Golf for the blind June 11
By Richard Crandall
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12:01 a.m. PT May 2, 2008
Sierra Services for the Blind is having their 5th Annual Golf Tournament on June 11. That, in itself, is only an indication of what is different about living in a rural community. In most rural communities many human services are performed at the nonprofit level, or not at all.
Rural economies and populations dictate smaller government. Government funding is based on population, and we don't have enough people for large government programs. Being a small local nonprofit in a rural community, most grants are not available to us. Consequently Sierra Services is 94 percent self-funded. Others are the same.
Human-service agencies like Sierra Services for the Blind, which has been in Nevada and Placer counties for over 25 years, are finding it harder to compete with nearly 600 newer public service non-profits with greater name recognition. That means we have accomplish things a little better - the golf tournament and Aug. 30 Abalone Banquet are examples.
We had been sponsored by Chrysler Corporation until they stopped golf tournaments for financial reasons. We changed to a $10,000 Hole in One with other prizes on all par three holes. We also use local sponsorship - 1st US Community Credit Union for the $10,000, The Union, Thomson Grass Valley, B&C Home and Garden Center, and KNCO for the event.
We also have "Hooked on Golf" star Mitch Juricich put the shine on the event, and serve as the hilarious master for the banquet and raffle. We have a significant return crowd because we have fun. Some regular tournament attendees have said we are the highlight of the year.
The event brings us another change in our community. We need a discussion of what we, as a community, find important: Human services directed to a specific community need, or that part of public service dedicated to lifestyle?
There is also the use factor that the community must address. There are over 26,500 seniors in Nevada County. While Placer County has a slightly higher senior population, we have the oldest per capita population in the state. One in four will be legally blind at age 80 from macular degeneration alone. That means they can't drive.
Is an agency dedicated to their independence as critical to our public discussion as in-town hiking trails five miles from a national forest, the number of Starbucks in town, or whether we should be able to vote for Trader Joe's? Is the $300-per-year cost to retain independence more efficient than $30,000 for a facility?
Funding announced for one in-town trail would support local blind services for almost a decade. Are we still the community who cares for individuals who must accommodate age-related and other disabilities, or those who feel they can walk only on improved ground?
The total population of our area has not changed much, but who we are has. Something as mundane as a golf tournament for the blind is a critical element in our service to the human community.
It is also a definition of who we are. It is how we fund our human services, the blind and others in the human-service nonprofit community. It is how we say who is important - the one third of our population who is elderly, where one in four may be blind, or those wishing to enhance a personal lifestyle.
We recently lost the Lutz Center. The Senior Center has no place to go, public transportation for those out of town to access basic necessities is almost nonexistent, and the limited ability of county agencies like Adult Protective services face a 10 percent cut.
We are also a cultural community. As a community, we are rightfully known for the excellence of Music in the Mountains and the Foothill Theatre. We are a community of artists, poets and musicians. Empire Mine was originally a local volunteer facility. We must make sure Malakoff Diggins stays open with volunteers.
A simple golf tournament, and how we use it to fund a nonprofit dedicated to human service is how smaller communities work. Nonprofits exist because of a specific need, they last 25 years when it is systemic, not individual.
Held June 11 at The Ridge Golf Club, this event is more than a day on the links. It is our community taking care of their own at the nonprofit level. And, at far less cost than government programs. Your participation is recognition of an issue important to almost one third of our population, vision loss.
Richard Crandall is the Executive Director of Sierra Services for the Blind.
