Number of Karidat clients jump by 29 percent since 2005

The number of clients being served by Karidat Social Services, the CNMI’s premier social services arm, has jumped by almost 29 percent since 2005.

From 3,748 clients served in 2005 under the Family Services Program, this went up to 4,821 by the end of 2010, according to executive director Angie V. Guerrero.

Karidat records show that 4,044 clients were served in 2006; 4,122 in 2007; 4,386 in 2008; and 4,040 in 2009.

Guerrero noted, though, that the number of clients served in 2003 and 2004 were at 4,934 and 5,041, respectively, because they were still offering the guest worker assistance program in those two years.

Guerrero also pointed out that they have been helping more people through their Emergency Food Voucher program, with a total of 3,159 individuals assisted from 2003 to 2010.

“If they do not qualify for the voucher or if we don’t have the voucher anymore, we give out from our pantry, which comes from food donated by people in the community,” she told Saipan Tribune.

According to Guerrero, businesses and individuals give them food donations and she is especially pleased to see that even student groups and individual students bring them canned goods collected from food drives.

She said the National Honor Society and JROTC units do their food drives “around Thanksgiving or Christmas.” Just last Thursday, Guerrero said that students from Kagman High School brought to the Karidat office in Chalan Kanoa some two cases of canned goods and about five bags of rice.

On the other hand, their Rental Assistance program allowed them to help a total of 5,331 clients, said Guerrero.

Guerrero, one of the founding members of Karidat and has been with the organization for 17 years, disclosed that they have been relying on donations from the community and applying for available federal funds to augment the budget they receive from local appropriations, which she described as not enough to pay even for the salaries of one staffer.

“We get very little share of the pie for local funds,” said Guerrero, adding that they have been “frugal” in terms of expenditures for the last 10 years.

Guerrero said finances will continue to be a challenge for Karidat as they try to live within their meager budget yet still accept clients. She is thankful that many community members are still willing to help despite the tough economic climate.

“We still have very good people in our community who have big hearts,” said Guerrero.