Make a Donation to STEAC

Each year about this time, we review what we’ve accomplished for the year that’s coming to an end. And we look ahead to challenges for the new year.

This review includes counting the number of low-income individuals and families we served in Yolo County through our growing number of programs.

We produce detailed charts like the one on the right, mostly to show to public agencies and

foundations that fund our work. As you can see, we helped over 7,500 individuals and 2,500 families with incomes at or below the poverty level.

We think that’s an impressive amount, particularly for an organization run mostly by volunteers. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story of our work. They don’t tell the story of the impact our help has had on the lives of the most vulnerable in the county. The numbers are not what motivate our volunteers to donate countless hours of their time.

They are motivated by stories like these – ones where a small amount of emergency assistance makes a huge difference in the lives of our struggling neighbors:

Living in a Car

From years of help, STEAC volunteers got to know this woman on a first-name basis. She received food from the closet and was a regular recipient of gifts at the annual Holiday Program.

The volunteers also knew that her home was her car.

She was living in a van that was packed with personal belongings. No one knew where she parked at night. No one knew

how she got gas for the van, but she always managed to drive to the annual Holiday Program distribution site. She did this for at least six years.

Then last year at the Holiday Program site, she announced she wouldn’t be seeing our volunteers any more. She had been accepted to attend a university – to go to law school no less. She had a part-time job and would be living in an apartment. She thanked our volunteers, who wished her well. We haven’t seen her since.

Catching A Brake

            We got a call asking us to help a homeless man with money for a brake job for his car. The man was living in a shelter and was slowly pulling his life together after years of alcohol abuse and homelessness. He was offered a late-night job, but needed a working car to drive to the new job. The man owned a car, but the brakes were shot. He was using the emergency brake to stop. We paid $117 for new brakes. He got the job and is well on his way to moving out of the shelter and into his own apartment.

Checking In

Just over 5 years ago, STEAC provided a woman who was being abused by her spouse with $62 in bus fare to travel to the home of her relatives.

Once away from the threatening situation, she was able to build a new life, find a job and move into her own home.

This is the story she told in a letter to the STEAC volunteers, which came with a check – for $62.

Cooking Up A New Job

            Last month, we got a call from a man who had just moved to Winters to live with his brother. For years, he worked as a chef, but he was unemployed – for the first time in his life.

The man sounded desperate. He didn’t have enough money to buy clothes for a job interview he was having later that day. STEAC volunteers met him at 2 in the afternoon at All Things Right & Relevant clothing store to get him clothes for the interview. He was taking part in our Suit Up for Success Program.

He arrived at the interview at 4 in the afternoon in his new clothes. He not only got the chef position, but also has since earned a promotion.

He stopped by the R&R store to say thanks – and to drop off a cake he had baked for the volunteers.

    Restoring Power

A single mom with five children ranging from 5 years to 13 was on the verge of having her utilities turned off. 

She was usually able to squeak by on monthly earnings of $689 governmental cash aid and food stamps. Her rent cost $400 per month. But July had been exceptionally hot, and the PG&E bill for the preceding two months was beyond her ability to pay. 

Because of the serious impact losing utilities would have on this family, STEAC helped her catch up by paying her full past due bill (just over $300), so she would be able to provide the basic clothes and supplies needed for her children as they started a new school year.

These are stories from just a few of the low-income residents that STEAC helped in 2005.

Thanks to your generous donations, we have been able to continue this important work, even in the face of shrinking public funds and donation of goods and services.  

We were one of the nonprofit groups in the county that once again was turned down for a federal grant. Loss of a $100,000, two-year Federal Emergency Services Grant means that our ability to continue to provide emergency assistance at existing levels will be seriously jeopardized in 2006.

Priorities for 2006 

In the face of the funding challenges, we have set these priorities for helping low-income residents of the county for the upcoming year:

We will continue our core work of preventing evictions by providing rental and utility assistance and short-term housing in the form of motel vouchers.

We will continue to provide free food, furniture, clothing and cash assistance for family expenses.

We will place a high priority on programs that help people help themselves. Our Suit Up for Success Program has served as a model for how a small amount of assistance can have a long-term impact.

We will greatly expand our Educational Assistance Program that helps residents complete vocational education courses.

More than ever, we need your financial support in order to continue our work. Please send a generous year-end donation to:

Short Term Emergency Aid Committee

Box 1047

Davis, CA. 95617

If you have any questions, please call the STEAC business office at 530-758-8435.

Thank you for helping us assist the less fortunate.

Sincerely,

Jana Tuton, President

STEAC Board of Directors

Short Term Emergency Aid Committee

Extending a Helping Hand to Low Income Residents of Yolo County Since 1967

Box 1047

Davis, CA. 95617

530-758-8435 (office)    530-758-5444 (request for services line)     530-758-8521 (fax)

E-mail: steac@steac.org       Web Page: http://steac.org

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