Social services get a hand

As the economic downturn and terrorist attacks begin taking a toll, county residents respond with their money and their time.

By Sharon Salyer

Herald Writer

LAKE STEVENS — When Boeing announced layoffs that will cause 30,000 employees to lose their jobs, they couldn’t foresee that one of the unintended economic dominos would land with a thud on Debbie Curry’s worktable.

Curry, who is blind and deaf, helps assemble conduits, plastic and metal brackets that hold wiring for Boeing’s 777, 767 and 747 airplanes. She is one of the 20-member production team at the nonprofit Sherwood Community Services.

Each Sherwood team member has developmental disabilities. Some, like Curry, also have health or physical disabilities.

But the economic fallout caused by the Boeing layoffs, cutting a swath through the Puget Sound labor market like a Kansas tornado, will soon hit Sherwood’s production workshop.

Next year, its Boeing contract will be cut almost in half, a reduction of nearly $177,000 — just one example of what local social service agencies say are the combined effects of the terrorist attacks and the region’s weakening economy.

Sherwood’s production shop was organized to give workers employment and a sense of accomplishment that’s obvious from Curry’s beaming smile as she was handed a long, white business envelope one recent Friday morning.

"Paycheck!" she exclaimed, adding with equal enthusiasm, "I’m helping Boeing."

Sherwood workers give meticulous attention to screwing the bolts and washers into lime-green conduits and packaging them into individual plastic bags sealed with masking tape.

They take pride in the near perfection of the parts assembly. Each is triple-checked by supervisors and a production specialist before it leaves the building.

"We have an error rate of less than one-tenth of 1 percent — that’s 24 errors per 10,000 parts," said Marlene Maier, program manager. Sometimes, she explained, the error is a part rather than an assembly problem.

Budget problems like those faced by Sherwood are rippling through social service agencies across Snohomish County, a byproduct of a nearly unprecedented double whammy:

First, the shock of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, followed by an outpouring of donations to the East Coast while checks to many local charities nearly stopped.

Second, businesses, beginning with Boeing but sweeping through virtually all other sectors, announced layoffs, a second and potentially more ominous threat to the long-term outlook for charitable donations.

Among the results: Donations are down 15 percent at United Way as it hits the halfway mark of its annual campaign; Volunteers of America put out an SOS for food donations after shelves at their food bank distribution center were nearly bare; and a major fund-raising campaign so the Everett branch building of Pathways for Women YWCA could be purchased outright was delayed.

But there’s been an unexpected countertrend as well, with a story line that could be plunked straight from "It’s a Wonderful Life." One by one, local residents have begun stepping up because they know the need is great.

Sylvia Anderson, executive director of Everett Gospel Mission, said she has a friend who has worked at Boeing more than 20 years who recently received his layoff notice. Nonetheless, he and others in similar situations are still donating food or volunteering their time.

"It’s a sense of community that says I want to share what I have," said Anderson whose organization runs both a men’s and a women’s and children’s shelter.

The Center for Battered Women first postponed and then fretted over the turnout for its Chocolate Lovers annual fund-raiser earlier this month, vital to helping pay for assistance to domestic violence victims.

A record crowd attended.

"We had to increase seats, and we maxed out the space available," said Jeanne Long, interim director. The organization was able to bank $32,000, a $7,000 increase compared with what the event raised last year.

After hearing about the pending Boeing cutbacks, Tim Hornbecker Sherwood’s executive director, began making phone calls to urge people to attend its recent fund-raiser. Twice as many attended and donations were unusually generous, with a little more than $30,000 raised.

Still, that just begins to plug the gaping hole caused by the $177,000 Boeing contract cut. Unless other businesses contract with Sherwood for bulk mailings, packaging or letter stuffing — other types of work its employees are trained to provide — it will mean hours and paychecks will be cut nearly in half.

"I can’t tell you how much this work means to people who otherwise would be home watching TV or in a group home," Hornbecker said. "It’s hard on anybody who loses a job. It’s especially hard on someone with developmental disabilities. This really is their life."

With their 22-hour workweeks, Sherwood workshop employees make $800 to $1,200 a month. For Debbie Curry, 50, this money has paid for household necessities and even allowed her to take occasional short trips to Hawaii.

"It’s really affecting all suppliers and not just sheltered workshops," Boeing spokesman Tim Nowlis said of the company cutbacks.

Boeing is reviewing how to continue support to sheltered workshops such as Sherwood, he said.

Earlier this month, Hornbecker sat at his desk surrounded by the number-laden sheets of paper that detail the toll on next year’s budget. Five Sherwood staff, some of whom are child care or development employees working in areas unrelated to the Boeing contract cuts, already have lost their jobs.

In what was perhaps as much a pep talk to himself as an answer to a question, Hornbecker said: "We’re not going to be defeated by this. We’ll look at other sources of revenue and other opportunities for our people."

Volunteers stepped in to take over duties such as organizing the annual fund-raising dinner, he said.

"I am utterly overwhelmed by the volunteer response," he added. "Now the question is: Will the money follow?"

You can call Herald Writer Sharon Salyer at 425-339-3486

or send e-mail to salyer@heraldnet.com.