to the whole organization. You came out with a positive result this year, which even many for-profits will not be able to say.” He commended the improved accounting practices, and new executive director Terri Wolfe, who has been with Help for nine months, later acknowledged the contribution of the board and the staff who “did some really hard work before I got there. Through controversial times they kept going and making things work, serving the community.”

The positive result does not mean Help of Ojai is without funding needs, by any means, but rather that this fiscal year which commenced in July, began in the black when in prior years it has been in the red. In a phone call Tuesday Wolfe said, “We’re healthy financially, and that is a good time to donate because your money is not going to fix accounting or administrative problems, but rather is able to go directly to services.”

Before Wolfe went over the mission and program update, 1st District Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett gave a presentation. He began by saying, “It’s a pleasure to be back here and to see a healthy Help. Help is one of the strongest and best safety nets in all of Ventura County, and one of the real measures of a civilization is how they take care of those who need help.”

Bennett went on to say, “The economy is in the worst shape since the Great Depression. Our latest figures show that Ojai has a 13.3 percent unemployment rate compared to 11.6 percent in California. In June of 2008, state unemployment was at 7.1 percent.

“There is no quick end to this. An artificially raised standard of living eventually has to drop,” Bennett said, and he continued with concern that as the United States changes economically, the hardship “will not be equally distributed.” He said Help is “a model I hold up over and over again to my fellow supervisors.”

The other statistics Bennett offered are that CalWorks recipients have grown approximately 13.5 percent in the county and the Ojai Valley, food stamps recipients are up 32 percent, which in Ojai translates to a jump from 600 to 900 individuals or households receiving food stamps this year.

In Home Support Services, which is a program that helps pay families and care givers to clean and shop for their elderly and disabled members is up by 11 percent, and active homeless cases are up 30 percent in Ventura County.

SSI has also been reduced on two occasions in the past year, and funding for Alzheimer’s day care centers has been cut by $68,000 in Ventura County.

The theme is one we are becoming familiar with. Local and state government has fewer resources to give out on a per-person basis. Ninety percent of revenue in Ventura County comes from property taxes, and Bennett said, “for the first time, property tax turned down. There is now question that demands are raging while resources are getting tighter and tighter. We want to continue to hold our head high when we say we live in a really civilized Ojai Valley.”

Senior Legislature Sen. Larry Hartmann spoke briefly and said that Ojai is famous at the state level. “Everyone knows of Help of Ojai, and we’re the only senior center that prepares its own food,” a testimony to the small-town heartfelt care Help offers.

Wolfe then presented and said, “We’re in the vortex of what’s going on in the community.” She gave special recognition to Community Assistance Program’s Karen Kaminsky, Jessica Murray and Laurie King.

As far as program numbers, Wolfe said, “We served 8,000 congregated meals, and 15,000 home-delivered meals. In transportation, we gave 7,400 rides. Oak Tree House provided 6,800 hours of care, which is not just care to the seniors, but rest and relief to the care givers at home.”

Wolfe said that the senior programs are alive, well and healthy, but reminded members of the mission of Help as a basic needs organization, stating that Help will continue to fund basic needs over activities when a choice must be made.

In 2008, 51 percent of Help’s budget went to fund senior programs; 34 percent went to income-based programs, and some of the beneficiaries of these programs are also seniors; 15 percent went to administration and development. “2009 was about the same,” Wolfe said.

But because of the “explosion of basic needs” among Ojai residents undergoing struggles in this economy, the budget for 2010 contains “an even distribution of 43 percent senior services to 43 percent income-based services. We were able to drop admin and development by 1 percent.”

Development director Chris Poynter spoke later in the evening saying, “The grant world is the most bleak it has been in my tenure of grant writing.” And both Poynter and Wolfe thanked those present for their generous support, while continuing to remind of the need for contributions. Wolfe said, “Outside Ojai, we’re not a very compelling story. That’s why we keep coming back to Ojai. Our commitment to our donors is that we take care of the Ojai community and the Ojai community funds us. You are our only donor base.”

She clarified that this specificity does not make it harder to get grants or stimulus money that came to Ventura County. “The fact that we serve Ojai is  considered a strong attribute, we’re very focused. It is just a numbers thing, sheer numbers competition for money, because we don’t have the population density.”

The meeting shifted to the focus on the board and the election of new members.

Two board members who are stepping down, Karen Evenden and Terry Twichell, were presented with gifts and got to speak about the way that serving has enriched them. Evenden will be missed for her talents of organizing special events and donor appreciation work, but she intends to continue to volunteer for Help. Twichell was honored for his “countless hours, common sense, knowledge, smile and enthusiasm.”

Other board members are Dave Neville, Peggy Russell, Karen Ghormley, Alan Rains, and the newly elected Tucker Adams, Jeff Holland, Kelly Randall and Katrina Rice Schmidt, who all garnered support from more than 50 percent of those who voted.

Before the voting, Adams spoke about coming into Help through the hospice team, and later doing yoga with the seniors. She feels the activities are very important to the well-being of the populations served by Help of Ojai, as things like the flexibility attained through yoga can aid in preventing injury.

Holland quoted a 90-year-old member of his congregation who told him, “If you do the things you think really matter, you won’t be bothered by worrying about all the things you won’t get done.”

Randall expressed appreciation for “the privilege of serving on the board for two years. I’m still learning the way it goes about doing the business of helping.” He wants to raise the visibility of Help in the community.

Rice Schmidt wants to bring additional energy to the board, and finds it heartwarming to have the safety net of Help in Ojai.