In nearly 15 years of working at poverty relief nonprofit Amos House, Jessica Salter has seen the toll that food and housing insecurity has taken on some Rhode Islanders. But this year, even she acknowledges feeling more alarmed than usual.
“We’re in a situation now where we’re seeing housing issues combined with food costs creating a perfect storm for people who are financially vulnerable,” Salter said. Community need is “higher than we’ve seen it in decades.”
Amos House has added new services in response, including an emergency shelter in Pawtucket with a capacity for 30 families. Still, the nonprofit can’t keep up.
“As soon as we opened that shelter, it was filled,” Salter said. “And as soon as we’re able to move one family into permanent housing, there are 10 more families than we have space for that need housing.”
Amos House is far from the only organization that’s feeling the strain. Growing numbers of Rhode Islanders squeezed by the rising cost of eating, heating and housing are seeking the helping hand of community groups, which are feeling financial and staffing pressures of their own.
The struggles of four Rhode Island nonprofits are highlighted in these stories:
• Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center
• Amos House
• Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island Inc.
• We Share Hope
Nonprofits in all sectors are experiencing the struggle. According to a survey released by the United Way of Rhode Island Inc. in November, 60% of nearly 300 surveyed nonprofits report that community demand for programs and services is higher than it was before the pandemic.
Meanwhile, staffing levels remain bleak: about 55% of respondents said they have five or fewer paid staff members, and about one-quarter have no paid staff. And as inflation surges, more than 80% are facing increased expenses, and about the same percentage of nonprofits have less than three months of funding in their operating reserve.
While the holiday season typically inspires more donations, this year some nonprofit leaders are seeing dampened responses to fundraising efforts. The United Way survey said 27.3% of nonprofits have recorded fewer donations recently.
In this environment, United Way is fielding thousands of calls monthly, many from people looking for assistance with necessities such as food and housing, says Idrees Lanre Ajakaiye, the organization’s chief development officer.
“Those are recurring costs, and I think about the nonprofits that help within that space, [and what would happen] if they couldn’t help,” Ajakaiye said.
At the same time, key sources of funding for nonprofits are drying up, observers say. On one front, national data shows that workplace giving is on a decline, Ajakaiye says, and Rhode Island already has one of the lowest rates of philanthropic giving in the nation. Research to pinpoint why is still underway.
At least for some groups, such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Newport, corporate giving has slowed, too.
“We’re even seeing some people have to back off pledges, corporations that are unable to meet their obligations because they are just seeing economic crises within themselves,” said Executive Director Heather Strout.
On yet another front, many relief measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic are expiring after boosting community groups for nearly three years.
These developments have the nonprofit sector looking for solutions.
For instance, United Way of Rhode Island CEO Cortney Nicolato has proposed the state set aside $3 million for multiyear grants to support local nonprofits.
Neil D. Steinberg, CEO and president of the Rhode Island Foundation, says that unlike the private sector, a difficulty for nonprofits is they can’t cut back expenses and services in order to stay afloat because demand is so great.
“The big word is ‘inflation,’ ” he said. “Everyone is dealing with inflation, and the nonprofits, in many cases, get hit twice.
“There are more people in need being impacted,” he added, “so you have organizations that not only need to be able to fund their operations – they need to bulk up their operations.”
The key is “not just to ask [prospective donors] for money,” Steinberg said, but “educating people about what the need is, and inspiring them that they can be part of the solution. That’s the secret of fundraising.
“We tell people, take care of your family first, support organizations you’ve always supported in the nonprofit sector, and if you have additional resources, come see the Rhode Island Foundation, and we’ll help you deploy where there’s the greatest need,” he said.
At the Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s warehouse, “the food is flying out as quickly as it comes in,” said Lisa Roth Blackman, the nonprofit’s chief philanthropy officer. Empty shelves are a common sight.
Year over year, the food bank’s clientele has increased by about 10,000, Roth Blackman says, spiking from about 53,000 served on a monthly basis in late 2021 to 63,000 in the most recent data.
And to meet the needs of the food bank’s 140 partner agencies and the community at large, the food bank has needed to bump its food purchasing budget from approximately $1.5 million in 2019 to $6.5 million this year, Roth Blackman says.
Salter and Roth Blackman don’t expect these hardships to ease any time soon: winter and the holidays are often the busiest time of the year for nonprofits, as heating bills compound year-round expenses.
“And when nonprofits feel the crunch, so does every community they serve,” Ajakaiye said.
“They’re the backbone of our state,” he continued. “And when I say backbone, I mean essential services that help Rhode Islanders find stability. Especially in times of rising costs, like with gas prices, food … and if nonprofits aren’t stable, then we’re in a very precarious place.”
