Within the space of a few miles in Allegheny County, one can witness both the bounty and the bane of human services agencies trying to help people.

THE FRAYING SAFETY NET

Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette Keith Giles, left, founder and CEO of First Step Recovery Homes in McKeesport, and program supervisor Jerry Stradford have had to turn men away from their residential program for addicted or alcoholic men in recovery because of limited space. Click photo for larger image. Related story: Unpopular charities survive in a wider group Yesterday: The social services safety net is fraying Tomorrow: Pennsylvania's dynamic welfare secretary aims to break down barriers for needy families

It's a 10-minute drive from the gleaming offices of Achieva, the thriving South Side agency that provides services for mentally disabled people, to the nearly empty building on Forbes Avenue, Uptown, which houses The Program for Female Offenders.

And the lively bustle at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank warehouse in Duquesne is only a few miles from the clean but worn buildings in McKeesport where First Step Recovery Homes offers housing for recovering addicts and alcoholics.

Each program helps troubled or vulnerable people become vital, productive members of their communities.

But the sharply disparate fortunes of these programs reveal a sad truth in the human services universe.

No matter who provides money for an agency or how many competitors it has, one of the biggest factors in whether it will succeed is the public image of its clients.

As harsh as it may sound, programs helping the mentally retarded or hungry attract more donors than those helping the convicted or addicted. And some fear these have and have-not differences will widen as government funding becomes less plentiful and programs rely more on private donations.

One approach that some nonprofits are using to cut the risk of spotty donations or uncertain government funding is to start profit-making operations to bring in new money, much in the manner of Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh, which generates nearly half of its $35 million operating budget through its stores and other businesses.

But not every provider can start a business that's a natural outgrowth of its stated mission. Nor does trying it come without risk -- such ventures typically have only a 50-50 chance of survival.

A 2003 Forbes Funds study noted that nonprofits often lack the financial tools and resources a small business owner would need. Few have the capital to start a business venture which may not become profitable for two or three years. Few have executive directors with strong business backgrounds who know how to make a go of it.

That leaves most nonprofits to reach out for donations and government grants as best they can.

Here's a closer look at the four local haves and have-nots cited above.

The Haves

Achieva
Bingham Street, South Side
Funds programs for developmentally disabled people

Achieva, the parent foundation for The ARC of Greater Pittsburgh, The ARC of Beaver, and other programs offering birth-to-death services for people with disabilities, recently topped the list of "high performers" among local nonprofits in a survey done by the Tongel Consulting Group. The Forbes Funds also has identified Achieva as one of Pittsburgh's best-managed non-profits.

What's its secret?

One key, according to President and CEO Marsha Blanco, has been its ability to form successful for-profit ventures -- handling mail for large corporations, landscaping (it has 120 accounts, most residential) and janitorial services. It's planning soon to launch a clothing line for people with disabilities.

Another key is fundraising, nearly half a million dollars each year. "We're very serious about fundraising," says Blanco. They hold an auction in April that attracts 400 people, and they have five charity golf outings, including one with Pittsburgh Penguins alumni.

All of this fuels the highly successful and widely acclaimed programs overseen by Achieva. Blanco is also proud that Achieva's administrative costs are less than 10 percent of the $34.7 million operating budget. Despite proposed federal cuts, Blanco says Achieva is strong financially.

"Part of our strategy is to open our arms to some of the smaller organizations that share our values of supporting people with disabilities," says Blanco. That's why the Achieva umbrella now covers ARC of Beaver, which had been struggling on its own. Given the tightening funding picture, she adds, "I don't think any small agency will be able to make a go of it for much longer."

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
Duquesne
Collects and distributes food to local pantries

The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in Duquesne collects food for nearly 350 pantries, which in turn provide food for an estimated 120,000 people each month.

	Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette Staff member Donna Hitchens of Port Vue loads shelves at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank warehouse in Duquesne. Although honored for management excellence, the food bank recently has suffered cutbacks in funding and donations. Click photo for larger image.

"It's not just the chronically unemployed who come to us. It's children, the elderly, it's people making minimum wage who can't make it through the month," says Anne Hawkins, chief development officer.

The warehouse operation, located on a former steel plant yard a few miles past Kennywood Park, is a 94,000-square-foot, environmentally friendly facility built in 1999 that is all neat racks, clean floors and stacks of boxes. Inventory is computerized, and the truck docks are set up so a driver can pull up, load up and be gone in 20 minutes.

"We can tell you where every box in this building is and we can account for everything that comes in and goes out," says Hawkins. In 2000, the Food Bank won the Alfred W. Wishart, Jr. Award for excellence in nonprofit management.

The Food Bank finished in the black at the end of 2003, the most recent data available, but officials there face a deficit this year despite layoffs and using 20 percent of their savings. It's been a steep fall since 2000, when the food bank finished the year with a $2.58 million surplus.

Joyce Rothermel, a co-founder, cited two reasons: donations from Giant Eagle have dropped by more than half because manufacturers, which used to reimburse the stores 75 cents on the dollar for any damaged or expired food that was donated to charity, now credit the stores directly without requiring a donation. "Giant Eagle still supports donations, but there's less financial incentive to do it," she says.

The second blow was the loss of a $400,000 federal nutrition education grant last year after a reinterpretation of rules meant the Food Bank would have to come up with matching funds. It had been running the program for 10 years. And under the proposed state budget, it could lose $460,000 in state funding next year -- enough to buy a month's supply of food.

Knowing they may not be able to count on government dollars, Food Bank officials decided a while ago to become less reliant on that funding. Public money now accounts for one-third of their budget, down from half four years ago.

Working in the Food Bank's favor is its solid reputation in the community.

After the Food Bank helped flood victims in September, a first-time donor sent the group a $10,000 check. But the average donor gift of $35 has gone down by $5 in recent years. With food donations lagging behind demand, Rothermel says they now must look for ways to raise money to buy food that used to be donated.

The Have-nots

The Program for Female Offenders
Uptown
Programs to help offenders reintegrate into society

In less than three years, the Program for Female Offenders -- which also helps male offenders -- has lost $700,000 in federal funding as part of a national cutback in government support, including a $130,000 contract to instruct 40 people as they try to get a General Equivalency high school degree, take computer classes or undergo general job training.

"This is a population that is getting sicker -- they have very significant drug and alcohol issues, they have significant mental health issues. We're talking about people who have fallen through every crack in this society," says Executive Director Carol Hertz.

The cuts have forced the agency to eliminate outpatient drug and alcohol services and child care services, and other programs have been restructured to save money. But Hertz is determined that her program won't turn into another crack for them to fall through.

Rather than reduce services further, Hertz has scaled back her staff from 60 full-time positions to 35. Vacancies for van drivers, cooks and secretaries have remained open.

"We let go of all our support staff," Hertz says, giving the Forbes Avenue facility a cavernous feel.

The program relies almost entirely on government funding, she says. "For many years it was reliable. It's really just over the last few years that it has changed and we've taken some great, great hits."

She adds: "We get very little from private donations," a development she attributes to the general lack of sympathy for the people her agency helps. Hertz thinks that's a mistake.

"As a society, we're only as strong as our weakest link. It costs us a fortune to incarcerate them. The services we provide are far more cost-effective. We give them a chance to turn their lives around, to find suitable employment, to support their families."

First Step Recovery Homes Inc.
McKeesport
Housing for up to 18 months for 30 adult men recovering from alcoholism or drug addiction

After more than 13 years in operation, Keith Giles of First Step Recovery Homes, Inc. says more than 90 percent of the men who enter the program are either employed, in school or reunited with their families when they leave.

The only program of its kind locally, Giles says he's had referrals from throughout Allegheny County. The program has had 20 names on its waiting list for two years and, in recent months, it's been forced to turn away a dozen men from even getting on the list because there's no room.

"It's a shame," he says. "We've been successful, but we can't get the funds to thrive." Giles says they've had trouble getting an occupancy permit for another house one block away so the program can expand. "They don't want us there. Nobody wants these kinds of facilities in their back yard."

Adding to his frustration are the badly needed repairs at his current Penny Street house, including fixing exposed wiring on a second floor landing as well as patching a 3-foot hole in one wall. Giles has a $20,000 federal grant to make those repairs -- but he can't use a dime of it until he comes up with $20,000 in matching funds first.

"That's where the difficulty comes in, trying to get the matching funds," Giles says. The program, in fact, recently lost ground on that quest after it had to spend $1,200 to repair a furnace.

To bring in more money, Giles has reluctantly made one change -- when men in the program get jobs, they're now asked to give a portion of their salaries back to First Step. He's also considering starting a landscaping business, which he hopes will provide the men with training and a little bit of money.

"It's gotten harder. We have to be creative because there have been some major cuts," says Giles. "But I feel confident that First Step will survive because we're God-centered and faith-based."