Evergreen Christian Outreach

Programs: The organization receives donations of food, clothing, housewares and firewood, which is then distributed as needed to clients. Supplemental food is also purchased. During 2017 we had 9785 individual visits to our food bank. Clients are permitted to shop weekly for needed items. This year echo help 200 unique families per month impacting approximately 1048 adults and 720 children each month. The food bank distributed 244,596 pounds of donated food which helped 595 households. 557 individuals were recipients of holiday meals. Echo also runs a summer lunch program to provide meals to children who normally receive free or reduced lunches at school. In 2017 the average number of families picking up food each week was 69 families with a total of 398 summer lunches picked up over the summer. Echo provided several other programs directed toward children. These include adopt-a-child which provided christmas gifts for 112 children. Easter baskets were given out. Back to school provided backpacks and school supplies for 53 children and helped with new clothes for school. Besides 2 paid employees, approximately 9000 volunteer hours were donated to run the food bank program.

echo provided financial assistance (paid directly to the service provider) to households to help with various expenses including rent, utilities, telephone, auto, medicine, child care, education and other miscellaneous cost. Echo also works closely with other agencies to provide our clients with care for mental health, domestic abuse, medical issues and expenses our organization cannot provide.

echo runs a resale shop which supports our core mission as well as provides funds to support our operations. All items sold are contributions from the community. This is clothing, furniture, household items, toys, etc. There are paid employees who process those donations and there are managers overseeing the operation. There are also approximately 250 volunteers who donated over 13,450 hours to help run the shop. The resale shop benefits the community in many ways. Our employees, the majority who are low income workers, receive wages of approximately 275,000 as well as 50% of the health care expenses if they choose health care. Clients of echo who are in need of clothing, household items, etc can choose items at no cost. Clothing is provided for those clients for job interviews, funerals, weddings, etc. Community members who are affected by fire or flooding are also provided with clothing, furniture and household items at no cost. The whole low income community benefits (as well as the general public) as they can buy high quality items at a fraction of the cost of new items. All items that are donated that are not put in the shop are recycled to other non-profits or are sold to help support our mission.

echo jobs program started as a resource for job seekers and has grown into a resource center for all members of the community. Computer classes, education programs, job seekers workshops, resume writing, wellness seminars, knitting/crocheting classes and individual tech time are some of the offerings. In 2017 a total of 849 services were provided. The jobs center also administers the local ser program, a government program which offers training opportunities and employment for low income older workers, helping them get back on the path to financial stability by providing job training/assessment and access to job listings. 2017 expenses: 25,795 cost of services that are not directly related to the programs but necessary to run the programs, such as cost of clients advocates, facilities, office expenses, etc. 2016 expense: 281,188