On April 23, United Way of Rhode Island teamed up with The Providence Journal to host a panel about the current state of the nonprofit sector.
The United Way of Rhode Island has been around since 1926 and works to connect people in need with appropriate resources, as well as raise money and resources for local nonprofits via fundraising. For the last five years, the agency has facilitated an alliance program that offers nonprofit staff a chance to connect with and learn from each other.
Ten panelists – many of whom participate in the alliance – answered questions on how they’re coping with the onslaught of federal actions and funding uncertainties coming from the Trump administration and offered ideas on how nonprofits may be able to persevere.
Nancy Wolanski, who oversees alliances for the United Way of Rhode Island, kicked off the event by commending everyone in the nonprofit field for enduring under such difficult circumstances.
“Nonprofits are the foundations of our communities. They’re also an anchor for the state government and the federal government,” she said. “All too often that is forgotten in how nonprofits are viewed by government, not as a partner in providing essential services, but as a dispensable, disposable lender. One of the goals of the alliance is to change that.”
Here’s what the panelists had to say:
Tanja Kubas-Meyer, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for Children and Families
Kubas-Meyer’s group is a coalition of 44 organizations that advocate for the state’s children and families, including foster youths, low-income families and domestic violence survivors. Much of their funding comes from the state, which actually trickles down from the federal government.
Kubas-Meyer is particularly worried about executive orders that target LGBTQ+ youths, a population that already experiences higher rates of homelessness and suicide than non-LGBTQ+ youths.
“The executive orders, some of them are about business, but some are very personal,” she said.
Although all nonprofits are doing their best, Kubas-Meyer doesn’t know if there’s much money left to raise from the private sector.
“I don’t know if I’m optimistic that everyone’s going to whether the storm,” she said.
Kimberly Simmons, executive director of The Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness
The Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness operates a call center and collects data on the state’s homeless population. Simmons shared that there are about 1,200 people in the state experiencing homelessness on any given day, 600 of whom are living outside.
A major concern that Simmons has observed among both her organization’s clients and her staff is fears about Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. She explained that what’s going on is exacerbating disparities and having a greater impact on people of color and other minorities.
“Health care has gotten hit and impacted dramatically. Academia. Businesses with tariffs. It’s our entire community that’s been affected, and when that happens of course those most vulnerable and those who are suffering and have been homeless suffer greater,” Simmons said.
Vanessa Volz, president of Sojourner House
Sojourner House offers support to survivors of domestic and sexual abuse through services such as emergency shelter, supportive housing, support groups and sexual health advocacy.
Eighty percent of Sojourner House’s budget comes from federal funding, and Volz said that nearly every one of the government agencies they work with has told them to anticipate cuts, but they don’t know when or how much. Many of the grants that Sojourner House has right now are expiring in September, and the online applications to reapply for them have disappeared.
“We’re dealing literally with life or death on a daily basis. We’re working with families who are in crisis, who can’t go home tonight, who are experiencing physical abuse, so even under the best of circumstances, this work is extremely stressful,” Volz said.
She knows that it’s taking a heavy toll on her staff, and even though they’re used to developing five- or 10-year plans, it only feels feasible to take things month by month.
Courtney Smith, director of Innovation and Community Outreach for United Way of Rhode Island
United Way of Rhode Island operates an emergency helpline, runs a resource center for disabilities and aging and has a community outreach team. Smith said they’ve definitely noticed a higher need for their services over the last few months, and a lot of people want help making sense of how policy changes will affect them.
“This is often their lifeline,” Smith said. “We’re trying our best to make sure that our services are safe and available to everybody all the time. We’re carrying information to provide to families when we see them on-site to make sure they can get access and keep it.”
Patrick Anderson, State House reporter for The Providence Journal
Anderson shared his perspective on covering executive orders and legal battles as a journalist, which in some cases has been clear cut but in most has been murky as the situation changes rapidly and journalists are left to interpret contradictory events.
“I think we’re in a lot of ways, in a more uncertain place than we were even a month or two ago, with so many court cases and so much uncertainty about what’s going to happen with the economy,” he said.
However, Anderson said he thinks it’s too early to tell how fluctuations in the global economy will affect local groups just yet.
Erik Wallin, executive director and general counsel for Operation Stand Down Rhode Island
Wallin’s nonprofit assists homeless veterans. He said that so far, funding for veterans services has stayed fairly level and Operation Stand Down Rhode Island has received many of the same grants year after year.
Wallin noted that like other groups in the nonprofit world, his organization works with a lot of people experiencing mental illness, such as anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, and that some of them are struggling more now with what they’re hearing from the media. One rumor is that if Veterans Affairs has budget cuts, it might mean that veterans won’t be able to see the health care providers they’re comfortable with.
“There’s an element of trust that needs to be built with the veteran community,” Wallin said. “Veterans need to stay focused with their providers in going to their treatment and not be worried about something that may or may not happen.”
Mario Bueno, executive director of Progreso Latino
Progreso Latino promotes socioeconomic growth for Rhode Island’s Latino and immigrant communities. As a community-based organization, the agency recognizes its limitations and focuses on the work staffers know they can achieve, Bueno said.
Bueno added that he’s seen a lot of collaborations between nonprofits come and go, and there’s often still a sense of competition, so it’s vital that all parties think things through first.
“We can get lost in the shuffle and ultimately be even less effective than we were before,” he said. “We have to figure out how to overcome those challenges as a nonprofit community in order to be able to make a difference.”
Nina Pande, executive eirector of Skills for Rhode Island’s Future
Skills for Rhode Island’s Future works to connect job-seekers with socially responsible and civic-minded employers.
Pande said that Rhode Island leaders recognize how valuable the nonprofit sector is for the local economy, and nonprofits are lucky they can have conversations with those officials through avenues that larger states lack.
“I actually think our philanthropic sector, our corporate sector and our government sector all need to come together and collaborate in figuring out how to go after larger national dollars that our state just simply doesn’t attract,” she said.
Ralph Tavares, vice president of people and culture for Diverse Search Group Global
Tavares’ group is a consulting firm that focuses on providing diverse expertise. He observed how a few years ago there was a push in the business world to hire people who would focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts. However, the trend fizzled out, and many of those positions have been phased out.
“It was a reactive stance,” Tavares said.
Right now he’s witnessing a similar issue where organizations are hiring gift officers or philanthropic officers. He wants people to be careful and ensure that those positions are sustainable.
“You can’t have a gift officer without strategic planning to figure out the long game,” Tavares added.
Tina Guenette, founder and president of Real Access Motivates Progress
Guenette’s nonprofit, also known as RAMP, advocates for accessibility and inclusion throughout Rhode Island.
“I’m a disabled person in a wheelchair. I’m also a domestic violence survivor. Nothing’s accessible. Fifty-five percent of our state is a registered disabled person that uses a walker, wheelchair or cane,” she said. “Sixty and older is the majority of our state. Who in this room is not going to use a walker, wheelchair, cane, crutches or something else at some point in their life?”
Guenette pointed out that the existing resources such as food pantries and shelters are largely inaccessible for people who are disabled. She’d like to see more intersectional work that doesn’t just serve one niche group of people, but that can help communities dealing with overlapping issues.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: How RI nonprofits are faring amid federal funding uncertainty