AFFILIATES:
Annual Report
Letter from the Executive Director:
Dear Friends,
This year has been a struggle for all of us. Individuals and businesses as well as not-for-profits have had to be more efficient in the way we function. It has been rough, but it doesn’t hurt any of us to take an even harder look at our spending. Fortunately for SECOM, our board is very fiscally conservative and our staff is very careful about their spending. That has allowed us to continue to serve those in our community that are in need.
Fortunately for so many in our community, it is not only that our personnel have been careful. More than that, it is the wonderful and generous hearts of our donors. In this difficult time people at all levels have dug deeper, have continued their faithfulness and have responded in so many warm and caring ways. Community businesses and service groups have had food drives. Heart of West Michigan United Way has held firm on their commitment to us. Churches of all denominations have responded in new ways to financially support us. Families have been creative to add ways to volunteer and to collect food for our recipients. Foundations have worked hard to help us accomplish things we could not without their help.
As a result, children have been fed and families have had healthy meals. Families have had help with their basic needs. Children have had help with basic English concepts. Families have found new ways to communicate together. Women have become physically healthier. Persons with chronic diseases have learned healthier ways to eat. Volunteers have found a place to offer their God-given skills and gifts to and with those who can greatly benefit from support and care.
It has been a great year at SECOM. We and the people in our community greatly appreciate the ways you have offered yourselves for the betterment of this community. Thank you and may God bless you and your family and friends.
John R. Smith
Executive Director
Serving the Community in 2009
As a human services organization South End Community Outreach Ministries (SECOM) continues to experience high levels of demand for our services. While there have been reports recently that suggest that the job market is beginning to bottom out, there are few individuals in our community that are seeing improvements in their financial condition. Over 30% of the individuals living within 0.5 miles of our facility are living in poverty according to the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy.
Programs:
Pantry
Our resources, both financial and personnel are predominantly used for hunger relief. SECOM continues to see first time users of our all purpose pantry services for emergency response and ongoing demand from the chronically unemployed. Similarly the usage of our evening pantry is has continued unabated as the under employed look for assistance.
The Nutrition Options for Wellness (NOW) program is a partnership with Spectrum Health that provides specific foods for individuals with special dietary needs due to chronic illnesses. SECOM serves between 10 - 12 individuals weekly in this program. Usage of the NOW program has remained manageable due to the addition of other pantries providing this service. There are currently 6 pantries providing food under the NOW program in Kent County.
We have added a second monthly session for the Infant & Child Pantry. The demand from families with young children continues to grow. We are very concerned about the impact of so many children being born into poverty will have on our community’s future and on society in general. In response we have begun offering pre-school activities during the Infant & Child Pantry sessions. The hope is that preparation for school will improve the children’s academic success rate.
Encouraging Family Foundations
The new guidelines that the federal government has set for the Encouraging Family Foundations (EFF) program has severely limited the number of families eligible to participate. We feel that this is an important program to provide to our community. For that reason we are exploring the development of a similar proprietary program with the hope of securing private funding.
The EFF program is one of four in Kent County and is the only one to serve the Hispanic population with programming in Spanish.
Health and Fitness
We are increasing our emphasis on health through early detection and prevention. The desire of our community to be healthy is evidenced in the continued demand for our exercise programs.
To assist in early detection, Calvin College Nursing School provides weekly vital static screens weekly during the Wednesday morning pantry session. In conjunction with the Kent County Health Department we have applied for grant to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to provide free mammograms for underserved women in our community. Catastrophic illnesses are the greatest threats to our clients remaining impoverished.
Our Donors
The Humane Society of Kent County began quarterly visits to provide vaccinations, spaying/neutering, behavior counseling and supplies for the pets of SECOM’s clients.
SECOM is blessed with a generous and diverse donor base. While the demand for our services remains at record levels we have been able to meet that demand through the generosity of our community.
Because of budget constraints the Kent County Department of Human Services has informed SECOM that in 2010 we can expect approximately one half of our 2009 allocation. Due to funding from other sources and cost cutting we do not anticipate this to have an effect on our any of our pantry services.
The federal government continues to support our pantry programs through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and through quarterly food allocations.
Heart of West Michigan has indicated that although their funding has decreased they will continue their support at the current level for the coming year.
The expansion of our donor base and awareness of the needs of the community have helped to offset the reduction of individual gifts. Financially we remain strong. Continued financial vigilance will allow us to maintain and expand our programming.
Our Clients
SECOM’s hunger relief programs and its other programs, with minimal exception serve individuals who live on 150% or less than the poverty level. The most recent threshold level for a family of four to receive service was $32,865.
As one of ACCESS’s key pantries, SECOM’s All Purpose pantry serves a geographical area bounded by 28th St., US 131, Hall St. and Patterson Ave. For our other pantry services and all other programming we serve the entire Kent County region and part of Ottawa County. The largest number clients reside in the 49507 zip code.
Demographics
Ethnicity: African – 1%, African American – 24%, Caucasian – 8%, Hispanic – 51%,
Multi Ethnic – 4%, Not Reported – 10%, Other – 3%
Gender: Female – 52%, Male – 48%
Age: Less than 18 – 49%, 19 to 49 – 41%, Over 50 – 10%
Recent Accomplishments
Added a second monthly session for the Infant & Child Pantry
Secured the services of a retired volunteer teacher to design and direct preschool activities for the Infant & Child Pantry.
Collected 90% of the needed participant community needs survey.
Redesigned the Agency’s website.
Collected and distributed 1,594 services for personal care items to 5,719 clients in addition to food.
Signed up individuals and distributed 600 holiday food baskets.