Mid-Valley Housing Plus helps mentally ill stay on top of the business of living

By THERESA HOGUE, Gazette-Times reporter

For clients being served through Mid-Valley Housing Plus, a simple phone call or a trip to the pharmacy can mean the difference between mental stability and independence, outbursts that could lead to a stint in a mental health treatment center, or even life on the streets.

The two-person staff at Mid-Valley Housing Plus, led by new executive director Leah Swope, takes care of a client load of around 70 mentally ill Corvallis residents, most of whom live at the Benton Plaza in downtown Corvallis. Swope and Samantha Ortiz are responsible for everything from helping clients pay bills and manage their money to making sure they take their medication, getting them help during a mental health crisis, and even taking them on weekly trips to WinCo to stock up on groceries.

But for years, the nonprofit organization has been scrambling to make ends meet, often unsure whether they’ll make it to the end of each year without shutting down, which clients say would have a profoundly detrimental effect on their lives. Because Mid-Valley Housing Plus has no secure source of income to meet all its financial needs, it depends on patching together grants and donations to continue to stay in service.

The charity has just begun its new fiscal year but Swope, who started her job two and a half weeks ago, said she’s coping with a $40,000 shortfall to make it through next July. It’s a big initial challenge to Swope, who is a recent Oregon State University graduate with a degree in business management. She took over from former director Synthia Hill, who stepped down after years of service because of personal reasons.

The organization’s current yearly budget is around $87,000, and this winter and spring, a Community Development Block Grant of $8,000 and an emergency infusion of $19,000 from the city helped to continue services through the end of the last fiscal year. Although Swope plans on applying for more grants, she said such money often comes with spending restrictions that tie the grant to a specific program. Donations from the community have no such strings attached.

“With community support we can continue running what we have now,” she said.

Jeff Benes has been a client for four years. Benes was laid off from his job of 21 years about five years ago. The change sent him into a downward spiral, triggering his bi-polar disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder and finally driving him to consider suicide. Community Services Consortium put him in touch with Mid-Valley Housing Plus, where he received help in finding new housing. Volunteers helped him move in and set up his new place.

Benes said the help he’s received from Mid-Valley Housing Plus has enabled him to be relatively independent. Without the help, he believes that he might have died.

“I’m so grateful somebody cares,” he said.

Client Sharon Fleischmann was on a waiting list to get into Benton Plaza. She has been in and out of mental hospitals, usually after she forgets to take her medication or misjudges the dosage. Now she receives a nightly phone call from one of the staff members, who reminds her to take her medication.

“This is the support that is keeping me going,” Fleischmann said. “Otherwise, I might be back in the hospital.”

Volunteers and staff also help get clients make it to doctor’s appointments, the pharmacy or the food bank. They help them clean their houses and make calls if someone is having trouble with a government agency. Until recently, Mid-Valley Housing Plus has been able to help low-income residents pay for their medication co-pays, but a drop in revenue because of a slumping economy means they’ve had to suspend that program for now.

Awareness and funding are perennial issues. Swope is hoping to recruit a volunteer Web site developer, both to inform the public about the nonprofit and to accept donations. Although Mid-Valley Housing Plus is noting its 15th anniversary, Swope believes that not many people in the community know it exists. Swope said she’d never heard of the nonprofit until her senior year in college.

Another revenue-gathering opportunity that the organization is exploring is an eBay-based donation project called Missionfish, where eBay shoppers can make direction donations to Mid-Valley Housing Plus, and eBay sellers can pledge a percentage of each sale to the organization. She’s hoping those opportunities, in addition to community fundraisers she’s currently planning, will help make up the shortfall.

“We focus on the mental illness aspect, but it’s also about homelessness,” Swope said. “We’re able to reduce homelessness, and reduce the contacts our clients have with law enforcement, and the trips they might have to make to the hospital.”

How to help

Tax-deductible donations can be made to Mid-Valley Housing Plus, PMB 382 P.O. Box 3004, Corvallis, OR, 97339.

To donate through Missionfish on eBay, see www.missionfish.org and type in Mid-Valley Housing Plus.

To contact Mid-Valley Housing Plus, call 738-8552 or e-mail mvhplus@yahoo.com

A mental health community picnic is planned for 5 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 1 at Avery Park’s Lions Shelter. Hamburgers, gardenburgers, hot dogs, salad and more will be provided. Salads (no mayonnaise), sides, chips and lawn chairs would be welcome additions. Donations will be accepted.

Music will be provided by Pete Kozak & the Bush Pilots. The event is free and open to the public.