City funding cuts may hurt social service agencies already harmed by the events of Sept. 11, said Alexander Brown, director of Evanston/Skokie Valley Senior Services.
“So many people have donated money to rescue and recovery efforts that other organizations have already seen reductions,” he said.
Reactions to the terrorist attacks also have contributed to the city’s projected $3.7 million budget deficit and may cause cuts in funding to social service organizations, Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) said at a Human Services Committee meeting Monday.
“The only way one can make up (the budget) gap is to reduce spending or raise taxes,” Newman said.
The committee also discussed possible cuts to Community Purchased Services Funding, which provides money to 13 different agencies.
“The budget deficit will likely cause a reduction in the fund,” said Jay Terry, director of Health and Human Services.
Brown said his organization has seen a “marked decrease” in individual donations since September.
Evanston/Skokie Valley Senior Services is a nonprofit agency with a mission to help older adults remain active in the community. The organization aided 4,000 people last year, 2,000 of whom live in Evanston, Brown said. The group focuses on low-income seniors, and 84 percent of its clients live below the federal poverty level.
The city provides roughly 3 percent of the organization’s funding. This year, it asked the city for about $7,000 and hopes to receive a $20,000 grant from the Mental Health Board, Brown said.
The agency uses these funds for case management and counseling, Brown said. It helps clients with practical assistance such as finding a doctor, communicating with landlords and repairing their properties.
Dependency on those funds is difficult to measure, he said. Waiting lists, which the agency has never used because of the customers’ ages, are “definitely a possibility” in Evanston if funds are cut.
“The city is a significant source of support in Evanston,” Brown said. “It’s extremely important funding.”
The possible cuts will not just affect seniors. Other agencies, such as the Childcare Network of Evanston also could be affected.
The Childcare Network provides aid for child care to families that do not qualify for state funds, Executive Director Martha Arnston said.
“Welfare to work” programs enacted by the state in 1997 provide money for child care, but only to mothers earning below a certain amount, Arnston said.
Childcare Network requested funds from the city to provide grants for families that are barely above these limits, Arnston said. The agency received an $80,000 grant midway through this fiscal year and requested $128,000 to continue the grant through next year.
Money from Community Purchased Services Funding provides direct aid to families.
“If we don’t receive these funds, we have 64 children in 46 families funded through February that will be affected,” Arnston said.
Any cuts from this fund would reduce the funds available to these families because the money goes directly to the child care centers and covers no administrative costs, he said.
The merit of these organizations was not disputed by the aldermen on the Human Services Committee.
“To me the issue is not whether or not the agency needs money,” Ald. Gene Feldman (9th) said. “The cause is good and the people are in need of it.”
But Feldman said the budget crunch left the city no choice.
“If you don’t have it to give you can’t give,” he said.
