The Olympic Peninsula’s largest nonprofit organization is sailing in shallow financial water, but its command crew says it is unlikely to run aground.
Olympic Community Action Programs — OlyCAP — is in what Executive Director Tim Hockett called a typical year-end cash crunch on Thursday.
“I’d be kidding to say there aren’t some financial issues,” said Steve Tharinger, a four-year member of OlyCAP’s board of directors and a Clallam County commissioner.
“But the overall future of the agency is not in jeopardy.”
The agency has met its latest payroll but has little cash in reserve for emergencies, Hockett said.
Through October, OlyCAP shows an operating deficit of more than $50,000, although it expects November’s numbers to improve.
OlyCAP has an annual budget of almost $10 million.
Legislative fix necessary
Home care for about 250 disabled and elderly people in Clallam and Jefferson counties needs “a legislative fix” to survive, said Judi Morris, president of OlyCAP’s board of directors and Jefferson County treasurer.
Agency representatives have met with state 24th District Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, to devise repairs.
Hargrove’s legislative district includes Jefferson and Clallam counties.
Morris says OlyCAP also subsidizes a child care program under Head Start, but changing its staffing requirements may solve the problem.
And, she says, the agency needs a deeper cash reserve — but that aggressive fundraising and grant writing can meet that need.
“Every year that I can remember in the wintertime, we’ve gone through a cash crunch,” said Hockett, recollecting his 16 years with OlyCAP.
