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The reason? Fewer dollars have been allocated by Congress, which has resulted in a higher threshold to qualify for poverty aid, including an unemployment rate higher than it is in Thurston County.
In order to get a slice of the $119.7 million, the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program required that jurisdictions have 300 or more unemployed people and more than an 11.5 percent unemployment rate or 14.4 percent rate of poverty, according to FEMA.
Both rates are two percentage points higher than last year’s thresholds. Thurston County unemployment rate in June was 8.5 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nonprofits in Thurston County have received funds for roughly two decades, and since 1998 have been awarded more than $1.6 million, according to data provided by the United Way of Thurston County. Data from the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program’s website shows the last time Thurston County didn’t receive funds was 1997.
Last year, the local Emergency Food and Shelter Program board allocated more than $143,000 to 20 programs to fund everything from mass feedings and shelters to housing assistance and utilities. This year, the local board received $366,375 in requests that will be left unfilled, including proposals from Catholic Community Services, the Housing Authority of Thurston County and several food banks, said board chairwoman Rhodetta Seward.
“I really don’t know how some of these agencies are going to continue to help the homeless,” she said.
One of those agencies is the Thurston County Food Bank, which received $11,300 from FEMA last year to feed the homeless.
Money helped provide weekend meals to about 2,000 elementary schoolchildren who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, many of whom are homeless, said Robert Coit, executive director for the food bank.
Without the federal funds, Coit said he won’t be able to expand the program.
“The need is going through the roof, and that’s the concern when funding goes away,” he said.
Funding to feed the area’s poorest senior citizens will also take a hit.
For about eight years, Senior Services for South Sound has relied on the funding to provide food to extremely low-income seniors who visit the Olympia and Lacey centers or take part in the Meals on Wheels program. Senior Services received $4,600 last year, which paid for about 1,000 meals, said Eileen McKenzie Sullivan, executive director of Senior Services.
“I understand that policy makers have to make the cut somewhere, but it doesn’t make it any easier for a hungry person in our community,” she said. With no FEMA funds this year, McKenzie Sullivan wants to avoid instituting waiting lists, but says the economy makes it harder to raise money and make up the difference.
Another group affected by the funding loss is Haven House, an emergency youth shelter run by Community Youth Services that provides temporary housing for about 300 people each year.
Charles Shelan, chief executive officer of CYS, said the agency has come to rely on the annual funding. The house costs about $700,000 each year to operate, about one-quarter of which isn’t covered by state or federal contracts.
That means the $16,000 received last fiscal year from FEMA was the equivalent of a month’s worth of funding, Shelan said.
He said CYS has a plan to fill the void but that any cutbacks are tricky because there are staff requirements to remain licensed.
“Certainly, the place doesn’t operate in the black as it is,” he said. “This is a tough blow.”
Nate Hulings: 360-754-5476
nhulings@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/outsideoly
