Nonprofit sector leaders say "uncertainty and change" are 2019 givens
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The Mental Health Association of Westchester has received a $4 million grant. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded the money to the Tarrytown-based nonprofit over two years for the development of new services for uninsured and underinsured people in Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties, according to a press release.
Volunteering for one nonprofit has helped New York City Councilman reconnect with a long-lost acquaintance of his mother.
One of the great joys of my work as a @NYCCouncil member is helping individuals in need. Recently, while delivering with @Citymeals, I met a woman who worked with my late mother and remembered her so fondly. It doesn't get any better than that. She made my day and then some. pic.twitter.com/Qveq51aJQ7
— Barry Grodenchik (@BarryGrodenchik) January 6, 2019
Jewish Community Center of Staten Island has received an 18-month contract extension from the New York City Department for the Aging. The contract will provide $1.4 milling in funding for a senior center operated by the nonprofit, according to the City Record. The department also awarded $186,000 to the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island, $280,000 to the Sephardic Community Youth Center, and $137,000 to Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House Of Bensonhurst, to provide senior services.
The Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services received a $64,700 contract extension from the Department of Probation. The money will fund the Young Adult Justice Program through June 2019, according to the City Record. Queens-based Ambassador Food Services received a $401,200.80 contract to provide low-sodium meals for adults in city homeless shelters.
Two nonprofit leaders say uncertainty and change are inevitable in the sector this year. Among the big questions in 2019: how the new tax law is affecting nonprofit giving and organizations’ bottom lines, writes Sharon Stapel, president of the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee in New York City, and David Thompson, vice president of public policy for the National Council of Nonprofits in Washington, D.C. The new law capped federal deductions of local and state taxes and imposed a 21 percent tax on the commuter benefits charities give to employees, among other changes.
“It doesn’t take a political scientist to realize that split government in Washington, D.C., means that big federal policy changes are off the table for the next two years,” Stapel and Thompson write in a post on the NPCCNY website. “There’s hope for repealing the new taxes, with business community help. But, what of the other big challenges, such as reforming social services programs and entitlements, fixing federal grantmaking and contracting systems, and balancing sound employment policies that directly affect operations and the wellbeing of employees?”