By Donna Furey | LB Indy
One of the first tasks Mary Schmidt assigned herself as executive director of the South County Cross-cultural Council was to write a grant proposal to obtain electricity for the day worker center, which has operated in Laguna Canyon for two decades.
Since workers begin congregating in pre-dawn darkness at 6 a.m., lights and a fax machine would markedly improve working conditions and job placement, said Schmidt, who was appointed in January to the 20-year-old Laguna Beach organization.
Operating quietly and efficiently, Cross-cultural Council runs two programs: the La Playa Center, which offers English classes and free child care, and the day worker center, which matches laborers to employers and in years past has been the target of anti-immigration protests.
Schmidt, who has lived in Laguna Beach for 35 years, has had previous experience fund-raising and coordinating events for non-profits in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Tempe, Ariz. She currently serves on the board of the local Soroptimists chapter, acts No Square Theater’s “Lagunatics” production, and volunteers for The Laguna Beach Food Pantry and Friendship Shelter.
Her first experience hiring laborers began 30 years ago. As a glass artist in the Sawdust Festival, she had to solicit help building her booth and moving supplies. “My long-term residency in Laguna Beach gives me a unique understanding of the sensibilities and challenges in our community,” she said.
Schmidt, the organization’s first paid executive director, is contracted to work 10 hours a week for six months. She is also a certified personal trainer, who conducts fitness classes at the Susi Q Center and for individual clients in their homes.
Schmidt’s temporary contract is necessitated by the nonprofit’s shoestring annual budget of $60,000 a year, according to 2012 tax records, the most recent available on Guidestar.org, a database on nonprofits.
About a third of the organization’s revenue comes from a $23,000 community assistance grant from the city. For the past three years, the council has needed a supplemental $15,000 from the city’s general fund in order to keep running, said Ben Siegel, the city’s community services department director.
Traditionally, students of the La Playa Center helped the organization by selling tamales during Hospitality Night and in 2010 they compiled a cookbook.
Schmidt hopes to cook up more fundraising.
The Cross-cultural Council’s mission evolved from “living room dialogues,” where neighbors of different ethnicities shared life stories, said David Peck, the council’s longtime chair.
As a result, the La Playa Center got its start in 1996 as an English-as-a-second-language school with free childcare at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, where it remained for a decade. The center now offers three levels of ESL instruction to 40 students weekly at the Boys & Girls Club.
While most of the students are Spanish speakers, La Playa director Sally Rapuano says other non-native speakers have taken advantage of the service as well. Currently, the students’ 24 children are enrolled in the free childcare/pre-school program, which operates from 9-11 a.m. Monday through Thursday. The council collaborates with the club’s preschool on parent workshops about child development and family health issues.
City officials asked the Cross-cultural Council in 1999 to manage a day worker site established a few years earlier in Laguna Canyon. A small building and picnic tables now occupy a sliver of land purchased by the city from Caltrans in 2008 to provide a safe and fair way of bringing workers and employers together.
Local resident and full-time employee Irma Ronses arrives at 6 a.m. Monday through Friday to place about 20 workers a day in jobs that match their skills. On the job for 15 years, she uses a simple but structured system to ensure that everyone gets a fair chance at work regardless of their arrival time. Another employee takes the Saturday shift.
Local contractors and homeowners pay a $5 fee per visit to hire from the center. Workers negotiate pay with employers on their own.
Peck took seriously advice from Siegel to “put the call out” when he began considering moving away from the organization’s day to day management. Peck recognizes the organization’s weaknesses and its need to increase public awareness and funds.
Schmidt, who thinks she may have been the only applicant, intends to oversee and implement marketing efforts, broaden services and manage day-to-day operations while working closely with staff and the board. Peck will continue as chair.
“I am honored to bring the Cross cultural Council to the next level and my goal is to have everyone know who we are, what we provide and to expand our services,” said Schmidt. “I’m also happy to get back into paid philanthropic work,” she added.
