By Sharon Abercrombie
Staff writer

“You lose some, win some,” says the old adage, and that pretty well describes the current situation at Catholic Charities of the East Bay during these stressed economic times. The agency is feeling the impact of recent contract losses imposed by the State of California. Some private funding sources have dried up as well, said Colleen Miller, CCEB’s director of development and public affairs. And requests for housing and rental assistance have grown by as much as 60 percent.

But on the winning side, Miller credits an “aggressive development plan” for helping the agency remain strong in the face of continuing economic turndown.

The agency “does its best to keep government funding at less than 35 percent of budget,” she said. “This allows us to weather difficult budget times more easily, such as this current one.” As a result of its stewardship, there have been no staff cuts.

However, there are consequences from a reduction in government support of programs. For example, CCEB’s project to provide housing, education and other services for emancipated youth, has been frozen for the rest of the fiscal year. But, Miller said, the agency has “additional funding that will allow us to continue the program in Alameda County if we do not receive further government funding.” said Miller. Contra Costa County funding for the joint collaborative with CCEB appears to be solid at this time, she said.

The Project Access early childhood education training program and an immigration citizen program have also been affected.

Project Access, which provides early childhood education classes and beginning-level English as a Second Language for women who provide childcare, lost $45,000 of a $90,000 contract for the fiscal year 2008-2009. But CCEB will not cut Project Access because the agency found supplemental funding California Wellness and an anonymous private donor through the San Francisco Foundation.

“CCEB continues to seek additional funds in order to actually continue our expansion of this program into Brentwood and ultimately into Concord,” said Miller, stressing that “job training is greatly needed and is one of the surest ways out of poverty.”

The citizenship program lost a $38,000 contract with the state of California, but at the same time the agency has seen the federal government increase refugee resettlement and job placement services to $100,000.

The agency also lost some $16,000 in private funding for its Monument Corridor Senior Program, a project which organizes local communities to respond to the needs of seniors with information, referral and neighborhood-based senior activities. Programming will continue, Miller said, as the search for private funds progresses.

Miller acknowledges that the increased demand for services is taxing resources. But, she said, “We do not want to see one person go without the support they need in this economic crisis. This is a time for all of us, staff and supporters, to work together more than ever.”

Other Catholic Charities agencies across the country are also reporting financial woes caused by reductions in funding for contracted work and private sources.

A recent Catholic News Service story reports that about 20 percent of agencies have cut basic needs programs while 16 percent of agencies were forced to reduce housing assistance. Of the agencies cutting programs, 56 laid off staff.

The story also revealed that in 2008 funding from state and local governments, foundations and corporations fell for about half of all agencies.

“In many ways our agencies are in uncharted waters,” said Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA. “It would be really helpful that we could know where it’s going to end. But all indications are at this point that it’s going to get worse before its gets better.”

The economic stimulus bill recently passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama has funds to help states meet the growing need for social services, but Father Snyder said how soon that money makes its way to the agencies is unknown.

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