Queens Community House projects $1M loss as
nonprofi ts across NYC brace for fi nancial pain
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
The coronavirus pandemic
has put nonprofits serving atrisk
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
Monday. “I think that human
service organizations in times
of human crises have a unique
responsibility to step up and
execute our mission, and deal
with the implications and
ramifications 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 difficult staffing
decisions in the weeks ahead.
“Our commitment is that
we want to come out of this crisis
as fit financially as possible,”
Garza said. “We might
be injured, we might be tired,
but we still want to maintain
our fitness. But if the structural
support for our summer
programming has been compromised,
we have to look at
restructuring and reducing
staff accordingly.”
Meeting the growing crisis
Nonprofit 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
have had to cancel
lucrative fundraisers, which
serve as primary sources of
revenue, because of capacity restrictions
related to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the nonprofits
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 nonprofits that
they contacted already have
financial losses exceeding $1
million. While the city honored
existing contracts for the
current fiscal year, the report
indicated that many nonprofits
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 nonprofits
have been the unsung
heroes of this health and economic
TIMESLEDGER |10 QNS.COM | MAY 15-MAY 21, 2020
crisis, but a growing
number of them may not be
financially strong enough to
continue meeting the 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 financial 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.
A nonsensical cut
The Queens Community
House projects $1.1 million
in revenue losses from the
cancellation of its 17 summer
camps, and another $500,000
hit resulting from the cancellation
of the city’s Summer
Youth Employment Program.
The loss of the Summer
Youth Employment Program
is a particularly devastating
blow for both the organization
and the young adults and children
they serve, according
to Ben Thomases, executive
director of Queens Community
House. It also jeopardizes
the organization’s ability to
launch summer programs for
2021.
“It makes no sense to leave
thousands of young people
with nothing to do this summer,”
Thomases said. “We
understand that it may not
be safe to congregate, but we
have the capacity to do remote
programming. Without
that, they’re going to congregate
anyway with each other.
These funding cuts for summer
program are a loss for
the academic and professional
development for our young
people, a loss for our families
who are struggling, and a loss
for public health.”
Troubling letter
from City Hall
As if the losses weren’t bad
enough, the city sent out a
letter to nonprofit leaders on
April 21 informing them that
not all of their costs might be
covered by City Hall.
The letter, signed by the
C-19 HHS Response Team, indicated
that “the city will be
reimbursing discretionary
contract expenses incurred on
or before March 22, the date
that Governor Cuomo placed
New York on “pause.” However,
“for expenses incurred
after March 22, the city will be
reimbursing costs incurred
for ‘essential work.’”
There’s one problem with
that statement: the definition
of ‘essential work’ wasn’t
made clear. The letter went on
explain that “the City Council
is in the process of determining
what existing scopes
of work constitute ‘essential
work.’”
The mayor’s office did not
immediately respond to a request
for comment about this
report.
Thomases said the C-19 HHS
Response Team letter “caused
weeks of wasted effort” among
Queens Community House
staff and other nonprofit leaders,
as they interpreted it as a
sign of impending retroactive
funding cuts. They scrambled
to create contingency plans
to keep services in place and
increase fundraising efforts
in the event they lose a vital
stream of revenue.
But in recent days, Thomases
reported, he received
clarity from two city agencies
that indicated the nonprofit’s
work was considered essential,
and would indeed be reimbursed
by the city.
“I really urge the decisionmakers
in this city, both on
the City Council side and
the administration side, to
consult with local nonprofit
leaders as they make decisions
about what comes next,”
Thomases said. “All of these
challenges that we have been
talking about could have been
made much easier for us if we
had a place at the table in their
discussions.”
Meanwhile, the Center
for an Urban Future recommended
in its report that the
city and state work with nonprofits
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.
The nonprofit Henry Street Settlement is projected to spend $2.5 million through June for its
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo via Facebook/Henry Street Settlement
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