As Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island Inc. heads into the winter, the nonprofit doesn’t look at the upcoming stretch of time as the holiday season so much as the heating season, says Kathy Cloutier, the nonprofit’s executive director.
This heating season, with natural gas bills increasing an average of 10% as of November and electric rates up an average of $50 as of Oct. 1, will require more support.
Dorcas, which provides immigration support services, finds that for many clients, inflationary forces are compounded by what is often a lack of higher-wage work available to them.
“From the perspective of the clients we serve – particularly from newly arrived refugees – the housing market has raised rents. And yet when folks arrive, they are generally getting fairly entry-level wages,” Cloutier said. “So the gap is growing.
“It’s not that people can’t find a job, but their job might not be covering all costs,” she added.
Additionally, many of Dorcas’ clients came to the U.S. from countries with warmer climates – right now the organization is serving many from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central American countries – making New England winters jarring, requiring the organization to address resources beyond heating.
“You need to be wearing more clothing, and even just getting to work and back in winter is generally more difficult than summer,” Cloutier said.
Donations have increased in the last year, Cloutier says, but even with continued generosity, heightened need means the organization must think about continuous growth in fundraising efforts.
And while financial support, as well as volunteerism, remains strong, filling needed staff positions remains a pressing issue.
“We always feel like we’re under-resourced,” Cloutier said. “We have been able to expand the number of staff due to fundraising, grants and resources, so that’s been positive across the organization, but we still have a significant number of vacant positions because hiring is so difficult.”
