The Disability Awareness Council in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, supports people with disabilities in our community, providing assistance ranging from transportation to housing advocacy. But for now, many services have been suspended.
“Due to closures and layoffs, core disability services that people rely on every week have been suspended, reduced or operating with unpaid labor,” said Timothy Miles, director and board liaison for the organization.
As the standoff in Washington drags on, many nonprofits are losing access to federal funding and are having to make difficult decisions about what support they can provide and for how long.
At the same time, the government shutdown has put some federal aid, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), at risk at a time when the need for assistance is high. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors have been furloughed and without pay, further increasing the strain on nonprofits needed to fill the gap.
“Nonprofits are on the front lines of serving our communities, and the government shutdown has made it difficult to fulfill that mission,” said Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, an industry group.
“The longer this shutdown lasts, the more people and communities will be without the critical services they rely on,” she said.
The current government shutdown is the second longest lapse in federal funding in U.S. history.
According to the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization, many nonprofits were already facing financial pressures before the closures as government funding was disrupted earlier this year, limiting their ability to meet community demand.
The average nonprofit organization receives about 28% of its funding from the government, and 60% to 80% of nonprofits would be unable to cover their expenses if they lost grant aid, according to the institute, which analyzed IRS data.
Sara Saadian, senior vice president of public policy and campaigns at the National Council of Nonprofits, said nonprofits now face a potential funding shortfall due to the spending stall.
“There’s no nonprofit organization waiting for grant renewals or approvals,” Saadian said.
Mr Miles said that was one of the biggest challenges currently facing the Disability Awareness Council. “We are waiting for funding from the federal government,” he said, but “we are not in direct contact with some government agencies.”
Miles said the lack of funding means some staff will go unpaid and the program will be put on hold. The organization has seven employees and serves hundreds of people in the area.
“Real long-term effects”
Saadian said the longer the closure lasts, the harder it will be for nonprofits to continue providing services to the community.
In many cases, when organizations lay off staff or suspend programs or services, it can be difficult to resume operations once the shutdown ends and funding is in place.
“Once these organizations are affected by such an impact, it can have long-term effects because they lose infrastructure and staff,” Saadian said.
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