MCF Makes $1 Million in Safety-Net Grants

October 25, 2011

contact: Fred Silverman (415.464.2527 or via email)

To help Marin residents meet basic needs during a time of declining public funding and increasing personal challenges, the Marin Community Foundation (MCF) is making $1 million in grants to provide food, shelter, and childcare services.

According to Foundation President and CEO Dr. Thomas Peters, “Safety-net programs are absolutely essential to help families get through these difficult times. Nothing is more urgent than keeping people fed and sheltered, and having children in safe, nurturing childcare programs.”

MCF is making four grants of $250,000 each: to the newly merged San Francisco and Marin Food Banks, the network of churches and synagogues providing emergency winter shelter in Marin County, Homeward Bound of Marin, and a network of childcare providers in the county.

The grant to the food bank will help it meet the growing need for food by Marin residents, given growth in unemployment and the number of low-income residents in the county, said Peters.

“The amount of food distributed in Marin since the start of the recession has more than doubled,” said San Francisco Food Bank’s executive director, Paul Ash. “By the end of this year, we’ll distribute more than five million pounds of food in Marin to at least 20,000 individuals.”

A $250,000 grant to the county’s winter shelter program, run by a coalition of local congregations and synagogues, will enable it to expand its operations by one month, to a total of five months, and to provide a shelter specifically for women.

“For the first time,” said Peters, “the shelters will become a place where people staying there can
be screened for a variety of medical and behavioral conditions. Often, the people using these shelters need treatment, so this will make it much easier for them to see a medical professional while having a safe place to stay.”

“Besides providing shelter, this program offers the simple pleasures of a warm meal or a movie to people who are often forgotten,” said Steven Boyer, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin, which is coordinating this effort.

Another grant, to Homeward Bound of Marin, will allow it to sustain its network of shelter facilities around the county, which provides 199 beds at five locations to homeless families, adults with mental illness, and homeless single adults.

“We’re seeing a far greater number of families and single adults become homeless for the first time in their lives due to the current economic and foreclosure crises,” said Homeward Bound’s executive director, Mary Kay Sweeney. “Our shelters are filled every night, with a waiting list that continues to grow.”

Besides offering emergency shelter, Homeward Bound “provides a place for people and families to regain their footing and work toward stability in their lives,” added Sweeney.

Finally, $250,000 in grants will be made to help subsidize much needed childcare services for families critically in need of help. “Quality childcare is a linchpin of stability for any family,” stated Peters, “and doubly so for families that are struggling.

“The lack of childcare can be critical to a family’s well-being,” he added. “Without quality childcare, the child is not as well prepared to enter kindergarten, a deficit that can have a lasting impact on academic success. Plus, parents may be forced to drop out of school or jeopardize their employment in order to take care of their kids.”

These grants will be made to the Marin Child Care Council, Community Action Marin’s Child Development Program, North Bay Children’s Center, Novato Youth Center, College of Marin’s Child Development Program, City of San Rafael, and the Fairfax/San Anselmo Children’s Center.

“As hard as it may seem to imagine, many of the people seeking these kinds of basic safety-net services were thriving until recently,” said Peters. “It is strong evidence that it doesn’t take much to thrust a family into a state of financial crisis, where suddenly putting food on the table or ensuring a child is in a safe environment becomes a challenging issue in their lives.

“The Foundation wants to play a part in mitigating the circumstances these individuals and families are facing in order to give them both stability and dignity.”