Minnesota Shutdown Could Hurt, Shutter Northfield Nonprofits

Already reeling from the Great Recession and a challenging fundraising climate, nonprofit leaders are bracing for another blow should Minnesota’s government shut down for an extended period of time and, subsequently, stop payments.

The Community Action Center of Northfield could see its homeless shelter—the only one in Rice County—hampered by funding issues. The program is supported by the Minnesota Office of Economic Opportunity, which shells out $20,000 a year to support the shelter.

The state was set to reassess the two-year grant in July, which is midway through its lifecycle. But with the shutdown, CAC Executive Director Jim Blaha said the state can’t follow through, effectively cutting the funding.

The CAC operates the shelter, which places families and individuals into apartments for up to 14 days, on a month-to-month basis, submitting expenses to the state for reimbursement. Blaha said the nonprofit’s board has committed to keeping the shelter open through August, and will assess it on a month-to-month basis if the state is still shutdown.

“How far can we go with it—we’re not completely sure,” Blaha said Thursday.

Northfield’s PRIMEtime Collaborative, a network of local organizations and youth programs that provide free after-school and summer programming, is also impacted by the shutdown.

The collaborative receives money through the Justice Assistance Grant, which is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. While federal money, the state distributes the money to PRIMEtime, meaning there will be no one to sign off on the payments so long as Minnesota’s doors remain closed.

“It’s concerning,” said Zach Pruitt, executive director of the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, which helps convene the PRIMEtime partners.

The shutdown could spell trouble for many nonprofits throughout Northfield and Minnesota, forcing them to discontinue programming, cut staffing or shutter altogether, either temporarily or permanently.

Minnesota’s 3,750 nonprofits employ one of every nine workers in the state, according to the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, earning wages of $13.2 billion in 2009. Slightly more than half of those workers—about 153,000—are in the Twin Cities metro area.

“We are hearing from a lot of our members that they are making a lot of tough decisions,” said Christine Durand, spokesperson for the MCN. But other services that nonprofits provide remain critical to the livelihoods and well-being of many Minnesotans, she said.

Among the kinds of nonprofit work not included in state funding during the shutdown: childcare, domestic-violence prevention and assistance, food assistance, arts and environment and weatherization.

Pruitt said PRIMEtime, which is in the midst of its popular Summer PLUS program, a summer-long academic and recreational program for elementary and middle school students, will keep running for now as they try to fill the financial gap, but it depends on what happens with funding, government-issued or otherwise.

He said it would be devastating if the program is cut short because of funding issues.

“How do you stop a program that has 250 kids coming for five hours a day,” Pruitt said. “We are going to do what we can.”

Some nonprofits might not survive the shutdown

The shutdown has left many nonprofits scrambling to secure additional funds or find ways to limp through.

“If (the shutdown) lasts more than three or four weeks, I think it’s at that point that you’re going to start seeing nonprofits getting into the next phase of their contingency planning,” said Frank Forsberg, senior vice president of community impact for the Greater Twin Cities United Way, which has nearly 200 agency partners and helps fund more than 400 programs. 

Forsberg said United Way officials work with partners on an ongoing basis to build multiple contingency plans and putting cash-flow resources in places to bridge any unforeseen or significant losses of funding, state or otherwise.

With the writing on the wall, he said planning elevated a month ago when a shutdown seemed inevitable. 

The United Way, which raised $88.5 million in 2010, altered its disbursement schedule to help its sponsored programs to continue running.

Typically, Forsberg said, United Way pays monthly installments to its partners. To help protect the programs during the shutdown, United Way advanced three months’ worth of allocations for agencies most impacted.

The Northfield Union of Youth took similar precautions.

The Northfield nonprofit, also known as The Key, receives about $11,500 annually from the Youth Interventions Program, which is run through the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, according to Key Executive Director Amy Merritt. The grant accounts for about 10 percent of The Key’s 2010 budget.

With the state shutdown looming, Merritt made an agreement with the agency to submit her second quarter receipts two weeks ago, instead of in July, as normally scheduled. This allowed The Key to receive payment—although short two weeks, or about $450—for operational expenses such as utility bills and office supplies.

“It affects so many people. It’s hard,” she said of the shutdown.

Though $450 may seem trivial, it’s not, Merritt said. The organization has different budgets for various needs and money can’t be taken from one surplus to balance a deficit elsewhere.

“We may have money for arts supplies, but what good is that if we can’t turn on the lights,” she said.

While Merritt is hopeful the shutdown will be resolved sooner rather than later, her concern has turned to what happens after a state budget is agreed upon—will the Department of Public Safety still have access to the money that The Key receives for its grant?

“You can only cut so many corners.”

WANT TO HELP OUT NORTHFIELD NONPROFITS?

Supper the Community Action Center of Northfield

Support the PRIMEtime Collaborative

Support the Northfield Union of Youth/The Ke

Find other Northfield nonprofits to support

Individuals that need help can call United Way 2-1-1 at 651-291-0211 to get connected to community resources in the Twin Cities area.

Other state shutdown-related posts on Northfield Patch:

July 1:

July 1:

July 1:

July 1:

June 30:

June 29:

June 28:

June 28: Blog:

June 27:

June 25:

June 24:

June 22: Blog:

June 17:

June 15:

June 14:

June 14: Blog:

June 3:

May 11:

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