Nonprofit North County Disabled Services needs help

The five board members who direct North County Disabled Services have firsthand experience facing limitations. Janice French is the mother of a disabled girl; Shauna Jopes is a director of REINS; Ian Kinsman is wheelchair-bound; Beverly Pastizzo cares fulltime for her son, a victim of an accident caused by a drunk driver; and Teri Fontaine, disabled herself, works two jobs and takes care of a son with cerebral palsy. Yet this group of people is dedicated to offering disabled people a chance to experience life outside the boundaries of their limited existence. Every day they fight to keep their six-year-old organization alive.

Glen Gifford and his mother, Lisa, founded North County Disabled Services in 2001 to initiate sports opportunities for Fallbrook’s disabled population at the new Ingold Community Sports Park. Despite spina bifida that confined Glen to a wheelchair, the fledgling organization began to grow, first providing hand cycle competition for its members. Now, in addition to hand cycling and bowling, the organization conducts trips to SeaWorld, Padres games, the beach, boat rides and picnics.

For many of the individuals who participate in the activities, these get-togethers provide their only opportunity to get out of the house. “Some of these people who live by themselves subsist on $800 a month,” says Beverly Pastizzo. “They can’t afford trips to SeaWorld–”

“–Let alone get there,” Teri Fontaine interrupts. “First, they take the FAST bus to the regular bus stop, then transfer in Vista, then transfer again and again…” Her voice trails off and she throws up her hands at the impossibility of transportation without a car.

“We are all they have,” she says.

Although its grand name sounds like a San Diego County public health and welfare department with a healthy budget, it’s not. North County Disabled Services is a nonprofit 501(c)3 public benefit corporation consisting of the five board members, a few volunteers and a phone in the corner of Pastizzo’s home. Every bit of physical and financial help they get, when they get it, comes from volunteer sources and grants. And it’s all poured into the services they provide. No one gets a salary.

The organization’s newsletter announcing recreational activities for July through September contains a thank you to the Legacy Foundation, the Fallbrook Healthcare Foundation and the Community Enhancement program, grant benefactors whose contributions have kept the organization afloat – barely. But the money is almost gone.

The board faces the stress of this issue daily. Desperation creeps into Pastizzo’s voice. “We’ve applied for grants but are turned down because we don’t have the documents written right,” she says, shaking her head. “I’m not a professional grant writer. One application just came back because I didn’t fill out the form the way they wanted.”

Someone to help write grants would be a big help, adds Fontaine.

When grant money does come in, there are often strings attached. An example, Fontaine cites, are the numbers of hand cycles they were given. While important to the physical activities of the group, there is nowhere to store them. “We need money to rent a shed,” she says, “or someone to donate one we can use.”

The group’s needs are simple: money for insurance, to pay phone bills, rent for a truck to haul the hand cycles and wheelchairs and gas money for rental vans. They now pay $360 to rent a van from Enterprise, which docks them for two days when they use it for one, merely because Enterprise isn’t open on Sunday, when they want to return it.

“A large van with a wheelchair lift would be great,” says Pastizzo wistfully. Just getting rid of that $360 rental every time they want to take the group on an outing would relieve a lot of pressure. Their desperate need for funds has her considering online moneymaking schemes, so she’s trying to figure out how to use the limited capabilities of their Web site to raise money.

The site hasn’t been updated in a year and all but one page link is broken. “Especially the ‘Donations’ button,” Pastizzo says. “I’ve been calling the man who made the Web site for us and he promises to get to it, but he doesn’t.”

Without adequate funding and donations of time by people like a grant writer, a Webmaster and others who can help, this fragile organization that serves the needs of more than 50 disabled people may fail. But it won’t be the fault of Pastizzo, Fontaine and the other board members who, with all they bear, continue to think about the welfare of others.

To help North County Disabled Services, or to inquire about their organization, call (760) 731-2306 or log on to http://www.ncdsfallbrook.com.