Nonprofits take a hit due to coronavirus shutdown
Observer-Reporter
Joyce Ellis, executive director of the LeMoyne Community Center in East Washington, lost her battle with cancer in December.
Dean Gartland, president and CEO of the Washington City Mission, pictured in a file photo, said the shelter will have to close if the coronavirus crisis does not resolve within the next few months.
Darlene J. Bigler, chief executive officer of Blueprints, said her agency is taking a wait-and-see approach to the continuing coronavirus crisis.
Revenue streams that have gone dry. Fundraisers scratched off the calendar. A deep recession just over the horizon. Volunteers hunkered down in their homes.
The damage the coronavirus has inflicted on retailers, restaurateurs, travel agencies and other for-profit businesses has been extensively reported upon. But the shutdowns and closings that have been in effect since mid-March have also wreaked havoc on nonprofit agencies, just as the need for their services is rising.
The months ahead are going to be “very, very difficult for charities,” according to Betsie Trew, president and CEO of the Washington County Community Foundation. Prognosticators have forecast some businesses will be unable to survive as a result of commerce being all but suspended, and “we’re going to see charities that will shut down, too. I hate to say that, but that’s going to happen.”
She continued, “They operate on a slim margin. They don’t have much in the way of reserves.”
In fact, in a letter dated to supporters and donors dated April 3, Dean Gartland, the president and CEO of Washington’s City Mission, said the shelter would have to close “if the coronavirus crisis does not resolve within the next few months.”
“The effects of the coronavirus were completely unforeseen,” Gartland wrote.
In the letter, he states that City Mission has laid off 58 employees. He also says grant funding has stalled, donations are down and City Mission has lost the money it receives from its seven thrift stores, which accounts for one-third of its annual revenue. Budget cuts have been implemented, and fundraising efforts are being stepped up.
If misery loves company, Gartland has plenty of it. Joyce Ellis, executive director of the LeMoyne Community Center in Washington, said her organization has had to give pink slips to six part-time employees, a painful move because “they were dependent on that money.” It is still carrying on a feeding program for young people, but now the meals are either delivered or families have to pick them up outside the center, located on North Forrest Avenue.
Ellis is hoping that at least a portion of a summer camp program on the schedule happens. If not, the center would lose $55,000. Money from facility rentals has also evaporated. A gym and playground have closed.
“We’re just scratching our heads right now,” Ellis said. She pointed out that the community center was founded right as the Great Recession was gaining steam in 2008, and the current state of play has given her a sense of deja vu.
“We’re trying to do what we can,” according to Ellis.
Some agencies are taking a wait-and-see approach to the continuing crisis. Blueprints, the social services agency with offices in Washington and Greene counties and West Virginia, has had to lay off only 15 employees out of 350, according to Darlene Bigler, Blueprints’ CEO. Her organization’s fiscal year ends on June 30, and for now “we’re in pretty good shape.” Most of the employees who were laid off handled home visits and truancy prevention, and it’s Blueprints’ intention to recall them once business returns to a more normal footing, Bigler said.
Kellie McKevitt, chief operating officer of Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services, which has an office in Washington, said in a statement that “it’s difficult to forecast the impact of this crisis. Our focus is on deploying essential services, and in some cases life sustaining, to the individuals we serve. Our experience thus far, working with our consumers, staff, communities and government officials, has been productive and supportive.”
Since mid-March, the Washington County Community Foundation has given grants to a variety of organizations, including the foundations of Washington Hospital and Monongahela Valley Hospital, the Salvation Army, Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Greater Washington County Food Bank. All nonprofits are concerned about what the fundraising landscape will be like for the rest of the year, Trew explained. She also pointed out the downturn in the stock market has led the community foundation to lose $5 million in its investments since the beginning of the year, and “we invest conservatively.”
“It’s going to be a very challenging time,” Trew said.