You know times are tough when the people hired to get you a job are nearly out of work themselves.

That's the case with Mother Lode Job Training, which was pushed to the breaking point by the historic state budget delay.

The consortium's executive director e-mailed board directors last week with the news that, unless a budget is passed soon, job placement offices in Amador, Calaveras, Mariposa and Tuolumne counties would begin closing their doors to the public beginning Sept. 25. Final checks would be issued to staff members Oct. 3.

"Of course this unfortunate state of affairs would also affect our customers," executive director Bob Martin said in his Sept. 9 e-mail. "For example, all participant work experience assignments would be suspended, job seekers would lose valuable assistance in job search, resume development and career counseling; and employers would lose recruitment and layoff aversion resources.

"I encourage all Mother Lode workforce investment system stakeholders to exert pressure on State representatives to end this budget impasse and release held funds. Thank you in advance for your understanding and support in this urgent matter."

California lawmakers were set to approve a new budget Monday night, ending a 77-day impasse caused by a record $15 billion shortfall, MonstersandCritics.com reported. The compromise proposal increases spending for education and health care, while borrowing huge sums against the state lottery.

Before Martin's e-mail was released for public dissemination late last week, Mother Lode Job Connection staff in Jackson could only hint at their dire predicament. "You called us on a momentous day," said one staff member Wednesday.

The times are proving momentous for other community organizations as well. The Mariposa-Amador-Tuolumne-Calaveras Health Board Inc. began closing health care clinics this month, some of them permanently, while organizations like The Arc of Amador & Calaveras and Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency were quickly running out of financial steam. With a budget expected to pass, it could still take weeks for community organizations to receive checks in the mail.

"The state revenue that The Arc gets comes through Valley Mountain Regional Center," explained executive director Mike Sweeney in an e-mail to the Ledger Dispatch. "VMRC has a line of credit and has been able to pay us for July and August. Looks like the line will cover September. After that, they will need to go back to the bank and try to negotiate a bigger, longer lasting line."

Sweeney, whose organization offers services for the developmentally disabled, added that, even if the loan was approved, the interest rates could "eat away" at the center's purchase of service money. "So, bottom line is I think we are OK for another six weeks or so."

First 5 Amador was also holding up under the strain, according to executive director Nina Machado.

"It currently affects First 5 by increasing the needs in the community, i.e. the two community centers we fund are now providing food distribution to folks needing assistance," she said via e-mail. "With the cost of gas, we have to be aware of how much it takes for a family to participate in activities, which is one of the reasons we try to provide programs in the outlying areas. Access to services and programs are always difficult in rural communities. However, with tough times, it makes it even harder. Some of our grantees have had to access lines of credit."

Faring somewhat better is A-TCAA.

Maybe.

Like a jalopy with a faulty gas gauge, director Shelly Hance said it's difficult to pinpoint just how much the community-based organization has left in its tank. A-TCAA receives about $6 million annually in mostly federal monies, though a significant chunk comes from the state and the agency receives private contributions as well. Some of the federal money, like the dollars that fund A-TCAA's Head Start preschool centers, comes directly from the federal government. Other funds flow through the state, however, a flow that appears to be continuing for the time being.

More problematic are the contracts for service that have expired. Programs providing child therapy and court-appointed special advocates are funded through state grants and won't be renewed until the state budget is passed. Depending on where the cuts in California spending are made, the contracts may not provide as much money as before, Hance noted. And even on the rare occasions a state budget has been on time, A-TCAA typically receives its contract renewals late, a pattern that definitely won't change this time.

"But they don't expect us to interrupt services," Hance said, chuckling at the irony. "It leaves us in a very tenuous position, but that's the life of a community-based organization."

If Hance is more resigned to her fate, Mother Lode Job Training's Karen Glaze, manager of the Jackson office, is more non-plussed.

"It is a huge mess," Glaze said of the unprecedented stalemate at the Capitol.

Of course, budget delays are nothing new in California. But local organization heads seem to be in agreement that this year is particularly bad.

"I went to Sacramento in March to visit legislators and it was the most partisan atmosphere I have ever seen," Sweeney said. "We were told by legislators and aides that there would be no budget until at least September."

As a result, community organizations have never been closer to their breaking points. The Mountain Women's Resource Center in Sonora is already making plans to close its emergency shelter by the beginning of October.

Operation Care, a similar program in Jackson, isn't there quite yet. Like many community organizations, the bulk of its funding comes from federal and state sources. But the state acts as facilitator for the federal funds and, until a new budget is signed, that influx remains frozen. "We're borrowing from a line of credit at this point," said executive director Lynn Shield, "which we're lucky enough to have because of our good relationship with Bank of Amador."

This time of year, Shield added, community organizations either have credit lines, cash reserves or generous donors, "or they're closing their doors."

"Every year it's late, but it's never been this bad," said MACT executive director Nancy Ehlers. In 39 years of existence, this is the first time MACT has had to close some of its clinics, which offer health care to American Indians and Medi-Cal recipients. Some of those clinics won't reopen. "It's just too bad it happened," Ehlers said.

If A-TCAA has to, it can dip into its line of credit to buy some time until state dollars start trickling in again. But like The Arc and any other organizations with a credit card, the state won't reimburse A-TCAA's interest payments. Noting the precarious situations of other local organizations who may close their doors within weeks, Hance said, "We could even be in the same boat by then."

Whenever a budget is signed, it will still take 60 to 90 days for these organizations to begin receiving checks, meaning Operation Care is planning on borrowing at least until November.