DATE: Friday, April 4, 1997                 TAG: 9704030198

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 05   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   75 lines

COMMUNITY TRUST LAUDED FOR SERVICE TO DISABLED

For the past 15 years, the Virginia Beach Community Trust has quietly gone about the business of making life easier for the families of those with developmental disabilities or mental illnesses.

Recently, the Community Services Board and the mayor honored the group's board of trustees. In a letter presented to volunteer trustees Carrollyn Cox, Burke Margulies, Betty Morgan and Michael Mulkey and trust advisor Richard Olson, Mayor Meyera Oberndorf thanked the members of the group for their volunteer work.

``Through the Community Trust program, Virginia Beach families have had the opportunity to plan for the future of their family member, and create peace of mind for their own future,'' Oberndorf wrote.

The local trust allows families of a disabled individual to set aside funds for the benefit of the mentally retarded or mentally ill individual after the parent or sibling's death and to know that the money will be fairly and compassionately distributed.

The paperwork that established the trust is unique, said Cox, an attorney and substitute judge. ``It's one of the first legal documents written by committee that turned out well,'' she joked. Cox and Margulies, also an attorney, did the legal work without charge when the trust was established. Like all of the trustees, they give freely of their time and professional knowledge.

Two things that make the Virginia Beach Community Trust different from similar ones is that it is not a pooling of the resources to be distributed among all of the recipients and that funds remaining after the recipient's death do not become part of a common fund. Principal and interest in each account are used only for the designated person. Remaining funds are passed on as designated by the family.

``The trusts are maintained separately,'' Margulies explained. ``You have the money there for your child - it's his only.''

While the normal fee for administering a trust is 1 percent per year or more, the Community Trust provides a free service. And while most financial institutions require a trust of $100,000 or more before they will administer it, the non-profit group has no such stipulations. ``We have as little as $5,000 in some of ours,'' Cox said. ``And we have others with much larger amounts, some with almost unlimited assets,'' she added.

Accounts are opened with a $1 deposit at the time the trust is established. The trust is activated when proceeds from life insurance policies and bequests are added after the deaths of the parents.

Benefits of the trust go beyond cost savings, however. ``We give families a lot of comfort knowing that after they're gone, their child will get a great deal of attention,'' Margulies said.

The trustees are able to provide the individual attention because they know the population they are working with and what the requirements are for them to continue receiving income from military, state and federal benefit programs.

Each recipient has a case worker from the Virginia Beach Community Services Board. ``This gives them two support systems, financial on one side and the CSB on the other,'' said Richard Olson of Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance Company, who is one of four trust advisors. (Community Services Board staff members Jay Lazier, Tommie Cubine and Patti Phelps are the others.)

In addition, families designate an advocate to make the recipient's needs known to the trustees once the trust is activated. The advocate, usually a relative or close family friend, lets the trustees know when any special problems arise.

Funds from the trust can be used for just about any special need or reasonable desire that a recipient may have. Requests for money generally fall into the same categories that cause any parents of adult children to dip into their pockets .

Among the most frequent needs are the costs associated with moving into a new apartment and money for dental work and eye glasses not covered by medical insurance.

Currently containing 113 accounts, the Virginia Beach program has gained nationwide attention as a common-sense model for other communities to follow. MEMO: For more information, call 473-5238 or 473-5223.

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