By Linda Whitmore
Silverton Together is keeping it together.
Like the clients it serves, the 16-year community assistance organization is facing economic challenges and difficult times call for difficult measures.
“We have grants that are ending,” said Ken Hector, chairman of Silverton Together’s board. “Grants are getting harder and harder to find” and public donations are down.
Faced with the loss of revenue, the executive board sat down and took a hard look at the agency’s financial status and another hard look at its purpose. “We did some soul-searching about what are we going to do?”
They analyzed the programs and determined that “we are doing good things, but over time there have been redundancies with what other organizations are doing.”
Silverton Together has had two areas of service – Parenting Programs and Community Connector Programs. Board members concurred that the best thing to do would be to refocus on Silverton Together’s primary mission, the Parenting Program.
Many of the other services also are provided by local churches, Silverton Area Community Aid and fraternal groups.
“The funding is not there for us to support those activities and there are organizations to provide them,” Hector said. “There is still grant funding for parenting, but not Community Connection.”
Silverton Together assists parents from the time they are expecting their first baby through teenage years.
“The programs teach common-sense parenting and discipline,” Hector said.
“We are going to refocus on our mission and that largely is our Parenting Programs,” he said. “We’ll be looking to do what we do more effectively.”
And there are other difficult changes.
Some grants don’t provide for administrative costs; “because of that, it’s forced us to reevaluate not only our programs but staffing,” Hector said. “I can’t say what that final picture will be – it will be reduced staff, it’s safe to say.”
The executive committee met early in June and decided administrative reorganization was needed. Staff members were let go. Currently, Program Coordinator Doreen Kelly and a volunteer/intern conduct daily affairs.
Hector said duties of the lead staff member will be redefined and the new job posted. Kelly can apply for the new position if she wishes. The volunteer’s job could become a paid position through reimbursement by the Jobs Plus program. And he hopes they will get help from other community volunteers.
Hector said he has met with representatives of schools, churches and other organizations about Silverton Together’s new status.
“We will work closely with the county, schools and other organizations,” he said. “We see people with needs, some rather dramatic; we will direct them to the appropriate agency. We will still be the resource – just not hands-on.”
In addition to providing help for individuals and families, Silverton Together in the past has taken the lead in putting on a number of community events. This role, too, must be modified.
Hector said Silverton Together will still be involved in coordinating Celebration of Families and as a joint participant in hosting Free Fish Day.
“Celebration of Cultures is an event we heavily invested staff time. That’s something we can’t do. We won’t have the staff. Hopefully, other organizations will pick that up. We’d hate to have it go away,” he said.
The funding is gone for the Apple Tree program, too. “We’re going to have to look for help now. We have to look for partners because we want to see Apple Tree stay.”
As for the summertime Community Picnic, he said, “I think we’ll still be OK. We have lots of help from Kiwanis and others.”
Already, organizations are stepping up to fill the holes. Hector said Silverton’s churches are “adopting” schools and offering to assist their needy students.
Hector said the board will finalize Silverton Together’s budget by June 24, so decisions about job descriptions and future services will be hammered out soon.
“Silverton Together serves an important community need. It will be there to meet the needs it’s suited to face.”
