Louisville nonprofits dealt another blow after United Way announces it will slash funds

Deborah Yetter
Courier Journal

Metro United Way, a major funding source for human services in the Jefferson County area, is cutting allocations to nonprofit groups by up to 50% — dealing another blow to those already expecting cuts from city government.

"People just expect we can continue to work even though we are taking these huge hits," said Pamela Darnall, CEO of Family & Children's Place, which helps abused children.

The agency is losing about $347,000 in United Way funds, about a third of the $1  million it got last year.

"If there is no money, there is no way the community can expect that these incredibly needed services can continue," Darnall said. 

The United Way cuts, which take effect July 1, follow a decline of about $3 million in traditional, unrestricted contributions to the organization, money generally divided among nonprofit groups in the Louisville region and Southern Indiana. 

The losses came despite United Way's best efforts, CEO Theresa Reno-Weber said in an email to those affected by the cuts.

"Our staff turned over every stone, knocked on every door and worked every angle we could to generate the financial resources we did," the email said.

Read more:Louisville nonprofits see city funding slashed in tight budget

Four-year-old Bradley Wines, who's visually impaired, checks out the feeling of a car's side mirror with a little guidance from Brittany Williamson, a preschool teacher at the Visually Impaired PreSchool Services building recently. The school's facility helps teach visually impaired children how to get around in everyday settings as well as education.  June 11, 2019.

The cuts affect nearly 100 agencies throughout the area, ranging from programs for disadvantaged children such as Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boys & Girls Clubs to agencies that help individuals who are homeless, disabled, or who are experiencing domestic violence, mental illness or addiction.

They also affect specialized programs such as the Louisville Visually Impaired Preschool Program, which helps blind and visually impaired children throughout Kentucky and Indiana.

"It's going to be a stretch right now, but we’re not going to make any immediate cuts," said program Executive Director Diane Nelson. "There's not another agency that does what we do."

And the cuts come as Louisville Metro Government, because of a budget shortfall, is contemplating cuts of about $2 million across some of the same agencies losing United Way funding.

"I think for the next couple of years our constituents are going to suffer," said Donovan Fornwalt, president of the Council of Agency Executives, which represents about 60 nonprofit groups. "We have no choice but to cut back. That will create ripples across the community."

Katharine Dobbins, CEO of Wellspring, said the loss of about $43,500 in United Way funds will hurt her organization's work helping people with mental illness, including the chronically homeless, find stable housing. She also expects to lose about $5,500 in city funds.

"Everybody's concerned about homelessness and people on the streets and under the viaducts," Dobbins said. "What kind of money are we putting behind these problems?"

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Reno-Weber, United Way's CEO, said in an interview Monday that the cuts follow a decline in giving from traditional donors through company payroll deductions, as well as what she called a fundamental shift in charitable giving.

While some donations, such as large corporate grants for specific projects, to the United Way have increased, donations from the public decreased in the past year by about 32%, Reno-Weber said. Overall, Metro United Way raised about $26.3 million in its 2018 campaign, compared with $27 million in 2017.

But nearly $2 million of the money raised in 2018 is earmarked for specific purposes, including $1 million from JPMorgan Chase to expand job skills and financial literacy, she said. It's part of a $3 million grant from the bank spread over three years.

The big decrease was in what was once United Way's "bread and butter" — standard payroll deductions people signed up for through an annual workplace campaign, Reno-Weber said. In past years, employers generally led the effort and encouraged people to give to the United Way as a local clearinghouse for donations.

But increasingly, she said, employers are allowing workers to sign up online for charitable contributions and offering them a choice of charities, including giving directly to organizations they support.

"The dollars are coming in differently so they’re going out differently, but they’re still creating impact in our community," Reno-Weber said.

Reno-Weber said United Way is working hard to attract more individual donors but also is seeking new sources of money, such as foundation and corporate grants.

But she said she understands cuts in United Way funding, coming amid projected Metro Government cuts, will cause hardships.

"I do not want to minimize how difficult this is for agencies to absorb and how hard it is to prepare for these types of things," Reno-Weber said.

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Reno-Weber said in the coming year, United Way will continue to work to raise money and identify how to best use it.

"What we want to pivot to at United Way, leaning into summer, is conversations with our partners and community leaders on how do we start to name the total investment we need to move the needle," she said.

But for now, the United Way cuts leave agencies scrambling for funds to make up the losses or determine how to cut staff and services.

Visually Impaired Preschool Services is losing about half its annual United Way allocation, a cut of about $42,000, Nelson, the director, said.

"That's a teacher's salary," Nelson said.

Children play while learning about how to wash a car at The Visually Impaired Preschool Services on Goldsmith Lane recently. The school has settings that introduce everyday life such as a crosswalk, street signs, store fronts as well as settings that resemble a grocery store or library. The school faces a loss of funding due to budget cuts. June 11, 2019

Nelson said her group will continue to do its best to serve about 700 children through in-home services and a preschool it operates in Louisville, but she worries about the impact on a unique program she said is internationally known.

"That’s the scary part for me," she said. "No one else is going to do what we’re doing. There’s not anyone else to pick up the slack."

The Center for Women in Families, which provides a domestic violence shelter and advocacy services in Jefferson and six surrounding counties, is losing about $170,000  in United Way funds, said CEO Elizabeth Wessels-Martin.

"We got a substantial cut, more than we expected," she said. "It hurts."

Wessels-Martin said her organization is considering how to absorb the loss with a minimal impact on the thousands of adults and children it serves every year.

"But I can't promise that," she said. "We already struggle."

See also:What is Louisville Metro Council doing with Fischer's budget cuts?

At Big Brother Big Sisters of Kentuckiana, staff had hoped to reduce the waiting list of more than 600 children signed up for an adult volunteer to serve as mentor and friend.

But losing about $85,000 in United Way money makes that unlikely. Instead, the agency is trying to figure out how to keep serving the about 700 children currently in the program, CEO Jeri Swinton said.

Many of the children have single parents, and some have one or both parents in prison, she said. The cuts will make it harder to offer services that give them support they need, she said.

"I’m disappointed," Swinton said. "I'm very disappointed that it's again the community's most vulnerable and the services that are most needed that seem to suffer."

Deborah Yetter: 502-582-4228; dyetter@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @d_yetter.