(April 14, 2016) Three locally well-known nonprofits made their presentations to the Berlin mayor and council Monday in an effort to land a spot on the town’s budget for the coming fiscal year.
Diakonia, based in West Ocean City, was up first, with board member Jack Burbage leading the discussion.
“We’re here to ask for money, like everybody else,” Burbage said, adding that Diakonia was asking for slightly more funding this year – $10,000 – than the $7,500 it received from the town last fiscal year.
He said the nonprofit was asking all local governments for bigger contributions, requesting $65,000 from the county (it got $42,000 last year) and $60,000 from Ocean City. Last year, the resort gave Diakonia $40,000.
Burbage said Diakonia supplied 11,000 “bed nights” to 152 people in 2015, along with 55,000 meals and 10,000 case management sessions. He said about 16 percent of those served were from Berlin.
The organization’s food pantry program served 968 Berlin households last year, distributing 43,000 pounds of food, and the emergency solutions program, which supports people at risk of homelessness, aided 15 people in the town.
Burbage said veteran’s programs also helped 24 people in 12 households in Berlin and including providing $17,000 in financial assistance.
In total, he said Diakonia paid out roughly $150,000 to Berliners in 2015.
“The biggest problem is, last year we served over 9,000 people, and as of right now we’re turning away 300 a month,” he said. “We really need to try to increase it and make it even better.
“We really need any help that you can give us,” Burbage added. “I really think that without Diakonia you’d have a lot of homeless people sitting on the streets, and we really need your help. If you could, in any possible way, find anything left over that you could give us, more than $10,000, we would really appreciate it.”
Berlin Mayor Gee Williams said there were more nonprofits per capita in Berlin than any other town in the county.
“We have tried to be selective in supporting the nonprofits that, literally, perform things that we as a town government could never dream of,” he said. “Diakonia, since it’s beginning, has been a model for helping people who are in hard times and in transition.
“Your request will be given every consideration,” Williams added. “We will do everything we can.”
Jack Ferry, director of the Worcester County Development Center (WCDC) in Newark, spoke next, calling his facility’s clients, adults with intellectual disabilities, “the best people in the world.”
WCDC provides employment opportunities, residential services and community-based support, he said.
“Our mission is to help our clients to achieve their highest level of economic and social independence,” he said. “We believe the economic independence comes before the social independence. If you have that dollar, besides knowing that pride of working, you’re able to make choices … about what you want to do, where you want to spend your money and what you want to do with your life.”
He said his clients provide janitorial services, cleaning homes, condominiums and businesses, as well as commercial laundry and food services, both in and outside the development center.
In 2011, total payroll of those served by WCDC was less than $25,000. Last year, it was $99,000, and this year Ferry said that number would rise to more than $115,000.
“That’s money that our clients earn. That’s money that they spend at the Atlantic Hotel or Crush N Crab enjoying dinner. It’s money that they spend at the Church Mouse thrift store buying clothes, or at the Food Lion buying groceries,” Ferry said.
Ferry spoke about a client named Charlene, who works in laundry at WCDC. On a Friday afternoon, just before going home for the weekend, she told Ferry that she was excited because just got a big paycheck.
“When she came back on Monday she walked off the bus and she had a new hair style,” Ferry said. “I said, ‘Charlene, you look so beautiful, what did you do this weekend?’ She said, ‘I took my aunt out for dinner, I got my hair done, and I put money in the bank.’”
Ferry asked for a $7,500 grant from the town, the same amount WCDC received during the prior year.
“Thank you for the work you do,” Councilmember Dean Burrell said. “Your facility is fantastic, and the programs you have are second to none.”
Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services Inc., based in Berlin, rounded out the evening meeting by highlighting work done with the Berlin Youth Club (BYC).
Youth Project Coordinator Amanda Chaffee said that group recently took 17 children for an outing that included building and testing model rockets, and participated in last weekend’s Spring Celebration in downtown Berlin.
On April 26, the group will plant flowers for Mother’s Day, and on May 13 BYC will help during the town-sponsored event, Mayday Playday.
Children in the club will also help paint phase two of the public mural on the north-facing wall of the Berlin Visitor’s Center, on Main Street.
A kickoff event for BYC will be held on June 14 in Henry Park, and new activities will begin on July 5. Chaffee said about 20 children had expressed interest this year.
Planned educational activities include water safety lessons, environmental education and involvement in the arts, and playtime activities will include events with officers from the Berlin Police Department, $1 movie days in Salisbury, and bowling in Pocomoke and Ocean City.
Chaffee said those events help foster team building, teach children to respect themselves and others, and help to create lasting friendships.
“It exposes the kids to activities they might usually not be exposed to. Very rarely do the kids in our program go on vacation, or take … trips across the bridge,” she said. “They get to learn more about the community they live in [with BYC].”
Chaffee did not request a specific dollar amount from the town.
Williams said Berlin would host two international environmental education professionals in May and suggested the children in BYC try to arrange to meet with them.
“It can’t be anything but a positive experience,” he said. “The environment belongs to all of us, regardless of where we live on the earth. Hopefully that’s something that you all can work out together.”
Diakonia, based in West Ocean City, was up first, with board member Jack Burbage leading the discussion.
“We’re here to ask for money, like everybody else,” Burbage said, adding that Diakonia was asking for slightly more funding this year – $10,000 – than the $7,500 it received from the town last fiscal year.
He said the nonprofit was asking all local governments for bigger contributions, requesting $65,000 from the county (it got $42,000 last year) and $60,000 from Ocean City. Last year, the resort gave Diakonia $40,000.
Burbage said Diakonia supplied 11,000 “bed nights” to 152 people in 2015, along with 55,000 meals and 10,000 case management sessions. He said about 16 percent of those served were from Berlin.
The organization’s food pantry program served 968 Berlin households last year, distributing 43,000 pounds of food, and the emergency solutions program, which supports people at risk of homelessness, aided 15 people in the town.
Burbage said veteran’s programs also helped 24 people in 12 households in Berlin and including providing $17,000 in financial assistance.
In total, he said Diakonia paid out roughly $150,000 to Berliners in 2015.
“The biggest problem is, last year we served over 9,000 people, and as of right now we’re turning away 300 a month,” he said. “We really need to try to increase it and make it even better.
“We really need any help that you can give us,” Burbage added. “I really think that without Diakonia you’d have a lot of homeless people sitting on the streets, and we really need your help. If you could, in any possible way, find anything left over that you could give us, more than $10,000, we would really appreciate it.”
Berlin Mayor Gee Williams said there were more nonprofits per capita in Berlin than any other town in the county.
“We have tried to be selective in supporting the nonprofits that, literally, perform things that we as a town government could never dream of,” he said. “Diakonia, since it’s beginning, has been a model for helping people who are in hard times and in transition.
“Your request will be given every consideration,” Williams added. “We will do everything we can.”
Jack Ferry, director of the Worcester County Development Center (WCDC) in Newark, spoke next, calling his facility’s clients, adults with intellectual disabilities, “the best people in the world.”
WCDC provides employment opportunities, residential services and community-based support, he said.
“Our mission is to help our clients to achieve their highest level of economic and social independence,” he said. “We believe the economic independence comes before the social independence. If you have that dollar, besides knowing that pride of working, you’re able to make choices … about what you want to do, where you want to spend your money and what you want to do with your life.”
He said his clients provide janitorial services, cleaning homes, condominiums and businesses, as well as commercial laundry and food services, both in and outside the development center.
In 2011, total payroll of those served by WCDC was less than $25,000. Last year, it was $99,000, and this year Ferry said that number would rise to more than $115,000.
“That’s money that our clients earn. That’s money that they spend at the Atlantic Hotel or Crush N Crab enjoying dinner. It’s money that they spend at the Church Mouse thrift store buying clothes, or at the Food Lion buying groceries,” Ferry said.
Ferry spoke about a client named Charlene, who works in laundry at WCDC. On a Friday afternoon, just before going home for the weekend, she told Ferry that she was excited because just got a big paycheck.
“When she came back on Monday she walked off the bus and she had a new hair style,” Ferry said. “I said, ‘Charlene, you look so beautiful, what did you do this weekend?’ She said, ‘I took my aunt out for dinner, I got my hair done, and I put money in the bank.’”
Ferry asked for a $7,500 grant from the town, the same amount WCDC received during the prior year.
“Thank you for the work you do,” Councilmember Dean Burrell said. “Your facility is fantastic, and the programs you have are second to none.”
Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services Inc., based in Berlin, rounded out the evening meeting by highlighting work done with the Berlin Youth Club (BYC).
Youth Project Coordinator Amanda Chaffee said that group recently took 17 children for an outing that included building and testing model rockets, and participated in last weekend’s Spring Celebration in downtown Berlin.
On April 26, the group will plant flowers for Mother’s Day, and on May 13 BYC will help during the town-sponsored event, Mayday Playday.
Children in the club will also help paint phase two of the public mural on the north-facing wall of the Berlin Visitor’s Center, on Main Street.
A kickoff event for BYC will be held on June 14 in Henry Park, and new activities will begin on July 5. Chaffee said about 20 children had expressed interest this year.
Planned educational activities include water safety lessons, environmental education and involvement in the arts, and playtime activities will include events with officers from the Berlin Police Department, $1 movie days in Salisbury, and bowling in Pocomoke and Ocean City.
Chaffee said those events help foster team building, teach children to respect themselves and others, and help to create lasting friendships.
“It exposes the kids to activities they might usually not be exposed to. Very rarely do the kids in our program go on vacation, or take … trips across the bridge,” she said. “They get to learn more about the community they live in [with BYC].”
Chaffee did not request a specific dollar amount from the town.
Williams said Berlin would host two international environmental education professionals in May and suggested the children in BYC try to arrange to meet with them.
“It can’t be anything but a positive experience,” he said. “The environment belongs to all of us, regardless of where we live on the earth. Hopefully that’s something that you all can work out together.”