Stretched thin | Maine's nonprofits struggle with a perfect storm of rising materials costs and sinking funding
With soaring food and fuel costs and less private and public funding to keep up with these increases, nonprofits statewide are feeling the pinch, and their leaders are taking steps to adapt to a situation many liken to preparing disaster relief.
“We’re basically screwed,” says Mark Swann, executive director of Portland-based Preble Street, which operates a soup kitchen, food pantry and homeless shelters. “We have 50% less food, 75% less money, and 35% more people to feed. It’s not good. We are trying desperately not to cut food.”
According to Swann, the federal funding he has received to feed seniors for the past 15 years was recently cut 25%. In addition, Preble Street is facing a 50% reduction in food over the next four months because of a shortage of bonus commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Swann is also seeing a decrease in smaller private donations. “People who have given $100 for a decade are now giving $75. It is very worrisome. We have built our organization on these long-term, loyal donors.”
Noelle Merrill, executive director of Eastern Area Agency on Aging in Bangor, is also concerned about the rising cost of food and its impact on seniors. EAAA runs Meals on Wheels, among many other services. Meals on Wheels depends on 800 volunteer drivers who drive long distances to deliver meals. Most of these drivers are retired themselves, use their own cars and are reimbursed for fuel. According to Merrill and other leaders who rely on driving volunteers for core programming, the current reimbursement rate of 34 cents per mile does not cover the cost of gas, and an increasing number of volunteer drivers cannot afford the additional expense. (To fill the gap, EAAA is raising money for a “Drive Fund” at eaaa.org.)
As executive director of Methodist Conference Home in Rockland, Lee Karker provides transportation, Meals on Wheels and subsidized housing. Since February he has been cutting expenses. Even so, he says fuel expenses are 15% over budget. To address the shortfall, Karker conducted a direct mail campaign, increased rent by $100 on some apartments and instituted a four-day work week to help employees cover the cost of fuel.
And Barbara Kennedy, who runs Belfast Area Children’s Center, says her underpaid staff struggles to afford commuting to and from work. For instance, Kennedy can no longer get substitute teachers for less than eight-hour shifts or for more than three days a week.
Rescue efforts
To alleviate the pressure, the Genesis Community Loan Fund and Maine State Housing Authority are helping nonprofits that run facilities like group homes, assisted living centers and YMCAs keep heating costs down by providing low interest loans at 4%-6.5% interest rates to conduct energy audits, replace old furnaces and use alternative energy.
Jim Pierce, executive director of Brunswick-based Independence Association, recently converted 15 group homes from oil to natural gas. The organization will save $3,000 immediately because of the comparatively low cost of natural gas.
In an effort to respond and adapt to a situation many leaders only expect will get worse, many organizations are trying new collaborations. For example, for the first time, leaders of the state’s community action agencies and the United Ways statewide joined forces in Augusta to look at short and longer-term strategies for dealing with the energy crisis.
“We are preparing for a tsunami,” says Tim King, executive director of the Washington Hancock Community Agency. “We know that public funding for fuel is inadequate and that it will be impossible for private donations to make up the difference.”
To survive the short term, leaders are requesting additional federal and state funding to help Maine residents through this winter. Longer term, they are advocating for wide-spread weatherization of homes and replacing inefficient heating systems, and are testing alternative sources of energy, such as wind turbines and cold climate heat pumps.
Joe Galli, executive director of Fair Tide, which provides affordable housing in Kittery, visited colleagues in Sanford recently and learned of their three subsidized houses in Kittery. “I saw a real opportunity for us to provide case management to save them travel costs,” he explains.
Noelle Merrill agrees. “The time for duplicating services has come and gone. We have to be poised to serve more people and to partner with all the relevant agencies. We are up to the challenge. Mainers of the early 20th century knew how to support their communities. We can learn how to do that again.”
Peta Van Vuuren, executive director of Rockland District Nursing, believes Maine communities will need to foster volunteerism now more than ever. “We need everyone — baby boomers and the young people — to make it through these times.”
Elizabeth Banwell is director of external affairs for the Maine Association of Nonprofits in Portland. She can be reached at editorial@mainebiz.biz.
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