News

By Lorie Ham

According to National Calendar Day.com February 20 is National Love Your Pet Day! This day focuses on giving extra attention to our pets and encourages people to pamper them and focus on the special place that pets hold in our hearts. An article on The Zebra states that a 2019-2020 study by the American Pet Products Association said that about 85 million American families (or 67%) own some kind of pet.

Not only can owning a pet be fun, but it can also be good for your health. The CDC states that

it can increase opportunities to exercise, get outside, and socialize. Regular walking or playing with pets can decrease blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and triglyceride levels. Pets can also help manage loneliness and depression.

Pets come in all different shapes and sizes to fit the needs of your lifestyle and your preferences. Dogs, cats, bunnies, ferrets, pet rats, fish, hamsters, snakes, guinea pigs, and more. Some people even have pet pigs!

In honor of National Love Your Pet Day, the staff at Mennonite Insurance would like to share a bit about their pets with you!

Michelle L. Heinrichs has a very chubby cat named Tigger. “He was found by our son when he was just a baby and is about seven now. His favorite family member is my husband Steve and if he knows Steve’s in the house, and awake, he often ignores everyone else. He is quite a stress reliever for all of us as he brings silliness when he plays with my son and husband, and he likes to cuddle with all of us. It instantly reduces your blood pressure to have a chubby cat flopped on you and purring while making muffins.”

While Michelle doesn’t recall her first pet, she does remember that they always had a cat growing up and have always loved cats. “It is probably a good thing that I have allergies and my husband cuts me off at just the one cat. I can imagine that I would want to have as many as I could find.”

Stephanie Heier wasn’t allowed to have dogs as a child and an unfortunate incident with a neighbor’s dog as a teenager caused her to develop a fear of dogs. But in 2012, a yellow Lab named Sophia changed all of that! Stephanie’s niece was living with her and wanted a dog. She gave in and let her get Sophia. “She became my walking partner and even though she was a bit wild, she grew on me so much that I even allowed her to come inside the house at times, something I thought I would never allow. She was also my dad’s buddy and helped my niece cope with her anxiety. Sophia was only with us for five years, however, the love she gave us was extremely appreciated and is still remembered today.”

Now Stephanie has two dogs of her own! Pixie is a six-month-old Cavapoo puppy, and Brutus is a 10-year-old Havanese. “We love it when they come snuggle up to us when we get home and they are SO excited to see us. And we love to watch them play together.”

While Dalia Jimenez doesn’t currently have a dog of her own, she is “grandma” to her son’s two Frenchie’s named Royve and Ruby. Unfortunately, she had a scary experience pet-sitting them in December. “They left me a new dog food that had Bison in it and Ruby was allergic to the Bison. She got all these welts all over so I had to find a vet that was open on a Saturday. They gave her a shot and some meds. She recovered just fine, but I told Ruby don’t get sick on my watch again. They love grandma. I make them scrambled eggs and mix them in their dog food. I love them like they were mine. They are a part of the family and very spoiled.”

Jerry Linscheid doesn’t currently have a pet but recalls some of the fun times they had with a Chihuahua that was a part of their family for nearly 20 years while their kids were growing up. “A couple of times we had an opossum in our backyard, and our dog would corner it and raise such a racket that we had to come out and investigate. The opossum was bigger than he was. He also kept the neighborhood cats away. I built a six-foot tower for him to climb so he could see over the fence. Pets are great teachers for children. Children tend to be very self-focused. A pet makes them realize that they need to consider their pet’s needs as well as their own.”

If you are looking to get a pet, adoption is a great way to go. According to the ASPCA 6.3 million companion animals enter animal shelters every year! Yolanda Hernández adopted a terrier mix puppy from the SPCA in 2018. “We named him Milo. We think he is a mix between a Yorkshire Terrier and Poodle. Milo took my love for a dog to a different level. We walk together, snuggle, and go to Home Depot. I take him on rides and anywhere dogs are allowed to go.”

We would love to hear some stories about your pets and how you will be spoiling them on National Love Your Pet Day. Feel free to share on our Facebook page.

By Lorie Ham

We all know that as we age a lot of things change, but have you ever thought about how your insurance needs might change as well? According to AAA, when you reach the later years of your life you should consider giving your insurance agent a call. If you retire, you may qualify for a discount on your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, and if you drive less than before you may be able to have your auto insurance premium reduced. Sometimes your auto insurance rates increase as you get older, but you may be eligible for a discount if you complete a DMV-approved course for mature drivers.

Dalia Jimenez with Mennonite Insurance states that the number of miles people drive can decrease when people retire and no longer commute. “That lowered exposure can result in lower premiums on their auto policy.” Also, if you reach a point where you can’t drive safely, you may choose to sell your vehicle or give it away and no longer need auto insurance.

Your home insurance needs may change as well. As people age and kids move away, the need for a large house goes down. Perhaps you will even decide to sell your house and rent instead. “That means the large homeowner policy can now become a smaller renter’s policy, just covering contents,” shares Jerry Linscheid, Chief Executive Officer of Mennonite Insurance. “At the same time, the client has spent their entire working life building assets and they actually have more to lose in a lawsuit than they did when they were younger. So, getting a larger liability policy (umbrella) makes sense. The larger liability policy protects all your assets that might be at risk if you were ever named in a lawsuit.”

But you are not the only one who is growing older.  Your children are as well.  When your children begin the transition from being your dependents to being independent adults, insurance issues can arise. When your children start to become independent, especially when they no longer come home every day, you should ask your insurance agent if there is a need for additional coverage and a way to provide that coverage.

“Both auto and home insurance policies place an importance on who is a ‘resident’ of the household,” continues Jerry. Residents are generally covered by your policy, while non-residents are generally not.  “Residence is often not defined in the policy, because there are many factors that can affect the determination. Essentially, residence is a subjective intention to live at or return to a certain place as shown by objective actions.”

Factors that courts look at to determine residency are:

• How often does the person stay at or return to the residence? Are those regular times, such as college breaks and during the summer?
• Does the person have their belongings and a permanent room at the residence?
• Is the residence listed on important documents, like driver’s license? Voter registration? College enrollment?
• Does the person receive mail at the residence?

When a child has taken enough steps to no longer be a resident of your household, coverage under your insurance policies may be diminished or go away completely.

Here are a couple of examples of how coverage can be impacted:

Your son or daughter moves out and is no longer a resident of your household, but they keep and drive your car listed on your auto policy. While they are driving your car (with your permission) they are covered as an insured for liability under your policy. However, when they drive someone else’s car, they are no longer covered on your policy.

If your child is still considered a resident of your household but lives away from home (for college, etc.) their contents coverage is limited to 10% of your contents coverage on your homeowner’s insurance. If they are no longer a resident of your household, there is no coverage for property or liability under your homeowner’s insurance.

Bottom line, as you age not only does your body change, but your insurance should change as well to meet your changing needs. Mennonite Insurance is happy to chat with you and find out just what your current needs are. You can contact us at 559-638-2327 and find us online at mennoniteinsurance.com and our Facebook page.

By Lorie Ham

Another new year is upon us, and for many, that means a fresh start with New Year’s resolutions to exercise more, eat better, and be healthier! According to Statista, the most popular New Year’s resolution in America in 2022 was to start living healthier, and one can imagine that the same would be the case for 2023.

Maybe you have made similar resolutions for 2023, but is there one thing you would never give up no matter what? Mennonite Insurance employee Stephanie Heier says that McDonald’s fries are that one thing for her family. “We try to eat healthy and exercise, but once a week our car ends up at the drive-thru at McDonald’s.”

According to another survey on Statista, coffee is the most popular drink in the US. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they regularly drink coffee. Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide. Millions of consumers across the country cannot imagine starting their day without a hot cup of coffee. For employee Michelle Heinrichs, it would be coffee and wine that she couldn’t give up. “I could stand to reduce the amounts of each (for sure coffee), but I honestly don’t think I would likely ever give either up unless the doctor told me I must for health reasons. So far, he hasn’t. Phew!!”

One good thing about coffee, if you are hooked on the taste rather than the caffeine, is that they do now make good decaffeinated coffee. Many high-end coffee brands like Peets Coffee and Starbucks now put out decaffeinated versions that taste just as good as the rest of their coffees. Also, coffee is actually good for you unless you need to cut back on caffeine for health reasons. According to a 2021 article on the Harvard T.H. Chan website, Frank Hu, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, stated that moderate coffee intake—about 2–5 cups a day—is linked to a lower likelihood of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver and endometrial cancers, Parkinson’s disease, and depression.

Almost as many people who said they drank coffee – 53 percent – said they regularly grabbed a soft drink, which is the one thing that staff member Dalia Jimenez says she wouldn’t give up, or more specifically Coke and Pepsi. “I need to have it with my food, especially if it’s Mexican food. I have cut back to the mini cans no more than two per day.”

Pizza is one of the most popular foods in the US and is the one thing employee Claudia Fletes could never give up, unless her doctor specifically told her she had to. “I love everything about it!” According to an article in the Washington Post, in the United States, 350 slices are eaten every second, while 40 percent of Americans eat pizza at least once a week.

According to an article on In the Kitchen With Matt some of the most popular foods in America other than those already mentioned, include donuts, ice cream, chicken, Oreos, and French Fries. Is there a food or drink that you just can’t see yourself ever giving up, for a New Year’s resolution or otherwise? Please share it with us on our Facebook page.

By Lorie Ham

The beginning of a new year is a good time to take stock of a lot of things in our lives, including our insurance coverage and whether we might need to make some changes. But it helps to have more information when making those decisions, such as how does your insurance company arrive at the replacement cost value (RCV) of your home?

In 2019, we shared an article on the difference between RCV and actual cash value (ACV). Your policy provides for RCV for most items. That means they agree to repair or replace your property with new property of like kind and quality. However, initially, they pay the ACV. The ACV is the cost to repair or replace the damaged property less depreciation. Depreciation takes into account wear and tear, age, deterioration, and obsolescence. ACV is approximately fair market value. You can check out the whole article here.

To learn more about how your insurance company arrives at the replacement cost of your home, we recently chatted with Jerry Linscheid, Chief Executive Officer of Mennonite Aid Plan/Mennonite Insurance Services.

Q: What is the process of determining what the replacement cost will be for a home? What things are taken into consideration?

Jerry: Every insurance company needs to be able to document how they arrive at the replacement cost estimate. Mennonite Aid Plan uses a program called e2Value to arrive at those estimates because it updates its costs at least quarterly and returns estimates that match our experience with total losses. We enter into e2Value the architectural style, square footage, year built, construction quality, type of roof, shape of the home, and about eight other characteristics of your home. The program takes into account labor costs and material costs where the home is located.

Q: Is this calculated when someone purchases the insurance for the home or is it determined once a claim is filed? Or is updated every so many months/years?

Jerry: We run a replacement cost estimate when the policy is first written and then every two years after that. This keeps the coverage close to the cost to replace the home should it be completely destroyed.

Q: How do you choose the builder of a replacement home?

Jerry: The homeowner is in charge of choosing the contractor they want to work on their home. Our adjusters will prepare a repair estimate for a claim. That determines the amount Mennonite Aid Plan can pay. The homeowner then knows how much money they have to work with. If the homeowner already has a contractor, our adjuster can work with the contractor during the estimate process. The contractor will then usually agree to make the repairs for our adjuster’s estimate.

Q: How long can it take for a home to be replaced?

Jerry: For a completely destroyed home, a year to rebuild is pretty quick. Some factors that can lengthen the time are the remoteness of the home, whether this was an isolated claim or part of a catastrophic event, and whether there are building material supply chain issues. Generally, the longer the rebuilding takes, the more expensive it will be. The price of labor and building materials always seems to go up.

Q: What if you want something different in the replacement home from what was in the original one? Can the client make that choice and pay the difference, or benefit from the difference if that makes the cost less?

Jerry: The policy reads that we pay to replace the home with items of like kind and quality, subject to the policy limits. For example, if your kitchen cabinets are stock cabinets made of particle board and you want custom solid cherry cabinets, we will pay to replace your current cabinets and you can pay the difference to upgrade. It can get a little complicated if you want to upgrade certain items and downgrade others. We try to be reasonable in those circumstances.

Q: Does insurance cover an alternate place to live while waiting for the replacement home?

Jerry: Homeowner policies include coverage that is known as “Additional Living Expenses (ALE).” ALE is defined as those additional expenses you incur as a result of the loss. If your home is destroyed or made unlivable because of a loss, we will pay the cost to rent a different home for you during the repairs. You are still responsible for your mortgage payments and ongoing payments associated with your home. In cases where you need to leave your home due to a claim, it is crucial to keep all your receipts. While not every expense is an additional expense, you need documentation to claim the covered expenses. It is best to document everything and later have your adjuster help sort out what is covered and what isn’t.

We hope this answers a lot of your questions, but if you have more questions about this, or have any other insurance-related questions, feel free to contact your agent at Mennonite Insurance Services, they would be happy to help (559) 638-2327. Follow the Mennonite Insurance Facebook Page to keep up with the latest news.

By Lorie Ham

Hope Now is an organization in Fresno, California that does great work helping gang members start a new life. While it is good to feature worthy charities all year long, Christmas time feels like an especially perfect time to be inspired by the work of others and to do more ourselves to help those in need. I recently chatted with their executive director Vanna In to learn more. Vanna has held this position since March of 2021, but his connection to Hope Now goes back much further than that. Their mission statement is: “Two steps and you’re up. A job and caring relationships lifts a gang member from the streets and into transformation, belonging and generosity.”

Q: Can you tell us exactly what Hope Now is?

Vanna: Hope Now is about Jesus Christ and a job. We work specifically with young men that have an arrest record, dropped out of high school, or used to be part of a gang. Hope Now is about community outreach, job training, job placement, and discipleship. 

Q: How did you come to work at Hope Now?

Vanna: I first came to Hope Now as a client from 2001-2003. I came on staff as a vocational placement counselor from 2003-2011. I applied for the position, which was open to everyone in the nation starting in December of 2020. 

Q: Can you tell us a little about your background?

Vanna: I was a former gang member that got caught up in the early to mid-‘90s for a drive-by shooting. I gave my heart to Christ in the county jail in March 1994. I changed my plea from “not guilty” to “no contest”, essentially admitting my guilt. I was released after eight years in the California Youth Authority and ICE. 

Q: When and how did Hope Now first come to be?

Vanna: Hope Now was birthed out of the Los Angeles riots in the early ‘90s. People were not setting fires to the neighborhoods in Beverly Hills but in their own neighborhoods in Inglewood, Compton, and South-Central Los Angeles. A pastor who felt called to work with gang members quit his position at a church and started Hope Now For Youth. That was almost 30 years ago. 29 years later, we’re still going strong, and our hope is to continue to live out the vision that God has for this ministry: helping young men’s family tree be changed through Jesus Christ and a job. 

Q: Can you tell us more about what Hope Now does?

Vanna: Aside from training and placing men in jobs, we walk with them through all the trappings of life. We help them to navigate Biblical manhood and model to them what it means to follow God and to lead their families. We help them with the basics: obtain their birth certificate so that they can obtain their ID card and social security card, which are all requirements to get a job. We help them obtain their driver’s license and they can use our vehicles if they do not have familial support for that. 

Q: That’s awesome! Do the gang members come to you or do you reach out to them?

Vanna: Both. We engage in community outreach and a lot of the guys also come to us by way of referrals from those that have completed the program or those that are currently still in the program.

Q: What is the best thing about working there?

Vanna: It is a privilege to serve those that have walked in our shoes. We know the struggles because all seven staff members are former gang members, and some of us were former rivals in our past life. We have instant credibility with the guys that we walk alongside because we can say with integrity that “I know what you’re going through.” We have that lived experience and we were able to overcome our traumatic past and push through and show what it means to be a part of society. 

Q: What is the hardest part?

Vanna: It is most hard when the guys lose their job or split up in their relationships but the most painful is when they lose their lives. In close to 30 years, a lot of guys have lost their life prematurely through gun violence or other random incidents. 

Q: That is sad. Why do you feel that Hope Now is important?

Vanna: Hope Now is important because we are willing and have worked with those that society has cast off. These are individuals that have no hope and when someone has no hope and cares not for his own life, why would he care for your life or mine? Hope Now is an organization that literally deals with life and death situations. Having a job and living a life that is legal and paying the bills is crucial for guys staying off the streets. 

Q: Future goals of Hope Now?

Vanna: Aside from growing in staff, we hope to grow our carpet cleaning business and our food trailer. We just started both companies this year and we look forward to both growing simultaneously.

Q: How many gang members does Hope Now help per year?

Vanna: Hope Now serves close to 150 gang members per year. 20-40 may graduate in a calendar year and 50 may get a job. 

Q: How can someone get help?

Vanna: Our office number (559) 237-7215 is always available to those that call. They can just drop in anytime and have someone hear them out. Guys are constantly calling and dropping in. 

Q: What kind of needs do you have? How can we in the community help?

Vanna: We need prayer, new monthly donors, jobs, and volunteers. We look forward to opportunities to present at service clubs, foundations, Bible study groups, etc. 

Q: Where can you be found online and where are you located?

Vanna: Website hopenowforyouth.org, Facebook page Hope Now For Youth. Instagram Hope Now For Youth. 2305 Stanislaus Street, Fresno, CA 93721.

Q: Is there anything you would like to add?

Vanna: Hope Now is grateful for those that have supported us throughout the years. We want to say thank you to our past and present supporters and look forward to connecting with our future donors. 

Please consider this holiday season, and all year long, helping Hope Now with the wonderful work they do!

By Lorie Ham

With Thanksgiving behind us, most of us have seen firsthand how expensive it is now to make a holiday meal. With soaring food prices, feeding our families can be a challenge any time of the year, but especially so at the holidays when we want to provide a special experience for our family.

According to the USDA Economic Research Service website the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of economy-wide inflation, increased by 7.7 percent since October 2021. The CPI for all food increased 0.7 percent from September 2022 to October 2022, and food prices were 10.9 percent higher in October 2022 than in October 2021. The level of food price inflation varies depending on whether the food was purchased for consumption at home or away from home. The food-at-home (grocery store or supermarket food purchases) CPI increased 0.5 percent from September 2022 to October 2022 and was 12.4 percent higher in October 2022 than in October 2021.

So how do we cope with the increased prices and still provide a great meal? What might we do differently this year when it comes to holiday grocery shopping? Buy less? Substitute less expensive items, or possibly cut back elsewhere so we can provide the same type of meal our family has come to expect?

Mennonite Insurance staff member Claudia Fletes decided to have a potluck for Thanksgiving to spread the cost of the meal around. When staff member Dalia Jimenez saw the price of cooking oil recently ($11 a bottle) she knew her family would not be having fried chicken this holiday season.

“Eating a holiday meal at a restaurant may cost about the same, but you don’t have to worry about cooking,” shared staff member Yolanda Hernandez. She also suggested buying less food. “We sometimes end up with extra desserts and food that we end up throwing away in the trash a few days later. Cooking less and buying less will definitely be a priority of mine this year. Possibly even doing without some side dishes.”

Home Cooking Memories has ten suggestions for saving money on holiday meals. They include having a shopping list to cut back on impulse buying, using coupons, loading up on inexpensive side dishes, and making new traditions that include food that is cheaper to make. Two Kids and a Coupon suggests some of the same things already mentioned, such as potlucks and making less food. Another suggestion of theirs is to think outside the grocery store and check discount places such as Dollar Stores and to use money-saving apps.

We would love to hear some money-saving tips that you tried this Thanksgiving that could also be used at Christmas! Please share with us on our Facebook page!