HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 03241987 - T.2 I/
TO BJARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: R. E. JORNLIN, DIRECTOR
Social Service Department Contra
March 10, 1987 Costa
DATE'. @ , County
SUBJECT: REPORTS ON ACTIVITIES OF
SOCIAL SERVICE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM Contra Costa County
RFOEIVED
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
MAR 1 .f 1987
I. RECOMMENDATION Office of
GQUn#y Admin StratOr
Receive and accept the attached reports on the 1986 Christmas
activities of the Social Service Department' s Volunteer
Program in West and Central-East district offices. Back-
ground information is provided in the County Welfare
Director' s statement below.
II. FINANCIAL IMPACT
Not applicable.
III. BACKGROUND
You have before you two reports on the Christmas activities
of the Volunteer Program of the Social Service Department for
the year, 1986. .
It is with a great deal of pride and pleasure that I give
this material to you. In summary,
256 Individual Volunteers
146 Groups
helped to deliver nearly $140,000 in donations of gifts and
food which involved 6, 502 individual parents and children.
In addition, the Share-A-Trip program involved 14 groups in
taking over 900 children to activities, such as the
Nutcracker Ballet, the Christmas Carol, and various and
sundry Christmas parties. The value of this program, alone,
totals $12,012 .
These figures are astounding and conjure up visions of
children who ordinarily do not get to participate in many of
the extras that society has to offer, and many times do not
get enough of the basic necessities of life, having a holiday
that they will remember with some joy all of thei 1'ves.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: --L YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOA COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
ACTION OF BOARD ON March 24, 1987 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: _ ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
ORIG: Social Service Dept. (Attn: Contracts)
cc: County Administrator' s Office ATTESTED _
PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD—O,-,,
SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
M382/7-83 By- � DEPUTY
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This would be enough to engender pride and pleasure, but there
is more: The other side of this story involves the donors--the
myriad of organizations, groups, and individuals who donated
the gifts, food, and money that made it all happen.
These were people from churches, PTA' s, banks, and businesses
of all sorts; government employees; seniors living on limited
incomes; civic organizations; and even kids with small piggy
banks--all trying to bring the spirit of Christmas into homes
that otherwise would have had to do without. Geographically,
politically, economically, culturally, and ethnically, it
reflects a vast group of people who feel they can, and want to,
make a difference.
At a time when experts bemoan the loss of community, the Social
Service Department, through its Volunteer efforts, is reaching
out to people in a way that not only preserves a feeling of
community, but allows this community to join with government to
the mutual benefit of all.
This is the true source of the pride and the pleasure. For
this, the following persons need to be thanked: Barbara Chase,
Volunteers Director; Suzan Lawrence, Volunteer Program
Coordinator, Central/East County; Elza Minor, Volunteer Program
Coordinator, West County; and their Assistants--Maria Bito,
Arnetta Gayfield, and Charlotte Rolley--for making it all
happen.
REJ/dc
9BdOrd. 1
Attachs. (2)
VOLUNTEER SERVICES
1986 CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY REPORT
CENTRAL-EAST DISTRICT OFFICE
Report Prepared By: Suzan Lawrence
Volunteer Program Coordinator
Contra Costa County Social Service Dept.
January 22 , 1987
This report covers our Christmas activities at Volunteer
Services, Central-East District Office, in December 1986.
Most of the report will focus on our Adopt-A-Family Program.
However, our Share-A-Trip Program was also in full swing
that month. Usual activities included parties with Santa
and gifts, variety shows and special events such as the
Nutcracker Ballet in Oakland, and the Walnut Creek Civic
Arts' production of Christmas Carol .
One outing we particularly look forward to each year is the
Mervyns' Shopping Spree sponsored by the Active 20' s and
30' s Club of Walnut Creek. Twenty children attend, each
selecting $100 worth of clothing. The total value of
Share-A-Trip in the month of December was $12, 012 .25.
We served 1, 113 families and seniors this past year through
our Adopt-A-Family Program. The total person count was
3,4117 . Families served directly by us, either because they
were in great need or because they were late referrals,
totaled 405. The rest were referred to other community
agencies for assistance. (See graph for breakdown. )
AGENCIES OF SERVICE AT CHRISTMAS
Other
Antioch Ministerial Alliance
Salvation Army
Volunteer Center
Volunteer Services
(Social Services)
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
- 1 -
To help us in planning, statistics are kept on the percent-
age of total caseload referred by area and worker. For
example, Pittsburg Eligibility Workers referred 23% of their
3,513 AFDC cases (788 families) . The average was 14% ( see
graph below. )
REFERRAL RATE BY AREA AND WORKER COMPENSATION
Percent of referrals 25
based on caseload 20 13%
count. (14% Average) 15 °
10 54%
5 °
0
East Co Central East Co Central
EW" s EW" s SW' s SW' s
The pie chart below shows the source of the 1, 113 referrals
received by area and worker classification.
SOURCE OF REFERRALS
°
5%
71% East Co. EW" s 20%
20% Central Co. EW" s
5% East Co. SW' s
Central Co. SW' s
100% TOTAL 71/
No formal analysis has been done to explain the difference
in referral rate reflected above. My conjecture is that
some of the difference is due to the following:
1. There is greater client awareness of our services
in the East County, as well as need.
2 . There is less need in Central County because of
extended families with resources.
3 . The enthusiasm and commitment of the Program
Manager in the Pittsburg Office is reflected in
the level of service provided by his staff.
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The Adopt-A-Family Program has grown over the past five
years. Below is a graph which shows the change in:
[ ] Amount of Money Donated
[— — — — — —] Number of Clients Served
[ ----------------- ) Number of Referrals Received
ADOPT-A-FAMILY PROGRAM ACTIVITY 1981-1986
8000
7500
7000
6500
6000
5500
5000
4500
4000 i
3500 i
3000
2500 s
2000
1500 _
1000
500 ____-------------------------- -"
0
1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
The level of activity in this program has increase because
of the following reasons:
1 . There is more publicity.
2 . There has been a consistent staff person assigned.
3 . A good job is done acknowledging contributions.
4. The number of donors who continue with the program
grows each year.
The majority of referrals were from East County and the
majority of donors were from Central and South County. Page
four shows pie charts providing greater detail about the
area sources of referrals and donations .
3 -
SOURCE OF REFERRALS BY COMMUNITY SOURCE OF DONATIONS BY COMMUNITY
1% 4%'
3°
7% 7%
° °
7% g/
31%
13% 49% 13°
20% 15%
21%
49% Pittsburg 31% San Ramon Valley
20% Antioch 21% Walnut Creek
13% Concord 15% Concord, Clayton
7% Far East County 13% Martinez, Pacheco,
(Oakley to Byron) Pleasant Hill
7% Martinez, Pacheco 9% East County
3% Pleasant Hill (Pittsburg to Byron)
1% Lamorinda and 7% Lamorinda
San Ramon Valley 4% Other
100% TOTAL 10070 TOTAL
In many ways, this was the best year ever for our Christmas
Program. - We had excellent specialized work crews, as well
as a team of generalists to fill in where needed.
Community support was also excellent. Shell Oil, Seven
Hills School and the Teddies 4 Tots toy drives all exceeded
their preceding drives both in quality and quantity. Church
support increased from a negligible amount, in the past, to
over $1,000 this year.
The Support from San Ramon Valley Schools has increased so
that over 50 families are now served by them. Also, the
coordinator for the Walt Disney School has arranged for us
to receive bikes from the San Ramon Police Department which
are leftover from auction. Approximately 50-60 bikes, in
good condition, will be delivered to us directly every year.
Although the program was very successful, dealing with such
a large volume of goods and referrals was exceedingly
difficult. Our unit space is 24' 6" x 15 '2" , or the size of
an average living room. My office is 10'8" x 9'3" or the
size of a small bedroom. We also have a storage closet
which is 9 '3" x 4'0" .
4 -
There was not enough space for the six van-loads of goods we
needed to distribute for emergencies, let alone the 40-50
per day donor-matched adoptions which were placed in the
halls. Furthermore, there were not enough desks and phones
for the volunteers.
It was our experience this year that most referrals came
late rather than early. We began canvassing on October 1,
1986, because the Volunteer Center only accepts referrals
from us until December 1, 1986. We received 220 referrals
in October, 398 in November and 495 in December. As a
result of this, we had to treat many families as emergencies
and serve them directly.
Since we do not have a computer, all our office work,
including mailing labels, information gathering for reports,
checking for duplication, etc. must be done by hand. Each
referral required six separate actions, involving five
pieces of paper and four separate notifications of action
taken.
Because of these inefficiencies, and our constant need to
reorganize our small space for new donations, many
volunteers worked nights, staying as late as 11 : 30 pm. I
began working 70-hour weeks at the end of November, 1986.
During the holidays I am called upon to do more public
speaking, conduct tours, personally receive gifts, deal with
the press and supervise the additional volunteers, as well
as perform the normal day-to-day activities of our unit.
Our clerk also put in 35 hours overtime in December, 1986.
An additional problem we encountered was a 10% duplicate
referral rate. For example, one client applied for a
Christmas Basket through Friends Outside using her maiden
name. She then applied through us using her married name.
We matched her with a donor, and it was not until later that
we discovered from the Volunteer Center (which runs a
clearing house) that there was a duplication. This meant
contacting the donor, re-matching and notifying clients and
workers. Clients often called denying they had applied
twice and we had to research these calls. I don't believe
there was a single instance where the Volunteer Center had
inaccurate information.
To decrease some of the problems we experienced this year, I
recommend the following:
1 . We should be given more space. (Our accumulation of
goods for Christmas begins in August. Our space for
volunteers is also a problem during camperships,
which runs from April through August. )
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2 . We should be provided a small computer, printer and
word processor to handle mailings, reports, checking
for duplication of service, etc .
3 . The Community Christmas Referral form should be
revised so that the client is identified by social
security number and that families be categorized in
terms of dollars per family member remaining after
rent and utilities are paid. Extenuating circum-
stances should be considered, and eligibility
requirements should be developed. These steps
should help prevent abuse of the program.
4. Each office should strive to refer at least 14% of
their caseload; and 90% of the referrals should be
into Volunteer Services by December 1 .
Please see the attached Newsletter for greater description
of the actual families served. Questions can be directed to
me at: (415) 372-2384.
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VOLUNTEER SERVICES
. 1986 CHRISTMAS__ ACTIVITY. REPORT
WEST COUNTY DISTRICT OFFICE
REPORT PREPARED BY: ELZA MINOR, COORDINATOR
ARNETTA GAYFIELD,
ASSISTANT COORDINATOR
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1305 MACDONALD AVENUE, RICHMOND, CA 94801
(415)231-3721
VOLUNTEER SERVICES
1986 CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY REPORT
WEST COUNTY DISTRICT OFFICE
REPORT PREPARED BY: ELZA MINOR, COORDINATOR
ARNETTA GAYFIELD ,
ASSISTANT COORDINATOR
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1305 MACDONALD AVENUE, RICHMOND, CA 94801
(415) 231-3721
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
This report on the 1986 West County Christmas Activity is a
product of many Volunteers and good-spirited citizens who
contributed their time, talent, energy, and resources.
Special thanks goes to those people who did production work,
compiled data, typed and proof-read.
Yvonne Freeman Lyn Lane
Sue Gremmitt Barbara Parsons
and to those who spent many hours answering telephones, lifting
boxes, wrapping gifts and loading automobiles, etc. :
Maurice King Elza Minor III
Robert Minor Ellis Wilson
Don Wilson Anna Carmangola
Etta Lewis Tomoski Barrett
A word of appreciation for the staff at Marina West office of
Social Service in Richmond for their support and assistance
during the holiday season in helping to make our program a
success.
We would also like to recognize in memorium, Mrs. Diane Greeley
who has been a long-time supporter of the Christmas Toymakers
from the All Souls Episcopal Church, Berkeley who passed away
unexpectedly in January.
This report details the West County District Office's Christmas
activity through December 1986. The report will cover the
Adopt-A-Family Program and other auxillary programs which
augmented our efforts to serve needy families during that period.
We served 447 families and seniors this past Christmas season
through the Adopt-A-Family Program. Total number of persons
served were 2 ,480. One Hundred Twenty-Two families were served
directly by our office with the remaining being referred to
various community based organizations for service and assistance.
These agencies included the Salvation Army and the Richmond
Rescue Mission. Other agencies such as: churches, civic
organizations and private sector entities directed funds,
clothing, foodstuffs and resources to us to utilize in our
efforts. A partial list would include:
Mechanics Bank Berkeley Church of God
Wells Fargo Office of Supervisor,
Soroptomists Tom Powers
Black Employees in State Service Office of Supervisor,
Social Workers West County Nancy Fanden
Church of the Good Shepard American Red Cross
Chevron Oil U.S.A. West County Interagency
All Souls Episcopal Church Council
K-Mart of San Pablo also sponsored a Shopping Spree for young-
sters. One Hundred Four children participated. Each was
allowed fifty dollars worth of items. This event has always
been well received by the community and we appreciate K-Mart' s
generosity. Additionally, K-Mart donated twenty Thanksgiving
baskets which totalled $1, 000. 00.
A D O P T - A - F A M I L Y A N A L Y S I S
The West County Adopt-A-Family program has always received
enthusiastic support and participation. In 1986 we observed a
general increase in the number of referrals but only a statistic
number of adoptors to accomodate this increase. There are some
factors to be considered in these figures:
1. More needy families are now aware of the program,
therefore more families are being referred.
2 . There are fewer affluent families per capita in West
County, therefore there is a smaller base of contri-
butors.
3 . An on-going year-round recruitment and publicity
effort needs to be conducted to increase the contri-
butor base.
Basically, however, for West County this proved to be an excep-
tionally outstanding year in terms of people served, organi-
zations reached and increased enthusiasm in West County parti-
cipation in a concerned community effort.
Social workers from the various units sent referrals to the
Volunteer Service Program on families that were determined to be
in "extra need" . The families were then matched with "adoptors" ,
many of whom had already indicated a preference as to the size
and circumstances of those families they were to adopt. For
example, one individual asked to adopt a family where there was
a single female head of household with three of more children.
The reason being that she had once been in a similar circum-
stance. Another requested that the adopted family have a
disabled member. In most cases we were able to meet the requests
of the adoptors and suitable matches. In situations where such
unusual requests could not be made the adoptors were encouraged
to adopt another family on the list.
Logistically, the "adoptors" brought the gifts, clothing,
foodstuffs, etc. to the Marina West Office in Richmond. The
adopted families then came to the building at another time to
pick up their gifts. This is done to preserve confidentially.
Pre-written "thank you" notes and pre-addressed envelopes are
provided to the clients so they can thank their benefactors.
The notes come back to Volunteer Services Program which then
sends them to the appropriate adoptors.
2
We are presently compiling a list of potential adoptors in
preparation of this year's Christmas Program.
THE LAST MINUTE TOY SHOP
The Last Minute Toy Shop Program enjoyed its best year to date
for the number of toys collected and distributed. Hundreds of
toys, games, dolls, books and children's items were donated.
The community at-large was expansive in offering us assistance.
The American Red Cross donated toys from their own toy drive
which was valued at over $1, 000. An airline stewardess gave a
party wherein all attendees had to bring a toy. They were
valued at $500. Several individuals gave us a new and/or used
toy or doll.
Fourteen senior women from the All Souls Toy Makers made dolls
as well as women from the Retired Senior Volunteers Program who
made shawls (which were auctioned off) and dolls. Teddies for
Tots also gave a large donation of teddy bears along with the
Volunteer Bureau which also gave dolls, cosmetics and toys. The
French American School of Berkeley donated over' $1, 000 in toys.
Mrs. Hammonds and Mrs. Morris of RSVP hand made . 50 pillow
covers. Yvonne Freeman, a volunteer, took home bags of toys
each night to wash and repair. This .•effort was appreciated 'by
all.
OTHER DONATIONS
Aside from our prescribed Christmas activity we are often
approached by concerned citizens and groups who are interested
in providing some service or a donation to assist with our
overall Christmas effort.
These donations were sundry and varied ranging from plants to
clothing to 'food. Listed below are the names of some of the
organizations which made donations were:
Pinole High School Canned Food approx.
Color Spot Nursery, Plants which were sold.
San Pablo The proceeds going towards
the purchase of food
certificates approx. 1,200.
Berkeley Church of Food
God in Christ
E1 Sobrante Methodist Certificates
Church
San Pablo Mechanics Certificates
Bank
Laurel Park Community Certificates
Group
Self Realization Group Food approx. 100.
of Richmond
3
Efforts have already begun to increase this effort for the
coming Christmas season and we greatly appreciate all individuals
and groups who gave so much so that West County needy could
benefit. The West County Volunteer Program of Social Services
has begun efforts to better coordinate the solicitation of
donations and other fundraising efforts in order to reach a
greater number of needy families and individuals. We have
already received support from the Offices of Supervisors Tom
Powers and Nancy Fanden.
AREAS OF CONCERN
As the Christmas activity program increases in scope and volume
certain plenary efforts must be made to prepare for the reduc-
tion or elimination of some current problems and to develop some
contingency plans for anticipated ones.
1. Storage and security for the vast amount of goods and
foodstuffs is a constant problem. A large area which
could be locked which could be made available during
this period of Christmas activity would be of great
assistance.
2 . Use of a word processor and printers will eventually
be essential to keep track of referrals, eliminate
duplications, produce mailing labels, etc. The amount
of man hours presently used from such activities would
be cut by two-thirds.
3 . Referrals should be made at an earlier date. December
1-5 at the latest.
We are already working towards the resolution of these problem
areas and are receiving administrative support to do so.
Special thanks to Arnetta Gayfield for another outstanding job
in providing service to West County.
A VISION FOR WEST COUNTY'S VOLUNTEER PROGRAM:
COMMON VALUES, COMMITMENT AND ACTION
West Contra Costa is without a doubt the most diverse portion of
the county. Geographically, politically, economically, cul-
turally and ethnically if reflects a vast array of people,
conditions, values and approaches. Simultaneously, we affirm
our commitment to Marshal and promote a volunteer effort which
will lead to a vibrant and successful volunteer program. We are
voiding the notion that "people in West County do not care, will
not participate and will not give" . We are creating a force of
individuals and groups that respect each others diversity, see a
value in community partnerships and believe they can make a
difference.
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CHRISTMAS 1986
IN KIND DONATIONS $ 10 , 289 . 00
CASH DONATIONS 2 , 661. 00
BASKETS VALUE 181600. 00
FUNDRAISING 1, 240. 00
TOTAL: $ 32 ,790. 00
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