On January 30, 2018, Lewiston State Bank announced its continual support of Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse by sponsoring a house within CAPSA’s nine-home transitional housing neighborhood, Independence Place. Lewiston State Bank’s gift has become the seed for additional sponsorships.
CAPSA offers a transitional housing program for clients leaving shelter. The program combines rent subsidies (CAPSA pays the full rent for 3 months and then gradually transitions the rent over two years) with educational workgroups and case management for an average of 20 families between CAPSA’s Independence Place neighborhood and apartments in the community.
The program focuses on developing independence by reducing housing expenses and assisting clients as they work toward a life asset such as a down payment on a home, starting a business or pursuing an education.
CAPSA began seeking sponsors in response to a growing concern that the Transitional Housing – Violence Against Women Act funding will not be renewed. This would represent a significant loss in funds for CAPSA’s clients and transitional housing program.
CAPSA has been a beneficiary of the transitional housing grant for the last nine years and utilizes the money to fund scatter site rent subsidies, workgroups, and a full-time caseworker.
Jill Anderson, CAPSA’s executive director, thanked Lewiston State Bank for being the first business to fund a home, and thereby create momentum for this project.
“Though CAPSA owns nine homes, if the federal funding fails to renew, it will be devastating because CAPSA will no longer have funds to assist the current twelve families or future families with scatter-site housing support and the salary of a full-time caseworker,” Anderson said. “This is why Lewiston State Bank’s initial annual commitment and example was so important.”
Dale Buxton, Lewiston State Bank president, said he wanted the donation to spur other businesses forward. The gift was given with the hope to encourage future donations, not to bring any praise or credit to the bank.
Buxton’s goal has been realized, as the Malouf Foundation, MW Construction and the ICON Foundation have all agreed to sponsor a home. These combined sponsorships will bring in $30,000 for CAPSA and aid four families.
“It’s amazing to have so much community support,” Anderson said. “To have four businesses provide this kind of assistance to us within the last two months, it’s overwhelming.”
The Malouf Foundation has supported CAPSA for more than 8 years with donated sheets, pillows, and blankets for more than 300 shelter clients each year. Starting in 2016, Malouf began hosting an annual art auction fundraiser on CAPSA’s behalf which has raised over $65,000 for CAPSA. Malouf employees also participate in a payroll deduction system, where employees donate a little from each paycheck to support CAPSA’s zero turn-a-way initiative.
Kacie Malouf, co-founder of Malouf and member of CAPSA’s board of directors, said she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to assist in this way.
“One of the things employees find especially engaging and fulfilling about working at Malouf is the opportunity to serve within the community,” Malouf said. “As a company, we feel strongly that our success in business motivates and allows us to give back to the community. We believe in CAPSA’s mission and we’re committed to helping them.”
MW Construction has been supporting CAPSA for years including building CAPSA’s shelter and recent Gail Bird Wienshenker Therapy and Mary Palley Children Center Addition which opened one year ago. So, when Mike Funk, owner of MW Construction, heard about the Independence Place sponsorships, he concisely and quickly said, “I’m in.”
“I love the work CAPSA does because it truly helps people” Funk states. “I am grateful to be a small part of this organization and to show my support. I encourage other businesses to find ways to support CAPSA and see how your support will benefit our community.”
The ICON Foundation’s committee is full of amazing people who are committed to helping CAPSA in whatever way possible.
Part of the mission of ICON’s foundation is to help provide year-round relief for members of the community in critical need.
“In February, we asked Jill and James to come and present on CAPSA’s needs,” ICON Foundation Chairman, Jamie Jorgensen said. “They listed security needs, technology needs and the need for families to have a safe place to stay. When they presented, I knew we needed to be a part of as many initiatives as we could to help. CAPSA has an amazing staff whose dedication to their mission is incredible. I am a native of Cache Valley and one of the main reasons I love living here so much is the generous support of the community and how everyone takes care of each other to make it a wonderful, safe and happy place for everyone to live.”
Jorgensen continued saying she feels very fortunate to be a part of this initiative, and she looks forward to providing ICON employees with opportunities to serve.
As part of sponsoring a home, CAPSA’s goal is to have each organization take pride in their home and help maintain its beauty.
“We want organizations to come out and plant flowers together, rake leaves together and be involved in the upkeep and maintenance of the house,” James Boyd, CAPSA’s development director said. “For us, it’s about more than the money. It’s about getting the wonderful people from each organization involved in supporting survivors of abuse.”
With these three new sponsorships, CAPSA now has only five homes without sponsors. Boyd said CAPSA’s goal is to have every house sponsored by the end of the fiscal year, in June. A house sponsorship costs $6,000 a year. To learn more about the details, please contact James Boyd at james@capsa.org or (435) 760-5277.
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Contact: James Boyd, Development Director for CAPSA, james@capsa.org, (435) 760-5277