Can it beat its record? With $2M so far, Idaho Gives enters final day of nonprofit fundraising

Sherrie Joseph is in the middle of expanding the Pocatello Free Clinic to neighboring Power County, where the clinic now serves immigrants in American Falls who haven’t had access to dental care or mental health services before. 

On the other side of the state, Ali Rabe and the staff at Jesse Tree in Boise have seen a 550% increase in demand for aid like rental assistance and landlord mediation, as more Ada and Canyon county renters are at risk of being evicted from their homes.

These organizations are among the more than 600 Idaho nonprofits asking for financial donations to support their efforts during this week’s Idaho Gives campaign. 

Idaho Gives is an annual program put on by the Idaho Nonprofit Center to raise money and awareness for hundreds of nonprofit organizations. 

The website www.idahogives.org offers a searchable listing of all the participating nonprofits, as well as a one-stop online platform to donate to any of the organizations.

This year’s Idaho Gives program kicked off Monday and ends at 11:59 p.m. Mountain time on Thursday, May 4. 

In order to participate, nonprofits must be a 501(c)(3) organization that is headquartered in Idaho or provides services in Idaho and is registered and in good standing with the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, Idaho Gives had raised a combined total of more than $2 million for 614 different organizations, through more than 6,800 different donors.

Since the first Idaho Gives event in 2013, the program has raised  $20 million for participating organizations, according to the Idaho Nonprofit Center. 

A variety of nonprofit organizations from around Idaho participate in Idaho Gives to support causes such as poverty and homelessness, health and wellness, the environment, arts and culture, education, disaster relief, substance abuse prevention, immigrant services and more. 

Idaho Gov. Brad Little released a videotaped message this week encouraging people to donate during the Idaho Gives event.

“Idaho’s nonprofit organizations are fundamental to healthy communities and a strong state,” Little said in the video. 

“Our nonprofits are filling important needs in our state and their indispensable work could not be possible without donations — large and small — from all of us,” Little added. 

Advocates for the West, a nonprofit environmental law firm that works on behalf of threatened ecosystems and species, took the lead to raise the most money of any nonprofit participating in Idaho Gives this year. According to totals posted on the Idaho Gives website as of Wednesday afternoon, Advocates for the West had raised $73,800 by that time.

Pocatello Free Clinic is one of the oldest free clinics in the country

All of the services the Pocatello Free Clinic provides to its patients are free. That includes medical care, mental health and dental services, labs and medication. 

The clinic, at 101 N. 7th Ave., Suite 155 in Pocatello, is open 40 hours per week and sees patients who have no health insurance, are not covered by Medicaid or Medicare and who earn less than 300% of the federal poverty level. 

Pocatello Free Clinic has a paid staff of 24 and works with about 55 volunteers. The free clinic also partners with Idaho State University’s health sciences programs, including athletic training students, nursing students and dental hygiene students who learn valuable skills and help the clinic expand its services.  

“We just turned 52 years old and we are one of oldest free clinics, not only in Idaho, but the United States,” executive director Sherrie Joseph told the Idaho Capital Sun in a telephone interview. 

Pocatello Free Clinic is expanding its services in a couple of ways. The clinic acquired a mobile van that allowed the staff and volunteers to bring services to Power County, where they often serve immigrants who work in potato fields or plants. Joseph said they’ve been able to offer screenings and tests to people with diabetes or hypertension who never knew they had the condition — and helped those patients get treatment. They’ve also offered dental services to patients who tell them they haven’t been able to see a dentist for years. 

This clinic has also expanded on its traditional medical and dental services to offer mental health counseling. 

In 2022, Pocatello Free Clinic had almost 3,000 patient visits, Joseph said. 

Joseph said the money raised during Idaho Gives is not designated for specific programs, which allows her to apply it to areas that fall through the cracks and may not be covered by grants or other funding sources, making the Idaho Gives contributions extremely valuable to the clinic. 

“Every dollar stays local and all of the money that comes into the clinic helps people next door to us in our local neighborhoods,” Joseph said. “We believe that by raising the health of one member of the community, you raise the health of an entire community.”

Jesse Tree helps Ada and Canyon county renters who are facing eviction and homelessness 

Jesse Tree is a 24-year-old nonprofit organization that provides one-time rental assistance, case managers and landlord mediation to low-income families in Ada and Canyon counties. 

Rabe, who also serves in the Idaho Senate as a Democrat from Boise, told the Sun in a telephone interview that rents are up about 40% on average in the Treasure Valley over the past three years and more families are living paycheck-to-paycheck. A medical emergency, temporary joblessness, a broken down car or other unexpected expense is all it would take to face eviction and homelessness, Rabe said. 

Rabe said donations made now would be extremely valuable for Jesse Tree. Jesse Tree spent down the last of a $3.4 million grant in December, and the organization’s budget for rental assistance has decreased since then. On top of that, Rabe said, additional sources of federal funding for rental assistance appropriated by the Idaho Legislature also expire in the coming months. 

Any donation that comes in through Idaho Gives will help with rent assistance, Rabe said. (About 90% of Jesse Tree’s funding goes directly to programs, and case manager positions are funded by outside grants, Rabe said.)

“It is very important to give to housing organizations right now because, while Idaho isn’t in a serious homeless crisis yet, the trajectory of housing prices and the increases renting families face are facts that show we will see more homeless in our communities and across the state if we don’t try to invest in these things now,” Rabe said in a telephone interview. 

Jesse Tree supports about 100 Ada and Canyon county families a month. It costs an average of about $2,000 per month to keep a family housed, Rabe said, while it can cost $10,000 to $15,000 to re-house a family. For that reason, Rabe said, donating to prevent eviction and homelessness is a cost-effective way to help local families. 

“It is a very important time for us to be able to meet the needs that are out there,” Rabe said. 

Families in need of help and who have received a three-day eviction notice or a summons to an eviction court hearing may call or text Jesse Tree at 208-383-9486.

Information about all of the nonprofits participating in Idaho Gives this year are available on the Idaho Gives website. Nonprofit organizations are searchable based on their location and based on the cause they are involved with.