by Nancy Puffer - Mar. 12, 2010 12:31 PM
Special for the Republic

What will happen if Tempe charities don't have enough money to fund their services? As major contributors hash out their budgets for next year, many area charities are bracing for the worst.

What does this mean for Tempe residents, and what do we stand to lose?

The answer to that question depends a great deal on which charity you ask, and where they get their funding.

One local non-profit that provides significant services to Tempe residents, and relies heavily on government funding, is the Tempe Community Action Agency.

"We may experience cuts on all funding levels, local, state and federal," explains Beth Fiorenza, executive director of the agency.

TCAA relies on Community Services Block Grants and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program funds to help pay for homeless prevention services; those funds may be swept or held by the state due to cuts to the Department of Economic Security.

Fiorenza says the funding information they receive changes almost daily, making it nearly impossible to plan. But certain services are more vulnerable than others.

"If eviction (and) homeless prevention administrative funds are cut and/or reduced, we would not be able to serve as many residents as we do now. Due to government restrictions, we cannot use volunteers to administer the homeless prevention funds," explains Fiorenza, adding that volunteers could help take up the slack in other areas.

"We may need to rely on additional volunteers to deliver home-delivered meals for homebound seniors and the disabled," she said. "What it all boils down to is the need to rely on our community more and depend on our neighbors for help."

Fiorenza cites the Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program, or I-HELP, as an example of a successful community-based assistance program. Twenty-seven volunteer congregations help cater to the needs of the homeless each night.

Other local non-profits, like the Arc of Tempe, are more grass roots and rely less on government funding, but still face the dilemma of higher demand. Innovative funding sources have made a difference for them.

"The Arc of Tempe does not receive state or federal funding, so the effect of the state budget cuts is not immediately apparent in our organization. As these cuts affect our constituents, though, we begin to feel the pinch," said Brenda Fox, executive director of Arc of Tempe. It provides life-skills education, social interaction and community involvement activities for adults with intellectual disabilities, five days a week, for a reasonably low fee. As programs and services are cut on the state and local level, Fox says they see a jump in new participants.

"The Arc of Tempe is a stable, established organization, so we were in a decent position to weather the economic storm," said Fox. "Our Thrift Shop provided over 65 percent of our program budget in 2009, and we were able to continue to keep fees to our participants low, and raise enough through events and contributions to break even. However, like all non-profits, we're seeing our support from local civic groups lessen as they are seeing fewer contributions."

Foundations and grant makers, too, are feeling the crunch and passing on fewer dollars to non-profits. At a time when community-based organizations like the Arc of Tempe are being called upon to do more for more individuals, the available funds to support these organizations are dwindling."

For some local charities, however, it's so far so good.

"As far as the Tempe Salvation Army goes, we have increased our staff and our services to match the increase in need," said Captain Robyn Bridgeo, who heads the faith-based Tempe charity. "We have received no additional funding, but due to an amazing amount of volunteerism, good stewardship and media coverage our donations have increased as well."

Last October, the Tempe Community Council, which works with the city to assist with funding and policies affecting human services, held a round-table discussion with its partner agency directors to reveal its most pressing concerns. Among the challenges listed: an increase in requests for housing assistance, an increase in in-kind donations but not cash donations, increased requests for help with emergency services, rent and utilities, and a 45 percent increase in requests for food over the previous year.

The budget woes are forcing local non-profits to re-think how they operate and get creative. Some are cutting staff before services, some are doing both, and some hope to rely more on volunteers.

"We need to think about how to utilize the community around us and depend less on grants and contracts to focus on the needs and how to help others," Fiorenza said.