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The
Coop Housing
Program is under construction
- Support, training and counseling to assist other organizations to service the needs of the general public in changing times and in event of natural calamities.
- Educational materials and resources aimed at enabling clients to improve their life skills and earning potential, prepare for career and life changes necessitated by changing economic conditions and personal situations.
- Training and counseling in personal finance management, basic life skills, job interview and resume preparation techniques, chronic health situation management,
care giving, etc.
- Direct and indirect aid through counseling services, intervention and referral to other 501(c)(3) social service organizations.
Creation of a nationwide database
for services, intervention and
referral.
- Direct aid in the form of food and food vouchers, clothing and other basic life necessities, transportation and temporary housing.
These activities will be accomplished through a combination of regular volunteer staff, qualified individuals providing reduced-fee or donated services and paid professionals.
The Board will oversee and evaluate the programs and policies to ensure that all activities address the needs of clientele without regard to race, creed, color, ethnicity, sexual identity, handicap or other factors.
The only qualification for services is need and the only limit is the ability of the organization to mitigate the distress. Since the conditions that we address involve economic and personal distress, no client shall be denied or otherwise disqualified by their ability or inability to pay for services.
While the list above would appear to be reverse-ordered, the presentation is made in a chronological manner while the percentages of total concentration reflect the anticipated effort three to four years hence. Due to the long lead-time of the grant application-, approval, award-cycle, it is expected that the cash-intensive efforts of food banks, etc. will necessarily give way to the labor-intensive but inexpensive tasks of course development, referral services and counseling & education in the near-term efforts of the organization.
Past accomplishments:
Prior to the founding of the organization, an individual was identified who, being new to the area and just released from an extended hospital stay, was in dire need of food and other assistance. Being under treatment for a condition later diagnosed to be Crohn’s disease, the doctors had ordered limited physical activity, extensive bed rest & a regimen of regular sitz baths and a course of medication that precluded regular employment situations.
Extensive interventions with existing social services yielded very little assistance and numerous denials of help due to funding shortages, disqualification due to various factors involving the clients’ race, sex, health status, etc. Through a concerted effort of lobbying private charity and individual assistance, this individual has now been placed with a private benefactor who is assisting while the client develops a private practice amenable with his condition and capabilities and allows him to return to the position of a productive citizen.
Much of the networking and subsequent aid was accomplished by the establishment of the foundation to serve as an identifiable recipient and coordinator of aid to the client.
Present Activities:
The primary effort being put forth involves the establishment of a wide and diverse network of experienced counselors, organizations, and donors to accomplish the stated goals and mission of the foundation.
To this end, a website has been established and is in the process of being developed and refined by the client mentioned in the past accomplishments narrative. In addition, a database of organizations, experts, websites, educational materials, etc. is being compiled to serve as a basis for providing services to the public in an efficient and coordinated manner. It is felt that this is the best way of ensuring that top quality services are provided to the greatest number of people.
Plans are also being formulated to perform fundraising and grant application activities within responsible and accountable standards of philanthropic endeavor and establish lines of communication to the communities most in need of assistance.
Several IRS rulings hold that various types of aid provided for “relief of the distressed” are charitable activities. Revenue Rulings 69-174, 69-441, 78-99 et. al. provide examples of activities that qualify as charitable by reason of alleviating distress consistent with the stated programs of this foundation.
Safety Net Foundation programs are targeted to intervene in situations of distress and disrupt the client’s slide to dependence on public (governmental) assistance programs. Providing counseling services, educational programs and basic necessities of life in such circumstances serves a charitable purpose and benefits the public as a whole thus qualifying as activities approved for section 501(c)(3) organizations.
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