Tough Times for Non-Profits

Did the Recession Really End?

We received a media release on Friday that is a sign of the times.  InterAct Cleveland (formerly East Side Interfaith Ministry) is closing.   Twenty years ago, there was the East Side religious collaboration, West Side Ecumenical Ministry (WESM), and the Interchurch Council.  Now all are gone.  What happened?  They were all collaborations built on a foundation of providing food to the hungry and they grew to serve the social service needs of Greater Cleveland.  WESM grew into a huge organization and in 2011 merged with the Center for Families and Children to become a too big to fail non-profit.  The other two went out of business.  The Interchurch Council closing was messy with a large debt and the transfer of their emergency shelter to the Salvation Army (Zelma George) after the Hunger Network split off from the Council. 

InterAct is citing the lack of foundation support, contributions from local religious organizations drying up, and individual donors turning to other organizations.  The Board statement says that this unstable funding has resulted in the inability to keep or attract quality staff.  The statement on the InterAct website says that the Board has analyzed their situation and concluded that the agency is not viable in the long run. My experience is that they have not figured out how to promote themselves as an essential service in Cleveland.  I am sad to see the organization go out of business.   

I remember Lyn Cooper and her crowded office on Euclid Ave.  I remember the food program donated by the Cleveland Clinic over on Carnegie Ave.  I remember Tony and Suzanne in the newly renamed InterAct as our downstairs neighbor on Perkins.  They partnered with NEOCH and other social service providers on the Homeless Stand Down and moved it to the winter.  For the past six years, they have brought a great deal to the Stand Down, and made this a huge event for homeless people in Cleveland.  Sr. Donna, Pam, and Toni took the lead with the Stand Down and expanded it to three days.  I remember the great work that they did to calm the community after the attacks of September 11, 2001.  They moved over to Franklin Circle Church and struggled to find their footprint in Cleveland.

Does this mean religious groups of different faith traditions have outgrown the need to meet at the same table or have we outgrown this need in Cleveland?  Does it mean that different religious organizations cannot figure out a way to sit together and work to maintain a corporation?  Are the values of diverse religions not compatible with those of non-profit organizations?  The "one religion non-profits" like Lutheran Metro Ministry, Catholic Charities and Jewish Community Foundation, are not struggling and are moving forward during this stormy weather.  What has happened in Cleveland that we do not see the value of multi-denominational religious organizations?

This morning, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Freedom Museum is in trouble and could close by the end of 2012.  How could the a freedom museum in the United States at the same time as Time Magazine identifying the protestor as the "Person of the Year" be in danger of closing?  This is insane that we could lose the Freedom Museum!  The Museum documents the history of the underground railroad and the critical role Ohio played in assisting slaves to freedom.  I think that both InterAct and the Freedom Museum have a needed role in our community.  It is a bad sign that we cannot sustain these social service and cultural institutions.

Brian
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NEOCH Names New Executive Director

Christopher and Jennifer Kocan at the 2009 NEOCH Annual Fund Raiser. Jennifer named interim Executive Director of NEOCH in June 2011.

Board of Trustees Appoints New Interim Executive Director

On June 22, 2011, The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) Board of Trustees appointed former Board Treasurer, Jennifer Kocan, as Interim Executive Director. Kocan resigned her Board position and is stepping into this new role until a new Executive Director is hired. Kocan has been asked to serve for the next six months and oversee the hiring process for a new director.

The Coalition for the Homeless, one of only seven similar organizations in the country, has a 20 year history of incubating new programs and being the leading voice for people experiencing homelessness in the region. In order to take advantage of this unique position in the community, the NEOCH Board wants to take a leadership role in ending homelessness in Greater Cleveland with a new ambassador to bring disparate interests together under one goal. Board President Marcia Bufford said, “We want to be a positive agent of change while respecting the accomplishments of the Coalition over the last two decades.”

Brian Davis, who was serving as the Executive Director, has accepted the position of Director of Community Organizing for the organization. "Brian has extensive community organizing experience, valuable contacts at the state and national level, and a truly unique and trusting relationship with the homeless community, and for those reasons we are asking him to stay with the organization and focus his time solely on advocacy related matters," says Bufford.

Kocan will focus on ensuring a smooth transition to the new Executive Director and will work to reassure NEOCH's constituents, members and partners that there won't be any disruptions to the important work that NEOCH undertakes every day. "I'm looking forward to helping the NEOCH staff and Board of Trustees during this time of transition," says Kocan. "I strongly support NEOCH's mission of empowering homeless men, women and their families and giving them a voice in the community, and I am passionate about the advocacy and public education work that is being done to further this mission. I am committed to helping the Board examine how best to move NEOCH forward in the current economic climate, and my top priority is to help re-build and strengthen existing relationships within the community and to collaborate with new partners."

Kocan has been a member of NEOCH since 2005 and was a member of the Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2011. She earned her Masters in Business Administration from Cleveland State University and has worked in the finance industry for 15 years. Bufford said, “On behalf of the entire board, we are so grateful that Kocan was willing to step forward to work on rebuilding the organization.”

Bufford said, “We want to make sure that we can tap the valuable historical knowledge of Brian Davis, but also we need to move forward with a renewed sense of purpose. We want to secure a place at the table to work on the federal effort to end veteran’s homelessness and assist with the amplification of the voice of homeless people about the sharp rise in family homelessness.”

On Behalf of the NEOCH Board
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