For charity, it's hard work in hard times

If being busy meant making money, 2008 would be a banner year for VEAP. Business was up 18 percent over last year in the first six months of the year, with some areas up as much as 63 percent.

But Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People is in the business of distributing food, school supplies, transportation and a hot meal on holidays to people who need help. This year, demand for assistance in VEAP's service area of Bloomington, Richfield, Edina and Minneapolis' southern edge is reaching all-time highs.

"It's been an incredibly rough summer for everybody," said Susan Russell Freeman, VEAP's executive director.

"We're seeing people who are still working, but who don't make enough. The cost of living has outpaced income," she said.

Statistics tell the story:

• VEAP's food shelf, the second-biggest in the state, is distributing 100,000 pounds of food each month. Three-fourths of the group's annual food budget was spent by the end of July. From January to June, more than 25,000 people received monthly help with food, an increase of 27 percent over the same period last year. The number of families who visit the food shelf by appointment went from 60 to 72 a day.

• A back-to-school program that this week distributes backpacks, crayons, calculators and other school supplies to children whose parents sign up for the program is expected to reach at least 2,700 children. That's a 38 percent increase over last year.

• A summer food program that provides packed breakfasts and lunches for kids from low-income families served almost 1,400 children for 10 weeks this summer, up 25 percent over last year.

VEAP has appealed for more donations and help, and Freeman said the group is coping with the aid of 250 regular volunteers and partners that include churches, businesses, foundations, schools and organizations that donate food, money and supplies.

Mostly private funding

VEAP was started in Richfield in 1973 by lay people in 13 churches. Today, 61 churches help support the secular organization, which last year got 92 percent of its $1.2 million budget from non-governmental groups. Donations from individuals were the biggest source of funding, accounting for 43 percent of donated dollars. About 200,000 people live in VEAP's service area.

Freeman, who was VEAP's sole employee when she started in 1976 and now supervises a staff of 14, said VEAP's focus hasn't changed. The theme remains "neighbors helping neighbors."

"We serve the largest population of working poor in the state," she said. "We have people working 60 and 70 hours a week who can't feed their families. ... If we can keep families stable, it strengthens the community."

Most of the people who seek VEAP's help are working or elderly, Freeman said. She said many of the people seeking assistance this year haven't needed it before and may be embarrassed to ask for help. More need emergency help, and some are depressed and need counseling.

"We're seeing people who have lived here in Bloomington for over 20 years in the same house but got caught in illness or job loss or they took out a second mortgage and they're losing their house," Freeman said.

"People are coming to us and saying they're going to be out of their house in less than a week. ... They waited because they thought for sure they'd get that job or be able to fix the situation."

About 10 percent of clients are from Edina, and about 10 percent are from Minneapolis west of Cedar Avenue and south of 50th Street. In both cases, the most common clients are single elderly women, Freeman said.

Richfield accounts for about 30 percent of clients, and Bloomington about 50 percent.

Ordinary families

Most are families with kids, often headed by a single mom. Many are working in low-paying service industry jobs that lack benefits like health insurance, where taking a day off to be with a sick child could end in dismissal, Freeman said.

VEAP owns four vans that are used to help seniors get to medical appointments and go grocery shopping. Food is delivered to seniors who can't make it to the food shelf.

Everyone who gets help at VEAP must meet income guidelines that roughly equate to $40,000 a year or less for a family of four. Three social workers help evaluate requests for emergency aid such as housing assistance, help with paying utility bills before power or water are cut off, and requests for money for gas or car repair.

But fewer people are getting such help this year because gas and utility costs have gone up so much, Freeman said.

"Two years ago, we could pay a utility bill for $250," she said. "Now, in 2008, we're seeing bills for $1,500."

Much of VEAP's help is purposely low-key.

Parents can pick up an age-appropriate "birthday bag" for kids up to age 12 that include a cake mix and frosting, plates, napkins, candles and party favors. At Christmas, children are barred when parents visit VEAP to pick gifts for their kids.

"We don't adopt families," Freeman said. "We are here to give families the tools to be strong. The parents choose ... the gifts and the kids see the parents giving the gifts."

She and the board are working on a proposed budget of $1.45 million for next year. When gifts and services are included, the cash budget makes up only about one-third of VEAP's output.

Time will tell if that budget is ambitious enough, Freeman said.

"We are not here to set capacities, we're here to respond to need," she said. "We're very grass roots, and that's what makes us important and effective."

Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380