Blog Topic #8

"A Budget is a statement of values." Discuss the way your CP gets and spends its money or resources us a reflection if its values. 

The table I added below is from EHP's Annual Report for the year 2014-2015. Their reports are from July 2014 to June 30, 2015. 

My CP gets their cash support from individuals, community groups, corporations, restricted contributions, fundraising, foundation grants, congregations, and other revenues. The majority of their financial support comes from individuals and foundation grants, compared to a very small community and corporation support. Having a real idea of the budget contributions that EHP receives makes me realize the affect state and local government budget distribution have on the efficiency and capacity of EHP. Seeing how very little is contributed from the community is a bit concerning because from the time that I have been volunteering I have seen the great need of the community. EHP tries its best to provide all that they can but sometimes may be limited by the amount of donations they received. 

Below is EHP's Expenses from 2014-2015.

The report reflects on how much EHP does use their funds for the best of community. It makes me happy to see that they invest in programs but it would be nice to see them invest a bit more in their administrative factor. After all it is the administration that helps run the program and help provide the services to the community. 

Which Hallmarks, if any, are expressed in the way your CP manages its budgeting and service delivery? 

Hallmark Two: We honor the dignity and sacredness of each person

Hallmark Six: We create community among those with whom we work and with those we serve

EHP expresses these two Hallmarks because of the programs they offer. Its spends most of its money on being able to provide the food closet and warehouse for people in need. EHP acknowledges that there will always been emergency situations for individuals and families who need assistance whether it is with food, clothes or furniture. They understand the circumstances that these people live in and try to help get back on their feet. They make connection with community and build relationships. 

Blog Topic #7

How does your CP interface with local governmental units? Be specific. Are there any leaders in particular who have had an important impact on the success or development of your CP?

In local governments there are many things that all nonprofits deal with. In the book it talked about how nonprofits have become more integrated into the government. EHP would be looked at as a policy implementer program because it delivers emergency services to its community. EHP also receives a majority of their funding through charitable contributions and some federal grants. Although that has its limits within itself because it may cause strains on the program from having a community with great needs but not the resources. 

Today what mark the difference in local governments are the interactions that local governments have with its constituents. Elections are now held to have people in office. At-large elections are when a city voter can vote in as many candidates as there are seats to fill. In a district election a city voter can only vote in the council race for their district. The leaders that are elected affect EHP as well as other programs because the city counsel can provide positive attention to a program and support their services. They could also help with networking.

Time Sheet #3

Community Service total hours: 3

On March 21st I was on my own making small, medium and large boxes of food. I learned to make use of empty boxes to fill them with the food that was appropriate for the box size. Souli showed me how they try to make use of everything that they are given. All the boxes that are used to distribute the food are the boxes where the food that is donated came in. I started but restocking the rice and pasta shelves so that I can empty the boxes to fill them with food. 

The small boxes contain: 

• one bag of rice
• one bag of bean
• one peanut butter jar
• one box of cereal 
• one box of pasta 
• two cans of beans, fruit, green peas, spaghetti sauce, sweet corn, soup, red salmon 
• two small milk cartons 
• and two small juice cartons. 

The medium boxes contain:

• two bags of rice
• two bags of beans
• one peanut butter jar
• one box of cereal 
• two pasta bags
• four cans of beans, fruit, green peas, spaghetti sauce, sweet corn, red salmon
• two medium size cans of soup 
• two small milk cartons
• and two small juice cartons.

The large boxes contains: 

• two bags of rice
• two bags of beans
• one peanut butter jar
• one box of cereal 
• two pasta bags
• four cans of beans, fruit, green peas, spaghetti sauce, sweet corn, red salmon
• two medium size cans of soup 
• four small milk cartons
• four small juice cartons
• plus a small box. 

All of the boxes are given with a juice, carton of eggs (12), fruit and meat (amount varies depending on the family size).

Below is a picture of some of the boxes that I put together that day. I made about twenty to thirty boxes. This day was a very hands on experience because I restocked the shelves, picked the box size and made it the size I felt was appropriate. 

Time Sheet #2

Community Service total hours: 2.50 

On March 7th I went to EHP to continue with my community service. I check in as usual in the main office and I asked if I can work in the warehouse because it was the part of the program that I haven't been able to help in. She was a bit hesitant but said I can go check it out and if they didn't have any work for me to do that I could just come back and help with the food distribution. 

I walked over to the warehouse and told the lady that I was there to volunteer. She asked if I had been sent over from the office and I let her know of my interest to know more about the warehouse and the closet. She then shared with me that the person that helps with the back had called in sick and she was trying to get a hold of another person to come and fill in with her. Since there was no one in the back there wasn't anyone that could have told me what needed to be done. So she suggested that I go to the food area and check back around 10:30 to see if they had someone to work there for the day. I said okay and walked back over to the food distribution area. 

I went to the food distribution area and help out with checking in people and handing them their cart of food. That day there was a lot of bread that was put outside so that anyone can take home. This day I was able to start doing more things on my own like making a couple boxes. 

Blog Topic #6

Focus Question #1: What are the three principle functions of legislatures? 

Legislators have three principle functions and those are: policymaking, representation, and oversight.

Policymakers enact laws and allocate funds. Debates over funding allocation resulted in revision of old laws, passage of new laws, and changes in spending. Legislators don’t have sole control, governors, courts, and agencies also determine policy through executive order, judicial decisions and administrative regulations. The dominant policymaking institution remains in legislation.

 

Legislators are expected to represent their constituents. They are expected to speaking on behalf of the people they represent and do the will of the public in designing policy solutions. The issue with this is that often legislatures do not have a clue about the needs and wants of their constituents. Citizens can write or visit their legislature to urge them to vote a certain way in a pending bill.

Oversight was created because of the need to ensure that policies and allocated funds were enforced properly. Oversight ensures that polices and funds are serving their purpose. Legislatures themselves have created methods of checking agency implementation and spending, a role that is not popular among agencies.

Timesheet #1

Community Service total hours: 2

Yesterday I was finally able to be a part of the Ecumenical Hunger Program (EHP). It took me about 45 minutes in travel time, but it was worth it! Today I participated in the food distribution from 10:00am to 12:05pm. When I arrived I had to wait a couple minutes to speak to Florence, though I was not the only one. There was another lady waiting to meet with her and told her she could help me before; she was in no rush. I felt bad because I got the impression that Florence had a tight agenda with meetings to go to. Nevertheless, we got the paper work done and my work began.

I worked with Tiana who has been working for EHP since October of last year. Tiana is in charge of making the boxes for distribution. There are five different kinds of boxes: supplement, small, medium, large and extra large. The number of people in the family determines the size of the box the family will receive. The supplement bags were smaller bags for individuals that might be living in a shelter where cooking is not permitted or for those who don’t have access to a kitchen. The boxes contain canned vegetables or corn, rice, beans, cereal, instant potatoes (not very popular), bread, cartons of eggs, frozen meats like chicken, steak, pork, juice, pasta, and pastries. The food that is included in the boxes is determined by the supply and what is available. Today they didn’t get a supply of bread until 30 minutes after the distribution started. There were a couple people that asked about pastries and bread. If some people asks for more of something its likely that they are given a couple extra.

Food distribution is open to anyone that is in need. The only proof that needs to be provided is an address and medical cards in the case of children. The information is recorded so that they have a record of the people that are going to need food. It also helps them determine how much food they need because they’ll know how many people are in the family.

My first day there was incredible. It filled me with joy to see how people with needs are getting the help that they need. I was in charge of checking people in and handing over their cart of food. On the clipboard there were three rows signature, address, number of family and a question if it was their first time being there. I was responsible for making sure that the correct information was written down; if the person did not right thing down the information correctly I would write down their client number. There were a couple individuals that stood out to me that day. There was one lady that Tiana recognized. The lady would to get bagels and eggs only. Tiana was curious why she didn’t register so that she can take all the food she needed. When I spoke to the lady in Spanish she told me that she recently underwent a surgery and could not take the groceries back to her house because of the weight. It turned out that she was registered and qualified for a medium-size cart of food but only took eggs and bagels because it was what she could offer her daughter who is a student at UC Davis. On my way to school leaving EHP I saw the lady and offered her a ride to here house. I learned that she rents someone's garage. I told her that if she wanted to I could give her a ride to her home with the groceries so that her family can have the food they need.  There was another lady that really stood out to me. After giving her the cart of food she thanked us multiple times and kept looking at the cart of food and said how grateful she was to finally have some food. She had a family of six.

I made a couple observations through my volunteer hours. I saw that EHP has a very small number of offices available and a large community to serve. It was not until recently that they began to try to create more space. I noticed that Florence had a lot of responsibilities at EHP. There were a couple question that I plan to ask in my next visit. I would like to know if they partner/collaborate with any other organizations, where their food source comes from, what other services do they offer, if someone is a homeless and can't really provide a physical address what do they do, to name a few. Although it took a while for me to get in contact with them it was worth it because I really look forward to going back and learning more about the other resources EHP assists families and individuals with.