Charities caught between rock and hard place

Richard Brian

San Francisco resident Deborah Odegaard browses used clothing at the Goodwill store located in the Beltway Marketplace at Eastern and Serene avenues Saturday.

By Jeff Pope (contact)

Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 | midnight

The Salvation Army and Goodwill of Southern Nevada say they are feeling the crunch of the weakened economy, as layoffs and foreclosures have brought more people to their doors in need of assistance while donors are pinching their pennies.

Las Vegas' high unemployment rate and stagnant economy have drawn a record number of job seekers to Goodwill's Career Connections employment service, said Rick Carns, Goodwill's director of marketing.

The slowdown in construction has caused unemployment rates to rise this year in the state and county. Clark County's unemployment was 7.4 percent while the rate was 6.1 percent nationally.

Last year, Goodwill helped 3,103 people in some way including placing 633 in new careers. The organization has assisted 3,907 people in some way and placed 736 in jobs through Nov. 10 this year. The average wage of those 736 new hires is $19,200, Carns said.

"We've been increasing the number of people served every year. These last several years have been astronomical numbers for us," he said. "We're seeing a lot of homemakers needing to get back in the workforce because … people can't survive on single incomes any longer."

Many seekers are looking to upgrade to better paying jobs also, Carns said.

Goodwill has had to hire staff for its Career Connections to keep up with the growing client list. It places workers with 333 corporate partners, but needs more as the number of job seekers climbs, Carns said.

Goodwill's career services are funded by sales at its eight local thrift stores, which sold $13 million worth of goods last year and are projected to sell about the same this year.

Goodwill rolled out seven trailers to Albertsons grocery stores this year to encourage donations by making drop sites more convenient during the holidays, Carns said. The goal is to have 30 portable sites at the grocery stores soon.

"The demand on our services for our mission have become tough. The only way we can sustain this type of growth, we have to have more donations," he said.

The trailers are attended between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. seven days a week.

Shoppers at the Goodwill store at Eastern and Serene avenues recently found some deals. Dan Ocampo was looking to save money while furnishing his new home.

"It's cheaper than some other (stores)," he said.

The Salvation Army will have fewer red kettles outside local stores this holiday season and has suspended its women's adult rehab program because the organization is faced with a drop in monetary donations and sales at its thrift stores, said Charlie Desiderio, director of marketing.

The organization is reducing the number of its signature red kettles placed throughout the valley during the holidays from 85 last year to about 65 this year, and also is considering cutting its staff.

"That's something the Salvation Army has never done (locally)," he said. "We've always grown. Now we're looking at reducing some of the things we took years to build.

"The bad part is that we are now seeing more people than we've ever seen before and we don't have the resources (finances) to help them."

Las Vegas thrift stores have relied on the area's transient population for its donations and sales for the past two decades.

"Our product receipts are very low, ergo our sales in the store are down," Desiderio said. "The other issue is our mail campaign, that's basically the primary way we raise funds, they're down. We're down substantially from last year."

Each year, the Salvation Army requests funding from the United Way. This year, the United Way said it could provide its charity partner about half of the roughly $450,000 request, which is used to pay wages, Desiderio said. The Salvation Army also expects less in government grants.

The bright spots have been steady donations of food for the 200 local families the Salvation Army serves and the money available to help low-income families pay utilities.

The organization is asking for corporate sponsors for red kettles, which cost $95 a day to operate, Desiderio said.

"It's spot money at a time when we need it the most ­— at Christmas time, Thanksgiving time," he said. "That money is critical for us to maintain ourselves during the holidays and going into January, February. After the holidays is not good fundraising time."

Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify that funding from the United Way was not completely cut.

Jeff Pope can be reached at 990-2688 or jeff.pope@hbcpub.com.