HILAND PARK— Katrina Stallworth never imagined she and her two daughters would be living in a shelter.
Stallworth, 35, and her family lived comfortably on dual incomes until her husband went to jail, quickly changing everything. Although she still had the same housekeeping inspector job as before, she was unable to make ends meet on one paycheck prone to seasonal fluctuations.
She needed help, and the Transformational Recovery Mission at Hiland Park United Methodist Church offered it.
The Recovery Mission is one of many small nonprofits in Bay County thattackle some of the worst problems in society. On shoestring budgets, they’re able to make life-altering impacts on people in need. Many small nonprofits have found ways to help the masses in spite of being short-staffed and underfunded, if they stick to some tried-and-true strategies.
One of those strategies is staying small and doing much of their work out of the limelight.
“In a community our size, there are assets, and we just need to know what they are,” said Julia Ruschmann, community projects director at the county health department.
Ruschmann has partnered with nonprofits throughout her career. She said she’s seen an abundance of resources that aren’t widely known by others.
Visibility conundrum
Visibility can be a double-edged sword for nonprofits. Citizens need to know about charitable resources if they’re to take advantage of them, but some nonprofits are reluctant to advertise their services because they can’t help everyone in need.
“We don’t advertise to get patients,” said Carole Summey, director of St. Andrew Community Medical Center. “We advertise to get money and volunteers we need to take care of patients.”
St. Andrew is one of the few free health clinics in Bay County. It specializes in providing primary and follow-up care to uninsured patients with chronic health conditions. The clinic fills an important gap in providing access to health care for adults between the ages of 19 and 64, who are excluded from Medicare and Medicaid by their age or income.
All of the patients at St. Andrew must go through a strict screening process. Screening allows nonprofits to serve clients with needs that best match their services, which is important to making the most meaningful use of funding, time and volunteers.
Another strategy is simply to keep the operation small and the overhead low.
Collaboration with other providers and facilities is vital in carrying out their mission to provide free health care. The clinic is staffed by licensed physicians, nurses, pharmacists and office workers who donate their time. Bay Medical Sacred Heart Health Center takes care of nearly all the clinic’s diagnostic needs, leaving expenditures low.
St. Andrew currently takes care of about 2,500 patients on a meager yearly budget just over $350,000. The clinic has delivered $3.4 million of free health care services in the last year, clinic president Delbert Summey said, and covered more than $23 million in care to uninsured citizens since it opened in 2004.
“We’re doing exactly what we’re supposed to be doing,” Carole Summey said. “Patients get the care they need, and they can go back to work.”
Though the nonprofits provide completely different services, the strategy is similar at Transformational Recovery Mission. Vicki Padgett, a board member at the church who focuses on fundraising for the mission, said partnerships and pooling resources have helped the mission provide for its transitioning residents.
“By staying small, we don’t need the staff for monitoring large sources of funding,” she said.
‘Learning process’
When the Recovery Mission in Hiland Park opened in 2005, organizers admitted over time their mission was too broad. By focusing their efforts on a smaller niche, they found success.
“It was a learning process,” Padgett said. “First, as many organizations do, we tried to help everybody.”
The mission’s first residents were two men who’d been living in a makeshift tent in the woods behind the church in the cold of winter. The church welcomed the transients and soon realized the underutilized classrooms could be converted into dorm-style living quarters.
In the midst of growth, the mission struggled with the challenges of serving a mostly male population. The church realized the setting, staff and resources available would be a better fit for single women raising children.
“We felt like being faith-based and being able to provide a homelike setting was best for women and children,” Padgett said. “We feel more comfortable now and can stay focused.”
Today, the mission can house nearly 30 residents and better positioned to teach transformation after going through one of its own.
Padgett said one of the mission’s elements of success has been intimately knowing the population it serves. That means understanding the specific struggles women face when raising children alone as they strive to achieve stability.
“Most of the single women are underemployed because of their education,” said program manager Sharleen Barnes. “They can’t rise up in the ranks.”
Barnes is in charge of screening women before they enter the program to ensure their needs are compatible with the comprehensive approach the mission takes. The mission provides shelter, food, help with financial planning, counseling and refers clients to options for child care and substance abuse treatment.
Looking forward
Nonprofits help people with a myriad of needs, but the goal is the same: to help clients move forward in their lives.
Stallworth said her journey back to basic self-sufficiency is nearly complete since her move to the mission with her 9- and 15-year-old daughters after her husband’s arrest.
Like many of the mission’s residents, Stallworth didn’t have a support network or local family to stay with while getting back on her feet.
“Before I came here, I was never in a situation like I am now,” she said.
Stallworth feels forward is the only way to go and has tried to keep life as normal as possible for her children in the process.
“Even though we’re here, I still try to do the things I did out there,” she said. “I go to work and cook for my kids every day.”
In her four-month stay at the mission, Stallworth managed to save enough money to replace the car she lost and expects to have enough in savings to cover getting moved into her own place in the near future.
What’s held her together through this bumpy time in her life is the understanding she’s received from her girls.
“No matter how we struggle, we struggle together,” she said. “I know they’ll look back and be stronger because of this. They’ll know they can make it.”
How To Get Help
There is no clearinghouse for nonprofits in Bay County, so referrals to small agencies often are made from other charitable groups. One good place to start is a list of United Way affiliated agencies.