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ARCHS
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By Asa Pittman
When an executive job search firm first offered Frank Siano the opportunity to head ARCHS, he turned the position down. “I thought they were talking about Arches, the hospital helicopter transport service,” Siano confesses from his office near the Central West End. But ARCHS—the Area Resources for Community and Human Services—Siano soon discovered, had nothing to do with helicopters, and everything to do with strengthening non-profit organizations.
 Frank Siano, CEO, ARCHS |
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The CEO of ARCHS for the past two years, Siano remembers that his arrival at the organization marked a major turning point in ARCHS’s operations. In 1997, the State of Missouri created ARCHS in response to a federal mandate to assist welfare recipients transition into the workforce. ARCHS partnered hundreds of St. Louisans with jobs, and as the lead agency of the Sustainable Neighborhood Initiative, helped nine area neighborhoods complete their revitalization plans.
By 2002, however, ARCHS had stopped providing direct service activities, and concentrated its attention on being a resource for non-profits. “Our goal is to make non-profits stronger from a business sense, so that we’re helping them reduce their overhead and find money,” Siano says. In 2003, ARCHS facilitated the funding of $3.6 million in grant money for non-profits—$600,000 from funding sources previously untapped in the St. Louis region. Between July 2004 and September 2004, ARCHS corralled more than twice the new grant money it had accumulated in 2003, attracting more than $2 million for the St. Louis community.
Now, ARCHS has unveiled two relatively new programs to help non-profits manage and spend their precious financial resources: the Association of Community Organizations (ACO), and Leveraged Resources Management (LRM).
A group purchasing program, ACO pinpoints the common goods and services its members need, then by batching the members’ requests, commands discounts from account-seeking vendors. Most ACO purchases are office supplies and equipment acquired at rates an average of 50 to 70 percent less than the standard non-profit price. ACO also strives to accommodate special requests, and has bought computers, car rentals, and lawn care services for its members at reduced costs.
One organization, the Learning Tree Intergenerational Center (LTIC), a north St. Louis community center with some 77 clients, plans to take advantage of its ACO membership during upcoming expansion efforts. After purchasing additional property in the neighborhood, the LTIC will leverage ACO’s reduced pricing to buy furnishings.
Siano knows the challenges that non-profits face not only in amassing resources, but also managing them. “A lot of organizations have difficulties with their finances, which is why we created a for-profit subsidiary here called LRM to do the finances for organizations,” says Siano. LRM, created in 2003, offers full fund accounting, banking, and payroll services, plus audit and financial statement preparation at 30 to 60 percent less than the price most non-profits pay for the same services.
“Twelve to $15,000 buys (non-profits) the complete service for a year,” Siano says. “You can’t hire a bookkeeper for $15,000 a year, let alone an accountant.”
Dr. C. William Chignoli, director of both La Clinica Latino Health Center and Acción Social Comunitaria (ASC) of south St. Louis, gives LRM a glowing assessment after purchasing the service for his organizations in March 2004. A staff member had managed La Clinica and ASC’s finances prior to retaining LRM, a setup inadequate to handle the organization’s massive fiscal responsibilities.
| Dr. C. William Chignoli |
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“In the past, we had a very small accounting system for two big organizations,” recalls Chignoli from the rectory of Scrugg’s Memorial United Methodist Church, the home of both
La Clinica and ASC. “Sometimes we were slow to respond to donations and requisitions for many things.”
One of only a handful of free health care providers in Missouri, La Clinica treats over 1,400 patients monthly, and spends more than $1 million a year. Free immunizations, screenings and care in a gamut of specialties are among the clinic’s many services. Donations account for much of the clinic’s revenue.
Although a tight budget precludes Chignoli from hiring a large staff—over 80 percent of La Clinica and ASC’s workers are volunteers—the director considers the funds used to take on an LRM accountant money well spent. On a scale of one to 10, Chignoli rates LRM’s services a 10: “When you have a very proficient service, [managing finances] is easy, because you can show your books at any moment without
a problem.”
ARCHS hopes to ease the burdens of more quality non-profits like LTIC, La Clinica, and
ASC in the future by increasing its visibility. By 2005, the ARCHS offices will relocate to a new, more prominent location across from the Fox Theatre. And while Siano is proud of his organization’s high-profile projects, he maintains the true measure of ARCHS’s success is the growth of St. Louis non-profits and the development of the services they provide the region’s citizens. For Siano, seeing ARCHS’s positive influence means looking no farther than the closest
St. Louis neighborhood: “You look at all the great things that happen, so you know you’re making a difference.” |
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