With six groups gone in the past two years, Gilroy’s remaining
social service agencies do their best to pick up the slack left
behind
Gilroy – The American Red Cross : Gone.
The St. Vincent DePaul Community Closet: Closed.
The American Lung Association: Moved.
There is a pattern forming in South Valley and the results are not pretty. In the wake of budget cuts and reduced federal and county funding, six sinking nonprofit agencies in Gilroy have packed their bags in the past two years and headed for higher ground, leaving the remaining social service agencies feeling the pinch.
“They have budget cuts and they can no longer afford to keep the outposts,” said Dina Campeau, chairperson for the South County Collaborative. “And what that does is that puts enormous pressure on agencies here … Six is a lot (to lose) because we don’t have a lot of services in South County to begin with.”
Other local agencies that recently left Gilroy include the Center for Living and Dying, Economic and Social Opportunities and the Mujeres Pueden, Campeau said.
Among the six agencies, Gilroy loses grief counseling, crisis intervention, employment assistance, disaster training and relief, clothing, housing and rehabilitation services.
“We no longer have any place to send people for furniture and household goods … We don’t have any drug treatment for youth here,” Campeau said. “People don’t realize is the costs go up every year for nonprofits and the grants do not increase accordingly. If more (nonprofits) pack up and leave, people will notice. The ones that have left are not the ones that are foremost in people’s conscious.”
One local nonprofit that has directly been impacted is St. Joseph’s Family Center.
Faced with a high number of homeless and single parent households, as well as a community with a high unemployment rate, the center has received an increase in requests for rent and facilities assistance.
“There’s been some added pressure for us,” said executive director David Cox. “While they were doing similar services it’s simply fallen on our shoulders … There’s just a hodgepodge of needs down here.”
The agency has tried to take on overflow from Morgan Hill as well, but cannot afford to help all the time.
“We’re having to pull back the reins,” Cox said.
Rising PG&E costs have forced many families to contact St. Joseph’s in search of some relief.
“That’s really a hard blow for a lot of low-income families,” he said.
After the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, people have been going through what is known in the nonprofit world as “donor fatigue,” he said. “We’re kind of feeling a little of that right now.”
Donation fatigue is tough for a nonprofit whose operations are funded by a split between community donations and grants.
“We have our hand in just about every possible corner or pot you can,” he said.
According to Cox, many nonprofits that depend primarily on federal funding will need to form relationships similar to the South County Collaborative in order to better voice their needs.
The American Lung Association was forced to move to a smaller location and reduce staffing at their Gilroy office, reducing services to appointments only. However, the agency announced Wednesday that they will no longer be affiliated with the national organization. They will now be called Breathe California, said executive director Margo Sidener. Breathe California will focus on expanding its services to the South County.
The Red Cross is hoping it too, can revive services in Gilroy, but doesn’t have a return date on the horizon.
“Our chapter has been in the red for a number of years,” said Cynthia Shaw, director of marketing and communications. “Once funding stabilizes, one of our goals is to get that back on track … A lot of donations went to the hurricanes so that doesn’t help us at the local level.”
While the nonprofit still provides disaster relief to Gilroy individuals, the victims have to go to the San Jose office to get that help.
And for some, finding transportation outside Gilroy to receive services may be a problem.
According to Cecilia Clark, a spokesperson for Community Solutions, the recent closings have not directly impacted the social services group, but they made it difficult for them to refer patients to outside agencies.
“Our clients are a lot of times limited by transportation,” she said.
After St. Vincent DePaul’s Community Closet and St. Catherine’s Closet closed, the Goodwill Store remains its only option for referring clients for clothing.
Community Solutions officials received numerous phone calls asking where they could go to pick up and drop off garments.
“Sometimes the Goodwill Store is even out of reach for some of our economically challenged clients,” Clark said.
