Sonoma County nonprofits provide vital, life-saving, safety net services to low-income residents. As government funding for basic needs services like shelter, safety and food have diminished over the years, nonprofits have increasingly stepped in to fill this gap. Health and human service nonprofits run shelters for homeless families and battered women; and supply food to the hungry, counseling to the mentally ill, job training to the unemployed, and crisis legal services for victims of abuse.
Federal, state and county government agencies now rely on nonprofits to stretch and leverage budgetary dollars to provide these basic needs services. For example, the Human Services Department of Sonoma County, just one of the many departments that partners with local nonprofits, spends $8.5 million per year contracting with 20 nonprofits to help protect our children, feed our homeless and ensure equal protection under the law. Nonprofits can provide these services at a significantly lower cost than government can. If these nonprofit partners weren’t available, services would undoubtedly have to be cut significantly.
This interdependency between government and nonprofit means the current state budget crisis threatens not just government, but the hundreds of local nonprofits providing quasi-government functions. While county officials can’t currently estimate how much money they’ll lose (the final number from the state won’t be given to them until this fall), the governor’s proposed budget contemplates a $1.2 billion loss to the health and human services general fund.
The services our community stands to lose aren’t extraneous. These cuts will impact services that save lives. Legal Aid of Sonoma County helps more than 600 battered women and 1,000 battered children per year to defend themselves against sexual abuse and physical assault.
Last month, Legal Aid learned it would lose half of its largest single contract with the county in July, due to state cuts. This represents nearly 15 percent of Legal Aid’s overall budget. Translated into client impact: Several hundred battered women and children may be injured as a result of this cut. Who shall we turn away? The YWCA, which operates the county’s only battered women’s shelter and shares many of Legal Aid’s clients, is facing 10 percent cuts from several state sources that support its shelter. In total, the YWCA stands to lose nearly $700,000 in government funding this year. Catholic Charities’ Family Support Center, which operates multiple shelters and housing programs, will face significant cuts from both its city and county funders this next fiscal year.
These dramatic cuts come at a time when human services are even more in need. According to 2006 census data, 30 percent of Sonoma County households earn less than $3,000 per month, while the median cost of housing is $1,400 per month—meaning these households are living from paycheck to paycheck. These most vulnerable families and individuals are increasingly turning to shrinking safety net services to survive.
Legal Aid of Sonoma County helps tenant families facing unsafe housing conditions and unlawful evictions. Since November 2007, the number of housing clients has increased by more than 50 percent. In the past, helping a client with a foreclosure-based eviction was rare. Now, nearly one-third of the families seeking our help—and facing homelessness—are being evicted from homes they once owned.
The housing crash may be disproportionately affecting the Latino community. High Latino foreclosure rates are reflected in the demographics of local homeless shelters. Catholic Charities reports that, whereas Latinos normally make up only 5 percent of their shelter population, this year, 33 percent of shelter residents are Latino—a 28 percent increase.
Many nonprofits report that private sector donations are also being threatened by the current economic crisis. Some donors are losing investment income due to falling interest rates, while others are cautious, adopting a “wait and see” attitude before committing donations. The Redwood Gospel Mission reported that July was its worst month for donations in 10 years. Says Executive Director Jeff Gilman, “Our average donation is the same dollar amount as filling up your car with a tank of gas—and people are choosing the tank of gas.” For those of us who aren’t losing our homes this year, or worrying about where our next meal will come from, there may be no better time to support your local nonprofit.
Ronit Rubinoff is the executive director of Legal Aid of Sonoma County, located at 1105 N. Dutton Ave., Ste. B, Santa Rosa. Legal Aid has established a special child abuse prevention sponsorship program to make up for the loss of its County funding and help ensure its child abuse services continue. Interested donors can contact Ms. Rubinoff directly at (707) 542-6664 or via email at rrubinoff@legalaidsc.com.
