Nonprofits across New York City going all out
to serve while bracing for financial pain
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
The coronavirus pandemic
has put nonprofi ts serving
at-risk communities
across New York City in a costly
quagmire — providing essential
services to more New Yorkers in
need while the threat of government
cuts looms on the horizon.
One such organization, the
Henry Street Settlement based
on the Lower East Side, has
invested heavily in supporting
the thousands of people it serves,
according to president and CEO
David Garza. Through June 30,
the nonprofit projects that it
will have spent $2.5 million on
its pandemic response, which
includes everything from offering
pay increases for frontline workers,
food distribution to the community,
childcare stipends and
even emergency cash payments
to people in need.
“Our priority has been from
day one to support the people we
serve, keep the staff functional
and look at business continuity,”
Garza said in an interview
Monday with amNewYork Metro.
“I think that human service
PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK/HENRY STREET SETTLEMENT
The nonprofit Henry Street Settlement is projected to spend
$2.5 million through June for its response to the COVID-19
pandemic.
organizations in times of human
crises have a unique responsibility
to step up and execute
our mission, and deal with the
implications and ramifi cations
accordingly.”
Though the Henry Street
Settlement has been able to offset
some of these expenses through
an increase in donations from private
citizens and philanthropists,
Garza warned that increased government
funding is sorely needed
to avoid some diffi cult staffi ng
decisions in the weeks ahead.
“Our commitment is that we
want to come out of this crisis as
Elizabeth Warren joins city councilmembers on Zoom to push
for essential workers ‘bill of rights’
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Massachusetts Senator and former Democratic
presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren joined
a handful of New York City councilmembers
during a digital town hall on May 7 on efforts to pass
a Workers Bill of Rights during the novel coronavirus
pandemic at the local and national level.
“One of the things that the COVID-19 crisis has shown
us is who are the essential workers in our country and
guess what it turns out it’s not the investment bankers,”
said Warren during the Zoom meeting hosted by Brooklyn
City Councilmember Brad Lander. Not only are essential
workers doctors and nurses, Warren said, but they are also
janitors keeping hospitals clean, delivery workers, grocery
store workers and home health aides.
“If these essential workers are willing to get out there
and put their own health at risk and sometimes putting
their family’s health at risk then the very least the rest of
us can do is make sure that have some genuine protection,”
Warren added.
In mid-April, Senator Warren and Representative Ro
Khanna from California unveiled a Worker’s Bill of Rights
to protect frontline workers during the novel coronavirus
fi t fi nancially as possible,” Garza
said. “We might be injured, we
might be tired, but we still want
to maintain our fi tness. But if
the structural support for our
summer programming has been
compromised, we have to look at
restructuring and reducing staff
accordingly.”
Nonprofi t groups such as the
Henry Street Settlement are now
spending a fortune on unexpected
expenses to continue operating —
from technical upgrades enabling
employees to telecommute, to hiring
temporary staffers to replace
workers who are out sick.
At the same time, these organizations
lucrative fundraisers, which serve
as primary sources of revenue,
because of capacity restrictions
related to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the nonprofi ts continue
to serve those in need during
the crisis through programs
such as food and meal delivery.
The number of people served has
only grown as the economic crisis
related to the pandemic bore
down on the city and country.
The Center for an Urban Future
report released a report on May 11
which found that several nonprofi ts
that they contacted already have
fi nancial losses exceeding $1 million.
While the city honored existing
contracts for the current fi scal year,
the report indicated that many nonprofi
ts might not be compensated
by the city for expenses occurred
between late March and late April
— the peak of the coronavirus
pandemic in New York City.
“Human services nonprofi ts
have been the unsung heroes of
this health and economic crisis,
but a growing number of them
may not be fi nancially strong
enough to continue meeting the
pandemic at a federal level. The bill of rights which called
for provided all essential workers with adequate personal
protective equipment at no cost to the employee, a premium
wage for workers which could boost pay for lowest-paid
work without counting towards eligibility for means-tested
programs, protections for collective bargaining agreements,
universal paid sick leave and family medical leave,
whistleblower protections, protections against worker
misclassifi cation, health care regardless of immigration
status, support for childcare and calling on Congress to
allow workers to put on boards of directors for corporations
and to not require companies to use the funding for
payroll retention and to require CEOs to personally certify
they are compliant with worker protections or face civil
or criminal charges.
Two weeks ago, the New York City Council introduced
a Virus Relief Plan which included a bundle of bills collectively
known as the Essential Workers Bill of Rights.
The ‘bill of rights’ included legislation providing essential
worker whistleblower protections, paid sick leave for
gig workers, extra pay for non-salaried essential workers
at large companies, a ban on fi ring essential workers
without just cause, and allowing essential workers
impacted fi nancially by the pandemic more time to pay
have had to cancel
needs of vulnerable New Yorkers,”
said Jonathan Bowles, executive
director of the Center for
an Urban Future. “It’s vital that
city and state leaders ensure the
fi nancial stability of the nonprofits
responsible for delivering vital
safety net services in New York.”
The report found that the Catholic
Charities of the Archdiocese
of New York expects to lose $3
million in revenue due to canceled
or postponed fundraising events.
God’s Love We Deliver estimates
it has more than $1 million in
unexpected expenses related to
the pandemic response.
The Center for an Urban Future
recommended in its report
that the city and state work with
nonprofi ts to avoid program cuts,
reimburse bonuses provided to essential
frontline workers, ensure
protective gear and childcare to
frontline workers, ease contract
budget restrictions to make
additional funds available, and
ensure that all COVID-19-related
expenses are covered.
You can read the full report
at nycfuture.org/research/
essential-yet-vulnerable.
More at amny.com.
SCREENSHOT
rent. Councilmember Brad Lander, Ben Kallos, Majority
Leader Laurie Cumbo and Speaker Corey Johnson who
all sponsored bills within the “bill of rights” joined in on
the Zoom conference call with Warren and about a dozen
nurses, grocery store workers and food delivery workers.
After hearing a few personal accounts from frontline
workers, Warren posed a question for logging off to
take part in a congressional vote. What’s the thing that
would make you feel most valued and protected in your
workplace?
“Kindness,” said Christine Merola, a cashier at a Stop &
Shop. ” We are all in it together, it’s tough as an employee
and it’s tough as a customer but we need to come together.
If I could see more of that would be great.
12 May 14, 2020 Schneps Media
/
/amny.com
