Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409160048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: |By LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
This fiscal year, that grant is ending, forcing CHIP administrators to turn to the community for help more than they have in previous years.
"Because we had Kellogg, we never had a problem," said Mary Lyn McBride, CHIP's development manager. "We were able to construct a budget without an ax over our heads. We were able to put together a really solid program and not worry about where dollars were going to come from."
CHIP has an annual operating budget of $800,000 for the 1994-95 fiscal year. The program received a $200,000 Maternal and Child Health grant, as it has in past years, through the state Department of Health and Human Services and a $100,000 federal Family Resource and Support Services grant through CHIP of Virginia.
That left $500,000 to be secured from other sources - governments, businesses and individuals. Several private Roanoke-area foundations have awarded grants and the medical and corporate communities have lent support, McBride said.
Roanoke-area governments have allocated funds: Salem, $37,000; Roanoke County, $16,380; Roanoke, $6,600; Botetourt County, $5,000.
Still, CHIP entered the fiscal year with a $90,000 shortfall.
"We definitely need money," said Peggy Balla, CHIP's executive director. "But we are not in any danger of folding up or shutting our doors."
CHIP was founded in 1988 as a private-public coalition that provides comprehensive health care for Roanoke Valley children living at or below the poverty level. The program has served as a model for child-health programs in 11 other Virginia communities.
The program serves 1,100 children, from birth to age 6. Another 1,400 are on a waiting list.
CHIP only last month felt comfortable enough to remove children from its rolls who had grown out of the set age limit. About 150 were removed, enabling enrollment of children who had been on the waiting list.
When children got older, the board of directors didn't want to force them from the program, McBride said. "There was no place for them to continue services. But the situation in Roanoke is different than it was several years ago. There are a lot of new services on the horizon.
"Now we feel those children are not just left out. We're helping families hook into other community services."
What's needed most is a stable base of funding, McBride said. The government grants are fairly secure, she said. She anticipates that allocations from the four localities will continue, in increasing amounts. Salem's allocation already is a line item in the city's budget, she said.
"We don't want every year to be starting over again, trying to raise $500,000," she said. "We've been doing it but we're really leaving children open to fate."
CHIP has applied to become a partner agency of United Way of Roanoke Valley in hopes of increasing its pool of stable resources. If CHIP's application is approved, United Way could provide $100,000 annually.
"We could be very pessimistic about the deficit or be proactive and really do something about it," Balla said. "That is the direction we are taking - working hard to find money wherever we can to make sure our services are not reduced."
by CNB