Project MANA - A Hunger Relief Agency

North Lake Tahoe Bonanza: Parasol's one-stop refuge for families in need has created another need.

Project MANA, Tahoe Women's Services, Sierra Recovery Center and Children's Cabinet formed a collaboration called the Service Integration Team in January. Based out of the Donald W. Reynolds Non Profit Center, family advocates from each organization are helping people identify needs and make them aware of services that could help their situations.

Because of the number of responses from families needing follow-up support, the Service Integration Team now needs a full-time, bi-lingual case manager.

"The response exceeded our capacity. We decided the longterm solution is to hire a new staff person," said George LeBard, director of Project MANA.

The person could keep up to date with the current cases, identify families before they sink into crisis mode, and help develop the program even further. Just helping one or two families in serious crises can take so much time, he said.

LeBard said that those running each of the organizations involved in the Service Integration Team already have full-time positions, and this project could use its own full-time person.

Stepping in to help is the United Way of Northern Nevada. Karen Barsell, CEO of United Way, said United Way learned of the need in a Parasol Collaborative Committee meeting and decided to help fund the position.

It is giving a $11,340 grant to help fund a permanent case manager.

"They are going so fast with this new program, we were wondering what we can do to help," Barsell said.

The position will start out as a part-time job, LeBard said.

Currently, LeBard's wife, Irma, has been helping so much with the families in need that she is struggling to find time to do her own job - running the front office at the Parasol Community Foundation. Bi-lingual, Irma's workload has increased by 73 percent, he said.

Finding a part-time case manager might be difficult, but LeBard is excited to bring someone in to help with the ever-growing case load.

"It's a good problem to have," he said.

In addition to the financial assistance that will act as a match for additional funding from other organizations, United Way is offering a full complement of integrated case management tools and infrastructure support to the Service Integration Team Project. The primary United Way program that will provide the support to the Service Integration Team Project is TapCare, an integrated case management system designed to streamline service delivery, improve use of existing resources and reduce duplication of services.

"It's really cutting edge," Barsell said of TapCare. "It moves people ahead light years with being able to communicate. We're real excited about them coming online."

He said the case manager will be able to see the most up-to-date work being done on a family's case without having to call several different organizations and agencies.

"It's a really neat tool to track clients," he said.