Friendly House to celebrate 90 years of service
Community-help and education agency boasts

by Glen Creno - Apr. 11, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

There aren't many things left in Phoenix whose roots stretch to Arizona's early days, so Friendly House is something of a novelty: It is still kicking after 90 years.

The Phoenix social-services agency started small, and over the years it became a go-to resource for people who needed help learning English, finding work, going to school or staying independent at home as they got older. Today, it continues to hold its own against bigger players in the growing, competitive business of philanthropy.

"We've kind of been Phoenix's best-kept secret," said Belen Herner, the agency's development director.

Friendly House was launched in 1920 as part of the federal settlement-house movement to help new immigrants and the poor learn English and good citizenship.

The agency broadened its programs in the mid-1960s in response to the civil-rights movement and Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty." It created a social-work department, programs for young people and senior citizens, and started training women for jobs beyond domestic work.

Now, as it marks 90 years, the agency is a clearinghouse for all manner of services: It boasts a charter school, a child-development center, anti-dropout programs, immigration services, adult-education classes and home care for seniors.

These days, Friendly House faces the same strains as other non-profit organizations, all of which are struggling amid the fallout of the recession. There is less state funding and more pressure on individual and corporate donors, who themselves are tightening their budgets. At the same time, there are more people than ever looking to their services for help.

"The resources are always going to be a challenge, regardless of how the economy is," said Luis Ibarra, the agency's chief executive and president. "It's just that there is so much competition. Everyone wants philanthropic dollars."

Friendly House board members are expected not only to come up with ideas on how to run the place but must also promise to raise some of the money that makes it happen.

"They don't just provide the brainpower and leadership," Ibarra said. "They set a goal for themselves, too. They understand that from the very beginning, the expectation is you are going to have to write a check or you are going to have to go get it."

When the agency broke ground on a new gymnasium at its charter school last week, Ibarra didn't miss the opportunity to deliver a pep talk to an audience of board members, donors and community representatives. He was there afterward, when everyone went into the school auditorium for a modest spread of soft drinks and munchies.

He explained later that his style isn't just to call a donor when there's a new project to get off the ground. Instead, he said he'll call someone up and invite them to coffee just to chat and bring them up to date on what's happening at the agency.

"The relationships we have, we need to keep on building on them," he said.

Friendly House has watched its budget grow over the last two decades: $1.6 million in 1989, $4.1 million in 1999 and $7.3 million last year. The agency said it had to cut one program - for adult workforce development - in its 2008-09 budget. It was reinstated in July 2009 with federal stimulus funds.

Robert Ashcraft, director of the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University, said that agencies such as Friendly House that survive and thrive over long periods tend to have common traits. They focus on their mission, values and demographics, and stress the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of their programs. That forms the basis of where the money and effort should go and gives donors confidence.

Ibarra has seen many economic cycles - he calls the current one a "borderline depression" - but said sticking to business basics is a key to longevity. Friendly House's goal is to maintain a six-month operating reserve, money restricted for use by the board.

Ibarra used to be in charge of handing out grants for a much larger agency before he went to Friendly House. He said he saw a lot of upstarts who wanted to jump into the business without understanding how it worked, including having an accurate sense of other agencies and the markets they served.

"I wish I had a dollar for every group of people who came in and said, 'I want to start a non-profit.' For one, they had no idea that it's a business," he said. "The other one is, I tell them, 'Look, we already have a non-profit that does what it is that you want to do.'"

Despite the nation's financial gloom, Ibarra thinks the Phoenix area has a lot of untapped capacity for charitable giving. He said a big problem is that nobody has approached those untapped donors.

"I always ask," he said. "The only thing they can say is no. But you're not going to get it if you don't ask."