Expanding services

A little-known foundation funded by a bingo parlor may soon become the household word for services for seniors and the disabled. Spokane Valley Foundation provides free transportation and a weekly pinochle day for a client base of seniors and people with disabilities living in Spokane Valley. With the help of Norman Patton, the new chief executive officer, the 26-year-old foundation is expanding its Valley services.

The foundation is also working with Spokane Transit Authority, Spokane Valley Ministerial Association and Spokane Valley Nazarene Church in hopes of providing transportation for 211 disabled people who rely on Spokane Transit Authority’s paratransit service. Those riders live in neighborhoods throughout the county that will lose van service when STA’s new boundaries take effect in January.

If chosen, STA would give the group four vans equipped with lifts and $44,000 in state grant funds to get the program up and running. Riders would either be taken to their destinations or shuttled to the nearest STA transit center, whichever is closer.

Patton is working with the Ministerial Association to gather volunteers to drive routes not covered by staff and is exploring potential grant sources for long-term paratransit funding.

Chuck Wilkes, associate pastor at Spokane Valley Nazarene Church said both organizations bring a needed piece to the puzzle. The foundation has experience with operations and fund-raising, and the association can rally large groups of volunteers.

“Having the foundation involved has made it much easier in looking for volunteers and resources,” Wilkes said.

Wilkes said the group is currently holding meetings to determine how many of the 211 people will use the transportation service. Depending upon those routes, the association will pull together volunteers, who will receive drivers’ training from STA (people interested in volunteering should call 926-1545 and ask for Diana or Chuck).

Susan Millbank, community ombudsman for STA, said organizations started meeting in October with the goal of securing a short-term solution that would buy time to put a permanent program in place.

“It’s just come together so much. When the Spokane Valley Foundation stepped forward, it was really unbelievable,” Millbank said.

Patton has 15 years’ experience working for the Salvation Army and grew an outreach ministry in Oxnard, Calif. from a $300,000-a-year endeavor to a $1 million annual budget

The bingo hall currently takes in about $3 million annually. However, after paying out a mandatory 80 percent of the money in prizes, the foundation is left with $400,000. When operation expenses and staff salaries are subtracted, the charity nets about $85,000 for its charitable projects.

“Community support is going to be pivotal, because what we get from bingo is on a decline,” Patton explained, adding that public acquainted with the foundation’s mission is a top priority.

“My biggest obstacle with media and name recognition is nobody knows Spokane Valley Foundation exists. That’s my challenge because everybody knows it as Pines Street Bingo Hall.”

While the foundation isn’t famous, it has gained a loyal following among clients who receive rides to sites that serve senior meals, medical clinics, grocery stores and beauty parlors.

“I’d be lost without them, I tell you really,” Gladys Baccelli, a resident of Park Place Retirement Community, said.

Baccelli receives weekly rides to Cancer Care Northwest’s Valley office, where she receives treatment for plasma cell cancer. She knows of other Park Place seniors who use the foundation’s transportation program and said her regular driver, Bob, “is as pleasant as can be.”

Marcella Walters receives rides to appointments at Deaconess and Sacred Heart medical centers and to Cancer Care Northwest on Sherman Ave., where she is being treated for lung cancer.

“My husband is 91-years-old and he fell and he can’t drive. My son works so he can’t just take off all the time,” said Walters, calling the service a “godsend.”

Drivers are punctual, Walters said, and gently help her in and out of the car. “I just enjoy it. They’re so nice.”

In addition to making 7,500 transports a year, people referred by various social service agencies who meet requirements (including living at or below 50 percent of the federal poverty level) will receive help with prescriptions that are filled through Deaconess Medical Center and Valley Hospital and Medical Center.

A medical needs pantry will provide gift cards redeemable at area grocery stores or driver-delivered groceries that follow a physician-prescribed diet.

For seniors struggling to afford denture refits, the foundation will help with $150 to $300 of the bill, depending upon circumstances.

“We’re nickel and dimeing services right now to get the program fine-tuned,” Patton said.

Patton has already applied for grants through Spokane County and other entities and hopes to secure a HUD funding this spring to build 40-plus units of low-income housing on 5 to 10 acres of land the foundation will acquire.

Foundation representatives are meeting with a newly-formed coalition that includes Catholic Charities, Spokane Valley Meals on Wheels, and Spokane Valley Senior Center.

“As the city of Spokane Valley develops, we want to make sure the senior conscientiousness is there,” Patton said.

As knowledge of the foundation increases, he hopes to someday expand prescription assistance and other services to the larger Spokane area.

In the meantime, bingo numbers and prizes play a major role in enabling the foundation to help seniors, like Baccelli.

“A lot of people love to play bingo. I do, too. If that’s what it pays for, I’d say they’re doing a very fine job.”