A National Imperative: Joining Forces to Strengthen Human Services in America (Jan 2018)

Mrs. Williams’ son started thinking that he might have to move back to town to keep an eye on her, although he desperately wanted and needed to keep his new job to support his own children. Then, a social worker at the hospital suggested he reach out to New Hope Elder Services, a local CBO that provides nutritional services, companionship, and counseling to elderly residents across the County so that they can continue to live safely in their own homes. New Hope has been, literally, a lifesaver for the Williams family. Once a week, a New Hope counselor drops by to check on Mrs. Williams. The counselor brings a bag of staple groceries and spends an hour chatting with Mrs. Williams about how she is doing and reviewing her menu plans for the coming week. They also take a peek in the refrigerator to make sure she is consuming food as planned and to throw out any spoiled items. Mrs. Williams hasn’t made a trip to the emergency room in over two years. While her son still drives back from Chicago once a month to spend a night with his mother, he has decided to stick with his new job. “I couldn’t sleep when Mom was in the hospital,” he says. “I really feel like New Hope didn’t just help her be safe and healthy, it also allowed me to keep my job and pursue my dreams for my own kids.” Stories like this play out all across Freedom County every day. In the northern corner of the County, Jessica Baine is receiving job training and placement from a local CBO after the chicken processing plant closed down. A few doors down from Mrs. Williams, tenth grader Jack Dandridge is getting extra help after school to learn strategies to handle his dyslexia. Jack used to hate school. This semester he made honor roll for the first time. Despite these success stories, the County’s human services ecosystem is under growing pressure. New Hope’s Executive Director, Barney Ryan, describes the situation: “Some days it feels like we’re holding everything together with tape.” Their contract with the County’s human services agency doesn’t begin to cover their operating costs. They try to make up the difference through donations and an annual fundraising party. Mrs. Williams’ son sends a donation of $200 every month, but many of New Hope’s other clients don’t have families with the financial resources to do so. One of New Hope’s delivery vans has 130,000 miles on it. Another will need new tires soon. The social workers are not provided with laptops or iPads – so they hand write their notes and then return to New Hope’s offices to type them up at the end of the day. “There’s a ton of things we need,” Barney says. “Not luxuries, but things we really, really need.” It’s not that these needs go unnoticed by the County DHS. Rather, DHS has been forced to make tough decisions about how best to allocate funding among the County’s CBOs amid rising costs, increasing demand, and waning support from the state and federal levels. “I understand the situation for many of our CBO partners. They do amazing work, and it’s amazing that they make it work

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