Assistance Center celebrates 35th year

The Assistance Center of Collin County celebrated its 35th anniversary Thursday night with a community impact dinner in its efforts to transition from a grant-funded to community-funded entity.

The dinner, which was held at The Conservatory retirement community, was a thank-you message to business and civic leaders for the partnerships and continued support in helping the nonprofit overcome the challenges of losing its grant status.

Since the ACCC lost funding from contributors such as the United Way about a year and a half ago, the oldest continually-operating nonprofit group in Plano has had to try on some new fundraising shoes to make up for the shortfall, something ACCC Development Director Tanya Sastoque said has been both a stressor and an opportunity.

"Being an organization operating for 34 years on grants, we didn't have to put together a fundraising and marketing plan which was diverse in nature," Sastoque said. "We have gone into crisis mode and are bringing in corporate partnerships, new individual donors and foundations. It's all very new to the center because our agency ran on grants, and because of that, a lot of people in the community didn't know who we were and the work that we did, so we are raising that awareness."

The dinner was an opportunity for the ACCC to get some of that face time by updating its new partners on the results of their investments to show how they have helped impact the community by preventing homelessness, hunger, providing medical care and prescriptions and emergency assistance to those in need.

Since 1977, the ACCC has gone from an information and referral center to a direct provider of programs and services to families and individuals in crisis. Some examples of such efforts are helping elderly clients pay for their prescriptions, assistance paying utilities, providing funds to prevent foreclosure and thereby homelessness, and offering meals through its food pantry. Last year, the center answered 31,000 calls for help and received 4,000 walk-ins, the vast majority of which were for children, Sastoque said. In total, about $161,000 in assistance funds were issued last year, she said. The center also partnered with Plano ISD and local churches to provide roughly 2,100 backpacks to Plano students.

The ACCC was not the only nonprofit United Way pulled the plug on or at least reduced funding for. The Boy Scouts of America also lost funding from the worldwide organization. Many other nonprofits were cut because of United Way's change of focus toward more educational causes, Sastoque said.

"It's definitely been a challenge and we're still not out of the woods," she said. "We still have a lot to do but we have made great progress."

During the transition, the ACCC has since been working to forge partnerships with entities such as GE Energy, Encana Oil & Gas, LegacyTexas Bank, Atmos Energy and the Historical Downtown Plano Association. On Thursday, the group also gave a sneak peek at the new programs, services and partnerships in the making on Thursday which will greater serve the needs and better improve the quality of life for residents in Collin County.

One example of this is a partnership with Texas Health Presbyterian Plano to help elderly and indigent patients pay for their prescription medications upon being released from the hospital.

"We are also in the process of forming a social service coalition to address the basic needs of the community with other like-minded organizations," Sastoque said. "In the past, people have perceived us as being a welfare agency and we are not. We are a hand up, not a handout."

At the anniversary celebration, guest speaker Mayor Phil Dyer praised city staff and the current council for its strength during difficult economic times and the culture of excellence that exists throughout the many departments in the city, he also reminded those in attendance the importance of continuing to work thoughtfully on keeping Plano a safe and affordable place to live.

"We are very fortunate to be in a place where the long range vision for Plano has resulted in a great place to live and work," said Dyer, president of LegacyTexas Bank. "Despite our prosperity and bounty, we have many of our citizens who are struggling to get by -- so the work of the Assistance Center and other organizations is a critical part of our community. In Plano, we reach out and help our fellow citizens."

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