Steady Donations To UCM Can't Keep Up With Need

From counseling the unemployed to sheltering families fleeing from domestic abuse, has been a staple in the Mount Vernon non-profit world.

But as theto get on its feet, demand for the organization’s services has increased in recent years. Though donations to United Community Ministries have remained steady and food donations especially have increased, the spike hasn’t been enough to offset the increasing need for the organization’s services or the

“We’ve seen a big surge in two areas, emergency services and caseloads at the workforce development center,” said Niki Wanner, Director of Development and Communications for UCM.  She said that United Community Ministries started to see an increase in demand almost four years ago. “We’ve gone from 9,000 clients three years ago to 14,000 clients last year,” said Wanner.

The Mount Vernon charity is not alone. According to a recent survey, sponsored by the Nonprofit Finance Fund, three-quarters of non-profit organizations said they faced an increase in demand in 2010, though a little over a third said they raised more money in 2010 than they had anticipated.

About 900 children took advantage of this past year’s school supply program which was a higher turnout than the year before.  UCM partnered with health agencies for the first time earlier this year for a free health-screening day and were floored by the hundreds of people who came out to take advantage.

“We were amazed by the amount of people who came out for free health screenings,” Wanner said.  “A lot of our clients who are unemployed and underemployed are dropping their insurance and not getting the kind of screening they need.”

United Community Ministries’s operating budget, which is just over $4.3 million dollars, includes revenue sources from Fairfax County, state government, the federal government, private grants and donations.  In addition to stagnant donations, the non-profit says some of its government funding could be cut this year.  

According to Wanner, the budget for a statewide program designed to prevent abuse and neglect in high-risk families was reduced from $5 million to $3.5 million during the latest round of budget negotiations.  Wanner said while the state hasn’t yet indicated which county centers that carry the program will be affected and by how much, the cuts are expected impact the budget for United Community Ministries’s version of the program, Healthy Families Fairfax.

Two neighborhood centers run by United Community Ministries through the county are up for funding this year, so their budget future remains uncertain, though staffers say they don’t expect significant cuts.

Much of its revenue will remain secure, Wanner said. Program services like the Back Porch Thrift Store and the child care center, which added up to nearly 34% of the non-profit’s total revenue in the 2010 fiscal year, are major money makers for the non profit.  Additionally United Community Ministries expects to receive about $300,000 in grants from private foundations to cover general operations, basic needs and its after-school tutoring program for at-risk students. 

Wanner said United Community Ministries has done a lot to tighten the purse strings. For example, employees have not received merit pay raises or cost of living raises in several years. Additionally, the non-profit is currently not addressing basic infrastructure needs like upgrading the unreliable and ancient phone system in the main office or addressing the need to update outdated computer equipment and purchase new servers.

Recently, St. Luke's Episcopal Church sponsored featuring to benefit Mount Vernon charities, after one of its congregants learned that some of them had seen declining donations.  Hundreds of local residents attended the Fort Hunt concert, and many said they appreciated the opportunity to help those in need along the Route 1 corridor.

“We’re truly grateful to the community for their continued support,” Wanner said, “We just need more of it.”