Developmentally disabled people were once called “mentally retarded,” and it was assumed they would have to be taken care of during their short, secluded lives.
Today, thanks to changes in society led by groups like Fort Bragg”s Parents and Friends, these same people lead productive lives; they contribute to their communities, have overcome pejoratives, and many now outlive their parents. This has created new challenges for people like Rick Moon, 59, the new executive director of Parents and Friends, Inc.
“[Our clients] are living much longer and more productive lives. It creates a situation of Where is their support going to come from long term?” That creates stress on both family and the programs,” Moon said.
Moon comes with a reputation for financial and fund-raising acumen at a time of fiscal stress for the half-century old organization. Founded as a school for children who then did not fit into public schools, it now deals with adults. There has been a three-year funding freeze at the state level, and the organization put the Harrison Street House, across from the Fort Bragg Veterans Hall, on the market last year.
With Moon as executive director since April 17, the organization has decided not to sell Harrison Street House. The decision last year to evict clients and sell the home provoked some community controversy.
“We decided we did not want to use up our assets as a way of working our way out of what is probably a short-term situation, so we want to work our way out of it rather than sell our assets,” Moon said.
However, changes in labor laws still make it cost-prohibitive to use the Harrison Street House for people who require 24-hour care, Moon said. Moon reports that the trend of such facilities closing continues. He said a former resident of the Harrison Street House is coming back to the coast after a similar house in Ukiah announced closure this month. Parents and Friends will help the man find supported living housing, but cannot provide 24-hour intensive supervision and care.
“We are not sure yet exactly how we will use the house. We can use part of it for low-rent housing for developmentally disabled people and a portion for day use. We are working with the city on a zoning issue right now,” Moon said.
Parents and Friends serves 49 clients on the Mendocino Coast, with a staff of 35 full- and part-time employees. Some clients are enrolled in more than one program.
Parents and Friends, which once had as many as 50 employees, has been tightening its belt since before Moon arrived.
About 75 percent of the organization”s funding comes through the Redwood Coast Regional Center, with other state funding accounting for most of the rest. Moon says the state Legislature may lift its three-year freeze this year.
“This is a big help but certainly not enough,” Moon said.
“There is still stuff in the budget that would help even more,” he said, but added the organization can”t count on the state funding to improve in the long term.
“We have had to become really, really efficient in what we do. What we have not done is cut out any programs or services,” Moon said.
“We have no plans to close any programs, but are planning to expand some programs,” he said.
One expansion planned by the organization is to seek licensing to do day support programs at the Community Connection. The organization also hopes to offer more programs for developmentally disabled people who need less than one-on-one service.
The Paul Bunyan Thrift Shop has an all new look, and the redesign and expansion is paying off in increased revenue, Moon said. The Paul Bunyan Furniture Annex no longer takes consignments, but clients of Parents and Friends now work in that store.
The Job Connection, which readies clients for the workforce, is seeking job coaches. Parents and Friends has always been proud of the number of its clients who work in the community, and familiar faces from Parents and Friends are seen at Little River Inn, Thanksgiving Coffee, Safeway, Harvest, the Mendocino Coast Humane Society, Mendo Mill and more.
Some of the new efforts being launched at Parents and Friends include a look into retirement programs for developmentally disabled people.
“They have been working for 30 years, and they are done with that phase of their life,” said Amanda Venett, community development director for the group.
Another new effort being made for the developmentally disabled is to create programs that bridge the gap between high school and adulthood, Moon said.
“Now in many cases there would be a gap period when they were out of school but not in their new programs. That would mess up their routines, and they would just be in limbo for a while,” Moon said
He said organizations like Parents and Friends will be working with the schools, “so it”s seamless with the client and their life continuing in a normal, functional way.”
Moon is an affable man who speaks in the “we” and consults with others in the organization during the interview, which seems to connect to a more modern, collaborative management style. While he has been putting more financial safeguards into the organization and making improvements like naming Venett to head up fund-raising, he said he has no plans to change the fundamental, important mission of Parents and Friends.
Moon is actually the third executive director in the last year. When Guy Joy resigned, Claudia Boudreau, who had retired from Golden Gate Regional Center in San Francisco and moved back to her home in Mendocino, agreed to run the agency as interim executive director for three months while Moon was found.
Moon has been featured in INC Magazine and InfoWorld Magazine for his work in marketing and raising capital for small business expansion.
After a career that included helping the Rolm Corporation, a computer company in Santa Clara, grow from $5 million to over $250 million, he and his family moved to the Mendocino Coast in 1989 when he became general manager at Thanksgiving Coffee. He also consulted with more than 100 businesses through the Small Business Development Center. In 1996 he started Richard Moon Consulting. His resume says he prefers working with organizations that have a social and/or environmental agenda.
Although Moon has no family members in the program and has no social services background, he came to Parents and Friends to offer his fiscal background because he loves the Mendocino Coast and the important mission of Parents and Friends.
Moon is incorporating ideas that work in large companies and non-profits, such as Path training, in which the organization will invite friends, community and family members to a meeting run by a facilitator.
“The facilitator will help everybody figure out where we are going and what path we want to take to get there,” Moon said.
One fund-raising effort is E-Scrip, offered by Safeway. Shoppers sign up at Safeway and the grocery giant donates a portion of what that person spends at the store to the selected nonprofit, at no extra cost to the consumer, Venett said.
“Like all publicly-funded organizations, Parents and Friends has hit some rough spots recently, and keeping everything going is getting tougher and tougher,” said Venett. Contact Parents and Friends at 350 Cypress St. in Fort Bragg.
