8 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 14, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
сoronavirus
Queens Community House projects $1 million loss
as nonprofi ts across NYC brace for fi nancial pain
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@QNS
Th e coronavirus pandemic has put nonprofi
Photo via Facebook/Henry Street Settlement
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.
Th rough June 30, the nonprofi t projects
that it will have spent $2.5 million
on its pandemic response, which includes
everything from off ering 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. “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 ramifi cations
accordingly.”
Th ough the Henry Street Settlement has
been able to off set 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 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.”
Meeting the growing crisis
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 staff ers 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.
Th e 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 that 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 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 nonprofi ts responsible for
delivering vital safety net services in New
York.”
Th e 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
Th e 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. Th e 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
Th omases, 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,” Th omases 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. Th ese 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 nonprofi t leaders
on April 21 informing them that not all of
their costs might be covered by City Hall.
Th e 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 aft er
March 22, the city will be reimbursing
costs incurred for ‘essential work.’”
Th ere’s one problem with that statement:
the defi nition of ‘essential work’ wasn’t
made clear.
Th e letter went on explain that “the City
Council is in the process of determining
what existing scopes of work constitute
‘essential work.’” Th e mayor’s offi ce did
not immediately respond to a request for
comment about this report.
Th omases said the C-19 HHS Response
Team letter “caused weeks of wasted
eff ort” among Queens Community
House staff and other nonprofi t leaders,
as they interpreted it as a sign of impending
retroactive funding cuts.
Th ey scrambled to create contingency
plans to keep services in place and
increase fundraising eff orts in the event
they lose a vital stream of revenue. But
in recent days, Th omases reported, he
received clarity from two city agencies
that indicated the nonprofi t’s work was
considered essential, and would indeed
be reimbursed by the city.
“I really urge the decision-makers in
this city, both on the City Council side
and the administration side, to consult
with local nonprofi t leaders as they
make decisions about what comes next,”
Th omases 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 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.
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