Nonprofits merge in ailing economy
- Share via
Two Costa Mesa nonprofit organizations serving the poor will combine resources, officials announced Wednesday.
Share Our Selves, a large charity on Superior Avenue that provides homeless and low-income clients with medical care, food, monetary assistance and a variety of other programs, is swallowing up Families Costa Mesa, a much smaller Westside organization focused on services for children newborn to 5 years old.
No staff will be laid off from either organization as a result of the merger, said Share Our Selves Executive Director Karen McGlinn.
Families Costa Mesa is run out of a small office at 779 W. 19th St. in a Westside industrial area.
For a while, Share Our Selves has been the lifeline for Families Costa Mesa, providing them about $40,000 a year in services, which helped the organization meet its obligation to match funds for its main funding source: $160,000 a year from the Children and Families Commission of Orange County.
“SOS is part of the reason that we haven’t gone down. We’re very grateful that SOS has merged with our organization,” said Maribel Baez, the program director for Families Costa Mesa. Baez will remain in her present position as the organization is rebranded as the SOS Family Center.
Share Our Selves, in contrast to Families Costa Mesa, has an annual budget totaling more than $8 million, including in-kind services and because of its size, scope and visibility in the community the bigger nonprofit is much more successful at raising funds than its smaller counterpart. This is a trend in the nonprofit sector, according to McGlinn.
“Good organizations that are transparent, provide needed services and are accountable are doing really well. Small organizations that have a harder time being visible and expanding their services are struggling,” McGlinn said.
Before the merger the two organizations also frequently referred clients back and forth because Families Costa Mesa couldn’t help some needy adults who walked in, while Share Our Selves didn’t have as many services targeted toward babies and toddlers.
Families Costa Mesa, for instance, provides prenatal care, classes on breast feeding and help placing young families in the right health insurance plans. Share Our Selves has a much wider variety of services that are tailored to adults such as a food distribution center, doctors on call and counseling.
Making the partnership official is just a way to streamline operations, directors said. Communication between the organizations will be easier and there will be no need to duplicate services.
“Our numbers are up spectacularly,” McGlinn said, referring to the number of cases Share Our Selves is receiving as the economy continues to stumble. “The people needing to come here — it’s everybody. I had two attorneys in here a week ago, one seeing if I wanted to hire him.”
Having the extra space provided by the Families Costa Mesa facility will help Share Our Selves cope with the burgeoning demand, she said.
ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected]. PAUL ANDERSON is the Daily Pilot’s city editor. He may be reached at [email protected] or at (714) 966-4633.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.