needs deeds - lower cape outreach council | neighbors...

NEEDS DEEDS&Celebrating 35 years of service to Lower Cape residents in need.Lower Cape Outreach Council Spring, 2017

To say there’s a lot going on at Lower Cape Outreach Council is an understatement.

This issue of Needs & Deeds is full of news about our programs, our people and our plans for the future. Meet Diane Casey-Lee, the head of HopeWorks. She’s making inroads in the local business community for our clients, heading up a team of 5 Job Counselors and reaching out to segments of our client population that could benefit from the services and support of HopeWorks.

Catch up on the accomplishments of HopeWorks in its first 6 months of full operation. I think you’ll be impressed, particularly by the number of people we’ve sent to training programs and certificate programs. These are people who will lead better lives with fewer catastrophes because they are better prepared to fend for themselves.

Take a look at a new program we’re offering to male clients and to men throughout our communities. Man Alive is a support group for men. Contrary to the notion that it’s a man’s

world, many men in our culture are at loose ends trying to reconcile the traditional notions of men being the bread winners and warriors with the realities of work and family life in the 21st century. This is a program that will grow and shape itself as the needs and wants of attendees become clear.

Our Food to Encourage program is extending its reach. We’ve already got weekly sessions in Wellfleet and Orleans. This year will find us reaching out to Provincetown. This program has made a world of difference in the nutritional and health lives of our clients and we intend to make it available to as many people on the Lower Cape as possible.

By the way, drop into the new Hope Chest at Post Office Square. If you’ve not been there for a while, you must go see what a cheerful, warm and inviting little shop Anne Kiefer has created. Her volunteers and our Hope Chest committee have worked to make this shop a jewel. Not a wasted inch of space and everywhere you look there’s

something fascinating or beautiful at just the right price. Check out the new Kitchen Boutique with affordable small appliances, dishes, glassware and all sorts of culinary accoutrements.

Speaking of full speed ahead, we’re using this issue to announce a major event for Lower Cape Outreach Council. This year we’ve been chosen as one of the beneficiaries of Seaside LeMans, The Race For The Cape Cod Community. Underwritten by The Davenport Companies, Seaside LeMans turns 100% of its sponsor dollars directly to beneficiaries like us. This is a big bonus for the coming year and you might want to get involved. (Full details inside.)

The 14th Annual Super Restaurant Blowout is underway and, for you early birds, the The Hope Golf Tournament will take place at Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club on June 5th and our next Champagne Gala is booked into the Orleans Yacht Club for Saturday, September 16th. Both events need volunteers, volunteers, volunteers!

Through it all, look for an event called Bocce For A Cause which will benefit us and – good news! – we’ll be raffling off another Toyota Tacoma this summer thanks to the help of our friends at Orleans Toyota.

Inside you’ll find a page of logos and photos of people and organizations that have been very kind to us this past year. If I’ve left someone out, let me know and I’ll make it right next issue.

There’s more! There’s always more but I hope this is enough to whet your whistle and get you to turn the pages of this first issue of Needs & Deeds for 2017.

Larry Marsland, CEO

Seaside LeMans

Needs & Deeds Spring, 2017

Our Board of Directors is a true working Board made up of sixteen members and CEO Larry Marsland. Since becoming President in June 2016 I am proud to report that we are fortunate to have such an active and caring group of people who support Lower Cape Outreach’s mission, work and fundraising, who regularly help our clients, staff and volunteers, and who respond positively to new ideas and programs that will further the mission and improve the effectiveness of our organization. Our 2016-2017 members are Pat Rowell, Barbara Elliott, Jason Nye, Jack Sundermier, Maddy Entel, Judy Gaechter, Sassy Richardson Roche, Abby Summersgill, Richard Bernstein, Kim Concra, Ellen Ehrhart, Lee Chirgwin, Jim Dishner, Page McMahan, and Ellen Dickinson. You may know many of them already through time spent volunteering together at LCOC or in the local community.

The Board meets monthly, August through May, on the fourth Monday at 5:00 p.m. in the upstairs conference room at the LCOC office. We always welcome your visit and input at these open meetings. For more information or to get more involved, contact me through [email protected].

Thank you for all you do, Nancy Renn, Board President

FOOD TO ENCOURAGE:

Nutrition with a HeartI journeyed down to Wellfleet on a Tuesday night to the 246 Community Kitchen where we run one of our Food to Encourage workshops. I had no idea I would be walking into such a happy gathering of people. The place was filled with folks from the community who were there to eat and chat and have a good time with their neighbors. It was a wonderful supper. Someone played the piano and so many people came over to tell me that the nutrition we were providing was making a measurable difference in their weight, blood pressure and glucose levels. And I thought, “Right! That’s why I write those grants.”

Upstairs a nurse from the Barnstable County Public Nurse’s office was conducting the weekly weigh-ins. A Nutritional Educator from Cape Cod Cooperative Extension was there with a blender making kale smoothies and handing out cupfuls to everyone who passed. One sip and they’d turn back and pick up a printed copy of the smoothie recipe.

Here’s the part that made me proudest. When one lady said something about not having a blender, Gennie reached into her bag of tricks and out popped a new personal-sized blender, just perfect for knocking out a morning smoothie. And, of course, Gennie handed every client a bag of fresh produce including (you guessed it!) fresh kale. Gennie and the blender and the

bags of veggies were Lower Cape Outreach Council’s contribution to this wonderful evening.

While we don’t have final results from our two Food to Encourage workshop sessions (we also held sessions at the United Methodist Church in Orleans) I can report that Wellfleet served 52 participants, primarily seniors. 38.9% of these participants reported improved blood pressure. 12.5% realized improved glucose levels. And nearly 80% lost weight.

Here’s another measure of success. Comments directly from the participants themselves…

“Greens that I have never even tried!”

“My cardiologist graduated me.”

“I never had fresh vegetables to cook with before.”

“I can’t believe that cutting potatoes and pasta would make

such a difference.”

In addition to sessions in Wellfleet and in Orleans, it’s our intention to begin another Food to Encourage series of workshops in Provincetown this year.

We thank The Kelley Foundation, The Eddy Foundation, Project Bread, United Way, and The Eos Foundation for supporting Food to Encourage and all of the food programs of the Lower Cape Outreach Council.

Greetings from the Board President

Ocean Edge Resort and Golf ClubJune 5, 2017

Join the team to support the great work of Lower Cape Outreach Council.

To play, to sponsor, to learn more, contact: Don Patterson, PO Box 1053, S. Orleans, MA 02662 or [email protected]


Many organizations, foundations, businesses and individuals helped us in 2016. Here are just a few…

Jung-Ho PakSound Dunes2016 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 provided by

Orleans Toyota

Mary Parsons & Linda Redding

The Turkey Trot Ladies

Andy’s Waffle Breakfast

Federated Church of Orleans Sailors Snug Harbor

of Boston

There’s very encouraging news from our jobs program for the first 6 months of its operation.

From June 2016 through December 2016, we helped 11 males and 17 females find employment. We helped them prepare resumes. We showed them how to conduct online searches. We counseled them about career opportunities and helped them formulate strategies for finding the type of employment they were seeking. We supported them every step of the way, sometimes through services like our food pantries, sometimes with financial assistance, always with the genuine support and ongoing involvement of our staff of five job coaches.

In that same time period, we spent $12,500 sending people to school. We sent a total of 7 people to Cape Cod Community College and to Cape Tech for certificate training programs that qualified them to leave part time, low paying jobs and begin working in fulltime positions with fixed schedules, benefits, better pay and, most importantly, career tracks for those who wish to pursue them.

These are 7 people who will not be knocking on our doors when the next recession hits.

The remainder of that $12,500 went to help the kids of our clients who were now able to apply to schools, remain in schools or pay for essential books and supplies when their household incomes had been interrupted.

(Note: Last week, Gennie and I were walking around the office beaming all day because a young man called to read his excellent report card to Gennie. He wanted to show us that our faith in

him was not wasted.)

For me, this data says that we have made significant, lasting changes in the lives of these clients. We have helped them build their own improved futures.

I’m happy to report that in 2017, we will double our allocation for educational assistance to $25,000. And it seems clear to me that we will spend every bit of that amount. This January we’ve already sent another 3 clients for CNA certification.

We thank The Brotherton Foundation, The Federated Church of Orleans, The Cape Cod Foundation and The League Club of Cape Cod for supporting HopeWorks and helping our clients make significant life changes.

LM

HopeWorks... It really does!


Season by season, day in and day out, our many volunteers are busy working with clients, serving on committees, participating in fundraising events and campaigns, and sharing in the mission of LCOC. Much of this work is done quietly as individuals as they intake new clients in the office, advocate, coach, and mentor. Others are active in small groups as volunteers at Katy’s Korner, the Hope Chest, the food pantries, and committees. Sometimes, like during the holidays, large groups come together to distribute food, coats, and gifts to many in the community.

Another important way our volunteers can and do broaden LCOC’s reach and impact is to spread the word. The more we talk about available opportunities and encourage participation, the more effective these programs will be for all the people in our communities. The potential of the following relatively new programs will be enhanced when individuals, businesses, and non-profit partners share this information and refer people to our office.

1.) Hope Works provides support for a broad range of clients including those with degrees but no job or underemployed, seasonal workers, people with gaps in their computer skills, and the unemployed who want to learn how to navigate the job search world. Services offered include resume writing, interviewing skills, dressing for success, improving computer literacy, and applying for jobs on-line. Financial support for job- training and education is available and encouraged.

2.) Food to Encourage is a nutrition and wellness program that has three components. Nurses track blood pressure and blood glucose levels of participants, a nutrition educator brings examples of healthfully prepared foods and recipes so clients

can try to prepare them at home, and each attendee goes home with a bag of free fresh produce. These programs are very well-received and are currently being held in Wellfleet and Orleans.

3.) Pay it Forward is a micro-loan opportunity that is grant-funded and participants repay the loan ($1000 to $2000) within 8 months @ 1% interest. In the Cape business climate, many self employed people can make a decent living until the cold weather hits, but then may have no paycheck until the spring. They might use the micro-loan to buy start- up supplies or rebuild inventory. Clients have also used the loan for medical, transportation and home repair needs that had upfront costs.

Finally, there is still another way to spread the word and that is to encourage more volunteers from each of the towns we serve. There are opportunities to volunteer in our programs, to serve on our standing committees (Nominating, Development, Human Resources, Hope Chest,Volunteer, Finance, and Hope Works), or to become a member of the Board of Directors. We help clients from Harwich to Provincetown and would like to have the same representation in these towns with our volunteers.

If you would like to get connected or learn more about programs and committees or refer someone to a specific program, call the LCOC office at 508-204-0694 or contact [email protected] or check the website at lcoutreach.org

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things on the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” -Fred Rogers

Nancy Renn Chair, Volunteer Committee

Help Spread The WordSave the Date:

Our Volunteer Month Appreciation will be on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 from 3:30-5:00 p.m.

at the ELKS Lodge in Eastham. Plan to come and celebrate together.

New Beneficiaries Announced for 2017 Seaside Le Mans

At the kickoff event for the 2017 Seaside Le Mans - The Race for the Cape Cod Community, five deserving, local non-profit organizations were announced as beneficiaries for this year’s race, each with a designated focus for the anticipated $600,000+ in funds that will be generated this year through sponsorships and matching gifts:

• Cape Cod & Islands Major Crisis Relief Fund - Humanitarian Aid After Disaster

• Cape Cod Healthcare - Heart & Vascular Institute

• Lower Cape Outreach Council - Basic Needs Assistance for Lower Cape Families

• Mass Audubon Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary - Science & Environmental School Education Programs

• Special Olympics Massachusetts - Unified Sports Inclusive High School Programs

For details on each beneficiary and focus area, visit the enhanced, new website at www.seasidelemans.org!

Sponsorships Now Available!Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 9 and secure your team’s spot out on the track!

Seaside Le Mans is now registering teams for the 2017 race. The maximum number of teams is 20, so sign up now to reserve a kart for your company or group. Driving sponsorships range from $2,000-$10,000. For information, contact Kelsey Ellis at [email protected] or 508-394-8800 x142.

Save the Date! September 9, 2017

at Mashpee Commons.

Check out the new www.seasidelemans.org!


My grandmother, a follower of Dorothy Day, decided when I was seven years old that I was ready to help her make jelly sandwiches to leave on the back porch of her home in Far Rockaway, Queens, NY.

The last stop on the train line from NYC was Far Rockaway, and folks who hopped onto the baggage cars ended up about seven streets from my grandmother’s house. My grandmother’s home was ‘marked’ as a place homeless folks (labeled ‘hobo’s in the 40’s and 50’s) would head for, assured that they would find a sandwich and, hopefully, a piece of fruit.

I watched her preparing sandwiches since I was tall enough to see over the kitchen table and it was a great honor for me to be allowed to help her. This was my first experience with “hands-on ministry”.

My path has lead me from making jelly sandwiches in Queens, to Wall Street to Street Ministry in Connecticut, to heading the Connecticut Council of Churches and the Cape Cod Council of Churches, and developing ministries to meet the needs of neglected and disadvantaged children, homeless men and women, veterans, pregnant and parenting teens, folks struggling with substance abuse, and families living with food insecurity.

I am honored to be working at Lower Cape Outreach Center, continuing on the path my grandmother, and family members, encouraged me to walk. LCOC is a very special

place where staff and dedicated volunteers offer a helping hand, a listening ear, and a compassionate heart. LCOC provides essential basic needs to individuals and families in their time of trouble: help with rent/mortgage payments to prevent homelessness; help with utility bills to keep homes warm and safe; folks who need clean and gently used clothing for themselves and their growing children, and, through a network of eight food pantries, nutritious and healthy food.

My role at LCOC is to implement a new project – HOPEWORKS – offering assistance to folks who are seeking employment on the Lower Cape that will provide steady employment, fair wages and benefits. A team of HOPEWORKS Job Coaches works one-on-one with LCOC clients and Lower Cape residents to identify marketable skills; update or create resumes; assist with on-line job searches utilizing one of the ten computers in the LCOC on-site computer lab. A HOPEWORKS job coach will work with a client until the client finds the job that will make positive changes in their lives, and the lives of their family.

Employers on the Lower Cape are very receptive to the concept of HOPEWORKS and welcome potential employees who present as a professional - truck drivers, admin assistants, CNA’s, medical technicians, computer techs. LCOC can provide tuition support for training and for certificate programs at Cape Cod Community College, Career Opportunities, and technical schools.

Please feel comfortable stopping by the HOPEWORKS office at LCOC, Brewster Cross Road in Orleans. I will be happy to talk more about HOPEWORKS, and maybe share a jelly sandwich with you.

Meet Diane Casey-Lee

It’s hard to believe as we struggle to decide whether to go to Florida this winter or take a cruise, that there are local folks sleeping in their cars and camping in the woods. I’m not talking about people in Hyannis. I’m talking about the Lower Cape and people like the woman who came to our offices a week ago. She needed a car repair. She was working three part time jobs and living in the car because she couldn’t find a place she could afford to live.

Now she’s living in a shelter and soon she’ll move into an apartment she can afford thanks to the Housing Assistance Corp and we’ll be there to cover first and last months’ rent, security and moving costs.

Not all stories have such positive endings. There’s a young man we’re all very fond of here at the office. On the surface, he’s everyone’s idea of the right sort of fellow. Well spoken, well educated, well mannered, he does nonetheless live in a makeshift shelter in the woods. Because he is skilled and clever, his shelter is a model of what a shelter can be but it is still a shelter. It is still cold in the winter. It is still vulnerable to all kinds of assault, from the authorities to his transient neighbors.

He hasn’t had good experiences in men’s shelters. He would rather live free and self-determining than share space with alcoholics, drug addicts and

people who have suffered the depravations of homelessness for so long they have become permanently lost.

I once talked to Christine Austin of the Homeless Prevention Council about this particular client and she told me, “Sometimes you just have to leave them to heaven.” That’s a hard one.

Studies estimate that between 4,000 – 6,000 people fall into homelessness on Cape Cod during the course of a year. Too many to leave to heaven.

Cape Cod’s nonprofit community looks at homelessness as a top priority problem facing our organizations and, most importantly, our clients. Shelter are few. Affordable housing is still more of a good idea than a reality.

Here at the Council, our approach is to help families and individuals before homelessness is an issue. It is easier, cheaper and more compassionate to keep a family in the home rather than try to help them once the home has been lost.

In 2016, we spent approximately $222,000 keeping our clients from becoming homeless. Then we backed that help with a food program, mentoring, a jobs program, free clothing, emergency financial assistance, SNAP and federal fuel assistance, all to keep the household income focused on retaining the home.

467 households remained intact in 2016 because the Council was able to help when help was most needed. 878 men, women, children and seniors remained in their homes because of the generosity of our donors and our grantors like United Way of Cape Cod and the Islands, Bank of America, Sailor’s Snug Harbor of Boston and The Chatham Fund.

Homeless on Cape Cod


Two new events showed lots of promise and lots of potential for growth this past year.

Our Truck Raffle went on all summer long and, though it was our first try, it turned out to be very successful. This year we intend to replicate this event and make

it even more successful by starting earlier and playing to our strength…the Hope Chest. What a perfect spot for a truck raffle. We had the overhead cover to park under and we had the constant flow of Hope Chest customers who bought 80% of the tickets sold.

Thanks to Orleans Toyota for working with us to make this raffle so successful.

The Hope Golf Tournament premiered this past autumn at the Cape Cod National. Again, it was an exceptional event with 86 participants, a live auction and terrific refreshments. Don Patterson and a committee of hardworking members of our development committee put the whole thing together and worked for weeks and weeks lining up hole sponsors, auction

items and, of course, players. We’re doing it again, only this year the 2nd Annual Hope Golf Tournament will be held at Ocean Edge on June 5th. Watch your mail and our website for more details as the time approached.

Thanks to Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Charitable Trust for sponsoring the Hope Golf Tournament.

Kudos to event coordinators, Ellen Dickinson and Don Patterson, for making these events so successful.

Two New Events Return in 2017!

LowEr CapE outrEaCh CouNCiL aNNouNCES a DiSCuSSioN aND Support group for mEN!

What does it mean to be a man in 21st Century?

The adjectives and definitions that applied to our dads don’t work anymore.

Sometimes it feels like men are the last ones to find support and enlightenment.

Held responsible for most of society’s ills, we wander through the complexities of 21st

Century life without a road map, a game plan or a helping hand.

mission: To provide services, support, education and mentorship to men at all stages of life, all walks of life, all points of view, all ages and ethnicities and all sexual identities to come together and share their

experience, strength and hope with one another.

Groups are forming now. Call 1-508-240-1490 to be a part of this special experience.

take a Leap! Whether you’re fresh out of school, a young dad, in the middle of your life’s journey or entering those golden years, it’s never too late to

rethink, reconstruct or redirect your life.

aLiVE!

Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club

June 5, 2017Join the team to support the great

work of Lower Cape Outreach Council.


Your Chances To Win Are Better Than Ever!

All proceeds go to fighting hunger on Cape Cod!

30 Restaurants Are Participating This Year!

This year the Super Restaurant Blowout will have 3 winners. The 1st prize winner will receive dinner-for-two gift certificates for 12 of Cape Cod’s best restaurants.

The 2nd prize winner will receive 10 gift certificates. And, the 3rd prize winner will receive 8 gift certificates.The drawing takes place on June 15th at the Lower Cape Outreach Council’s Annual Meeting.

(Winners need not be present.)

Super Restaurant Blowout!14th Annual

Bistro on Main (Chatham)Chillingsworth (Brewster)Pain D’Avignon (Hyannis)Chatham Squire (Chatham)

The Port (Harwich)Winslow Tavern (Wellfleet)

Inaho (Yarmouth)Wild Goose Tavern (Chatham)Nauset Beach Club (Orleans)Chatham Bars Inn (Chatham)

Scargo Cafe (Dennis)Brewster Fish House (Brewster)Mahoney’s Atlantic (Orleans)

Captain Linnell (Orleans)Joe’s Barley Neck Inn (Orleans)

Fin’s (Dennis)The Mews (Provincetown)

Beacon Room (Orleans)Buca’s (Harwich)

Red Pheasant (Dennis)

Rock Harbor Grill (Orleans)Karoo (Eastham)

PB Boulangerie (Wellfleet)Crown Pointe Historic Inn (Provincetown)

Fanizzi’s (Provincetown)Impudent Oyster (Chatham)

Del Mar (Chatham)Van Rennsalear’s (Wellfleet)

L’Alouette (Harwich)Embers (Harwich)

Every dollar you spend helps support the 8 food pantries of Lower Cape Outreach Council.The drawing takes place on June 15th at the Lower Cape Outreach Council’s Annual Meeting.

(Winners need not be present.)

Each ticket is just $25 or 5 for $100. That’s right! Buy 4 tickets and get 1 for free.Order tickets at www.lcoutreach.org

LOWER CAPE OUTREACH COUNCILPO Box 665 Orleans, MA 02653

Non ProfitUS Postage

PAIDCurleyDirect.com

Lower Cape Outreach Council19 Brewster Cross Road in Orleans, MA 02653

Office Hours:Monday – Friday: 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM

Volunteer Appreciation Celebration, April 26, 2017Annual Meeting, June 15, 2017For more information please contact [email protected].

Katy’s KornerKaty’s is located at Council headquarters in Orleans. (Please enter through rear entrance.)Donations of clean, folded clothing and bedding are gratefully accepted. (Clothing in season only, please.)

Monday: 9:30 AM-12 Noon 12:30 PM-3:00 PM

Tuesday-Friday: 9:30 AM – 12 Noon

We can accept donations only when Katy’s Korner is open.

Please do not leave donations outside.

Closed on Nauset School Snow Days.

LOWER CAPE OUTREACH COUNCIL KATY’S CORNER

Council Staff:Larry Marsland, Chief Executive OfficerGennie Moran, Chief Operating OfficerTherese DuPre, Account & Database Manager

Monday through Saturday, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 508-255-556558 Main Street (Post Office Square), Orleans

email: [email protected]

Bored with your kitchen?

Got the culinary Blues?

Time to mix things up and add some spice!

Coming Soon: Coming Soon: Our new

Kitchen Boutique!

If you need help or know someone who needs help:Call: 508-240-0694 FAX: 508-240-1289Email: [email protected]: www.lcoutreach.org

needs deeds - lower cape outreach council | neighbors...

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