Time for Change Foundation burglarized on Easter Sunday
Here's Sun reporter Melissa Pinion-Whitt's reporting on the burglary of Time for Change Foundation's office here in San Bernardino.
I called foundation director Kim Carter after hearing the news Monday morning. She was justifiably upset.
"They took my chair, they don't even want me to have a seat at my desk. That's beyond crackhead," she said.
Carter said she has been planning the foundation's annual fundraiser before learning that some criminal stole $15,000 worth of equipment.
The full story follows below.
Foundation for homeless burglarized on Easter
Melissa Pinion-Whitt, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/13/2009 03:35:07 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO - Burglars broke into a foundation office for homeless women and children Sunday, taking an estimated $15,000 in property and leaving the already-strained organization to figure out how it will stay afloat.
The economic downturn was already stretching thin the Time for Change Foundation, a group that operates two homeless shelters in the city. The number of clients seeking shelter has jumped about 36 percent this year and the amount of community support has declined, said director Kim Carter.
"My clients are here today and they're just devastated," Carter said. "They're really afraid that I may not be able to recover from this."
The thieves smashed the front window of the office in the 2100 block of North Arrowhead Avenue sometime late Saturday or early Sunday. Carter said the burglars ran off with a computer, hard drive, printer, video camera, laptop, a 13-inch television, telephone, scanner, toner cartridges and even her office chair.
And while those items can eventually be replaced, Carter said the burglars took other more personal items, including a DVD case containing television footage regarding Time for Change, training videos, and footage of past foundation events.
"They came in here and literally wiped me out," she said.
She discovered her insurance company would not cover the loss.
San Bernardino police said the crime appears to be a random burglary.
Detectives were seeking any information that would lead them to identifying suspects.
"There are no investigative leads at this time," said San Bernardino police Lt. Dan Keil.
The Time For Change Foundation has operated shelters for women and children since 2002. Its clients include women recovering from mental, physical and substance abuse, as well as incarceration.
This past year, Carter says, women who were simply laid off from their jobs and evicted from their homes have been seeking the foundation's help.
"We have a new face on homelessness now," she said.
Donations may be made to the Time for Change Recovery Fund, P.O. Box 5753, San Bernardino, 92412. Carter said gift cards for office-supply stores are welcome. Information: (909) 886-2994 or at www.timeforchange.us.
Anyone with information on the burglary may call San Bernardino police, (909) 384-5615.
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Andrew Edwards. E-mail Andrew here.
Kim Carter is one of the few women dedicated to fighting to help make things work in favor of the people she helps. She understands the critical state people are in when hopeless and how they got that way. She took the development of what was created to make a difference and faced the issues deeper by helping people understand the reason why people go through the revolving door from addiction to incarceration. People make it in this program and I know that they do. I am praying Kim and when I do that God comes to the rescue. He will give back above and beyond. Psalm 27 speaks about how you will not be consumed by your enemies.