EDITOR’S NOTE: This is another in a series of Peninsula Daily News articles on the Peninsula Home Fund. The next article will appear Sunday.
FORKS — A couple of hundred dollars separated Stephanie Robson from a career in massage therapy that she had spent countless hours pursuing.
In juggling a full-time school schedule and tight budget as a single mother of three, Robson, 30, of Forks was tapped out when it came time to pay for her state board exam to practice massage therapy.
However, with $100 from the Peninsula Daily News’ “hand up, not a handout” Peninsula Home Fund, Robson was able to afford the $250 exam and move one step closer to a secure future.
OlyCAP — Olympic Community Action Programs, the No. 1 emergency care agency on the North Olympic Peninsula — screens applicants and manages the PDN’s Peninsula Home Fund.
The Home Fund is unique and nonprofit.
From Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to LaPush, it is a safety net for residents when there is nowhere else to turn.
Every penny donated goes — without any deductions for administration or overhead — to making life better for children, teens, families and the elderly in Jefferson and Clallam counties.
The fund is used for hot meals for seniors, warm winter coats for children, home repairs for the low income, needed eyeglasses and prescription drugs, dental work, safe, drug-free temporary housing . . . the list goes on and on.
The money wasn’t for “anything that was a great big necessity,” Robson said, “but it was nice to get help in creating a better future” for herself and her children — Jonathan, 13, Nathan, 9, and Jordan, 3.
“Just finishing school . . . there was no way that I was going to come up with an extra $250 for the exam,” she said.
Graduated in June
Robson graduated in June from the massage therapy program at Peninsula College in Port Angeles.
She had spent nine months commuting between Forks and Port Angeles five days a week, leaving at noon and returning home at about 10 p.m.
“I always try to find something better to make a little more money,” Robson said.
“Hopefully [this will] give me the freedom to have enough to support my family.”
Robson is awaiting her Washington state massage therapy license after passing the state and national board exams.
Once she receives her license, Robson’s goal is to open her own house-call massage therapy business for people too ill to leave their home.
“I love helping people,” Robson said.
“I think somewhere deep down inside of me I want to be a nurse.”
However, being a massage therapist comes in a close second because pursuing a nursing degree is out of reach due to a lack of time and money, she said.
While Robson waits for her license, she’s managing a low-income apartment complex and obtaining certification from H&R Block to prepare taxes for people in her spare time.
“It comes from that I’ve always worked two jobs to make ends meet,” Robson said about her busy work schedule.
She’s hoping once her massage therapy business starts, she’ll have more time to be with her children.
“I wanted something so that when my kids had a field trip [at school], I could go,” she said.
Robson will receive her massage therapy license within the next few weeks and embark on a new chapter in her life.
No deductions
From Thanksgiving through Dec. 31, the PDN’s Peninsula Home Fund is seeking contributions for its annual holiday season fund-raising campaign.
* No money is deducted for administration or other overhead.
* Contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
* Your personal information is kept confidential. Peninsula Daily News does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone, or make any other use of it.
* All instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through the crisis — and back on the path to self-sufficiency. That’s the “hand up, not a handout” focus of the fund.
* Peninsula Home Fund case managers work with each individual or family to develop a plan to become financially stable — and avoid a recurrence of the emergency that prompted aid from the fund.
Spent by Dec. 31
Started in 1989, the fund is supported entirely by Jefferson and Clallam residents.
Individuals, couples, businesses and school groups set a new record for contributions in 2004 — $108,514.54.
All of that money is expected to be spent by Dec. 31.
As of mid-November the fund had helped nearly 1,400 individuals and families.
* Peninsula Home Fund contributions are often used in conjunction with money from churches, service clubs and other donors, enabling OlyCAP to stretch the value of the contribution.
* Money is usually distributed in small amounts, usually up to $100.
* Assistance is limited to one time in a 12-month period.
To apply for a grant from the fund, call OlyCAP at 360-452-4726 (Clallam County) or 360-385-2571 (Jefferson County).
If you have any questions about the fund, contact John Brewer, Peninsula Daily News editor and publisher, at 360-417-3500, or e-mail him at john.brewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
How to donate
A gift of any size is welcome.
The Peninsula Home Fund has never been a campaign of heavy hitters.
If you can contribute only a few dollars, please don’t hesitate because you think it won’t make a difference.
Every gift makes a difference, regardless of its size.
To donate, write a check to “Peninsula Home Fund” and attach it to the coupon that you can print out by clicking on the “Home Fund” button at the left of this Internet page.
Mail both items to Peninsula Home Fund, Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles 98362.
Again, contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
You will receive a written thank you and acknowledgment of your contribution.
Peninsula Daily News publishes stories every Wednesday and Sunday during the fundraising campaign listing contributors and reporting on how the fund works.
