Budget cuts ‘devastating’ to Eastside nonprofits

On Nov. 24, the Metropolitan King County Council will vote to adopt the county’s final budget for 2009, which calls for massive funding cuts at nonprofit human service agencies.

The Alliance of Eastside Agencies (AEA) held a media conference Nov. 12 to describe how the proposed cuts will affect vulnerable populations in cities such as Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, Sammamish, Issaquah, Bothell, Kenmore and Mercer Island.

STEALING FROM THE POOR

“The impact on the Eastside human services infrastructure will be devastating,” predicted David Downing, chair of the AEA and associate director of Youth Eastside Services (YES) in Bellevue.

“Every time a budget crisis hits, we are on the list to be cut,” he stated. “This is just simply wrong. ...The myth is that government keeps these services in place — but these services will not always be there. The county is wanting to cut funding completely over the next three years. We do very vigorous private fundraising to the maximum that we can. We’re not going to find magical pots of money.”

He emphasized that he wasn’t concerned about himself or the other service providers in the room.

“Money means staffing,” he explained. “We run on shoestrings, we’re not bloated.”

To clarify who will be directly hurt by these budget cuts, Downing said that YES will lose 1,100 hours of service for children with mental illnesses, 1,500 service hours for youths battling drug addiction and will not to be able to mentor 60 youth annually, who are at danger of dropping out of school.

“Kids won’t have any place to turn for help from domestic abuse. We now serve 30 kids of color in the juvenile justice system,” he continued.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST

“We were really outraged when we were told we would go out of the business of life-saving,” said Barbara Langdon, executive director of Bellevue-based Eastside Domestic Violence Program (EDVP). “Women are 70 times more likely to be killed after they leave than if they stay.”

And the Eastside is not immune to domestic violence. It happens to women of all income and education levels, she added.

Melissa Batten, the Microsoft employee who was murdered by her estranged husband in the parking lot of a Redmond apartment complex earlier this year, is a prime example, said Langdon.

“Right now, I have 10 families in my shelter who are scared to leave because they’re being stalked. Domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women and kids. Only 17 percent of our money goes to overhead. We have already made critical cuts. We turn away 130 crisis calls a month. We turn 13 away from our shelter for every one we can take.”

Taking funds away from EDVP is “shortsighted,” said Langdon. The costs of hospitalizations and loss of work because of domestic violence far exceed the cost of providing help to those who need it.

Langdon implored, “We’re begging for $200,000 through the county budget. (The councilmembers) are a smart, intelligent group that needs to come up with a permanent solution.”

Joan Campbell, vice president and chief operations officer at Redmond-based Friends of Youth concurred.

“When money is short, the county looks to human services. We need to not be considered ‘discretionary.’ ... This is money that supports youth and family services, mental health and drug counseling. Our Healthy Start program, for ages 22 or under, serves pregnant or parenting young people. On the cut list is an emergency shelter for youth 11-17,” said Campbell.

As she pointed out, King County is in the midst of a “10-year plan to end homelessness” and yet $108,000 or 25 percent of Friends of Youth’s budget is set to be cut. Either a home for boys in Kenmore or a home for girls in Bellevue is in jeopardy of being shut down.

“You can’t just ‘cut back’ — we have to actually potentially close one of the two shelters,” said Campbell.

Reasons why kids are homeless or at-risk are not always visible, she added. Many are running away from abuse or conflict at home; some are abandoned by their families.

“Our goal is to reconcile youth with families if we can, or find them a permanent home in foster care. We take cuts all the time and raise money to make up the difference. This is a level of cut we can’t absorb to continue to provide services as well as infrastructure, an actual facility.”

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

Cindy Goodwin, director of youth and family services for the City of Mercer Island, said her community of about 22,000 people regularly uses the infrastructure of the whole network of human service agencies on the Eastside.

“As a small city, we rely on regional agencies. Sexual abuse, assault, drug and alcohol problems crosses all lines — the health of our community affects other cities, the whole nation,” Goodwin stated.

As such, she can’t imagine how the county would skimp on essential human services.

“Art? You can see the beauty. Improvements to roads, you can see,” she reasoned. “But if there’s a one percent for art investment, there has to be a percentage for human services.”

Downing interjected, “In this economy, individuals and corporations are giving us less. We’re facing shrinking dollars already and now there are more threats from the county. The elected officials have to come up with a solution. We need to be off the table as a place to cut.”

Pam Mauk, executive director of the Family Resource Center in Redmond said that “HealthPoint, which provides health care for the homeless, is on the block. ... And every day, we are seeing new faces in the lobby, the recently laid-off people who never dreamed they’d be homeless.”

Downing said the AEA is meeting with Sheriff Sue Rahr and partners in the courts and law enforcement “because public safety goes hand-in-hand with public health.”

USE YOUR INFLUENCE

Representatives of these Eastside human service agencies are asking citizens to call and e-mail their county councilmembers and the office of Ron Sims, to express their opinions about the proposed budget cuts. Remember that the council’s vote takes place on Nov. 24.

To learn more, visit www.kingcounty.gov/council/budget.

Redmond Reporter Reporter Mary Stevens Decker can be reached at mdecker@redmond-reporter.com or (425) 867-0353, ext. 5052.

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