NYC dotOrg-athon Round 1 Organizations

Round 1 -- October 10 & 11, 2009

Organizations in Attendance:

World Vision
Highbridge Community Life
Victory Baptist Church
Love Kitchen
Priority One Ministries/Urban Discipleship Center
World of Money
Bronx Bible Church
The River Fund
Graffiti 2 Community Ministries
NYC Clothing Bank
The George Walker Jr. Community Coalition
New York Faith & Justice
Per Scholas
Promesa
Rev Jose C Lopez CDC
Coney Island Prep
Voices Unbroken
Kids With A Promise Afterschool
Helping is Easy
Abigail Jewels Vega Ministry
The School for Legal Studies
NYC Christian Athletic League
Christian Church Light in the Darkness (CCLITD)
Brooklyn Jubilee
Contemporary Ballet Theatre
Living Waters Fellowship - Kids with a Promise
Worldwide Evangelistic Missionary
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Future Stars Productions
Missionary Church Christian Assembly
Alianza Dominicana Inc.
Kwakwaduam Association
Manhattan Christian Academy
Operation Exodus

Report Cites Bronx As Poorest Urban County

Pointed out to us by Gail Rivera of Bronx Bible Church, one of our dotOrg-athon participants, and underscores why the event is so important in this location and economic climate:

Report Cites Bronx As Poorest Urban County
By: Dean Meminger

In its latest report, the census bureau says the Bronx continues to be the poorest urban county in the nation. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report.

More and more individuals and families are headed to soup kitchens and food pantries in the Bronx because they just can't make ends meet. The newly released American Community Survey for 2008 says more than 380,000 Bronx residents, which works out to be more than a quarter of the borough's population, live below the federal poverty line.

"It is hard, my husband just got unemployed and unemployment is rough getting by and I am unemployed," said one Bronx resident.

The survey was done by the US census bureau and found that 18 percent of all city residents lived below the federal poverty line of $17,600 a year for a family of three last year. The Bronx led the way with 27.6 percent of its residents living at poverty level.

In Brooklyn, the figure was 21.1 percent, while Manhattan came in at 16.9 percent, Queens at 12.1 percent and Staten Island at 10 percent.

Advocates for the poor say the poverty numbers are actually higher because the homeless are not counted by the census.

"Last year, according to the Coalition for the Homeless, there were more than 110,000 people who spent at least one night in a shelter," said Joel Berg of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.

The report also found 26 percent of Hispanics are at poverty level -- the highest of any ethnic group in the city. The Bronx and Queens are the only boroughs that saw the overall number of poor go up between 2007 and 2008. The Bronx came in with nearly 22,000 people.

"One of the reasons that is, is poor people are being pushed out of places like Manhattan and forced to relocate to the Bronx," Berg said.

The poverty rate is troubling for Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Junior who says lawmakers and industry leaders must funnel funds to the borough.

"I think the people of the Bronx have made a dollar out of fifteen cents for so many decades and they will continue to do that. But we want and are looking for government to give us a our fair share," Diaz Junior said.

"We want programs to give us a hand up, not a hand down. If you teach us to fish, we can better put money into the economy," said one Bronx resident.

Advocates for the poor say when the numbers from 2009 come out it's more than likely the poverty rate will have skyrocketed because of the recession.

“Helpers Need Help”; Study Paints Bleak Picture for NYC Nonprofits

Throughout all the difficulties and the logistical nightmare that the NYC dotOrg-athon had to battle through to realize even the modified event that will comprise round 1, people kept shaking their head, wondering why we were trying so hard to do an 8 month project in 4 months. Despite repeated requests for help through various agencies, government sources said, repeatedly, to our faces and behind our backs, that no accommodations needed to be made for this project because the issue wasn't "critical." Certain event participants seemed to think that the project wasn't worth trying unless everything could run as smoothly as the March of Dimes.

I was going through the back issues of NYNP today, and ran across an article (Sept. 9, 2009 issue) about the recently released report on the current situation faced by NYC nonprofits, conducted by our friends over at HSC and Baruch College:

New York City nonprofits are facing staggering financial challenges as they lose both public and private funding due to the economic recession. It is a crisis both broad and deep, impacting a majority of local human service agencies, often to very severe degrees. And, it is far from over in the view of many nonprofit leaders who struggle to plan for an even more uncertain future.

Those are the findings of a new study released today by the Human Services Council of New York City and conducted by the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College (CUNY). The detailed analysis of survey responses from 244 local nonprofits reveals the following:

--The majority of organizations (62%) have had a decrease in public funding with more than 1 in 5 (22%) having seen cuts of 20% or more.

--Three quarters of all organizations (73%) have experienced reductions in their private funding with close to half (44%) have seen drops of 20% or more.

--Most organizations (60%) are having difficulty managing their cash flow. Two-thirds of the nonprofits have no endowments; 30% have no lines of credit.

“We feel abandoned by both government and private funding…” said one executive. “We expect the crisis to increase during the next two years with further reduction in services,” said another.

“On a broad level, this is the worst scenario for human services organizations,” said Michael Stoller, Executive Director of the Human Services Council. “There’s less government money because there are less taxes and there’s less foundation and personal giving because of the uncertainty in the market. Yet, the number of human service clients keeps increasing as poverty levels go up and these organizations are trying their best to help those who have nowhere else to turn.”

Download the report.

From City Limits on the report:

But if 2009 has been rough, the outlook for nonprofits in 2010 and beyond is even worse. Foundations are expected to reduce grantmaking even further, and drastic cuts to city- and state-funded human services programs are widely expected.

“We have a perfect storm,” said Michael Clark, executive director of the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York. “We have shrinking revenues and then we have rising demand, so it’s about as bad a bind as you can be in.”

The new normal, part one: Lower funding

When the markets crashed in the fall of 2008, U.S. foundations lost about one-quarter of their assets, on average. In response, roughly two-thirds of all foundations nationwide cut their charitable giving in 2009. According to the Foundation Center – a New York City-based philanthropy hub with international reach – overall foundation grantmaking will decline by as much as 13 percent this year. ...

The new normal, part two: Spiking demand

As unemployment in New York City continued to increase into the first half of 2009, nonprofits throughout the city – especially those providing emergency food assistance, foreclosure and eviction counseling, and workforce development – saw demand for their services grow by leaps and bounds. ...

But Paul Light, a professor of public service at NYU’s Wagner School – who has predicted a “withering” or “winnowing” of the city’s nonprofit sector, offered another explanation for the seeming lack of closures, so far. “The data just isn’t very good,” Light said. “The top-line story is we don’t know much…. If a nonprofit fails in the forest, does anybody hear it? We may have a lot of smaller nonprofits closing, but nobody knows it.” ...

There are, of course, some dire predictions.

“Something really serious needs to change right away, or we’re going to see half of the [city’s] small arts organizations die in the next twenty-four months or less,” said Kevin Cunningham, executive artistic director of 3-Legged Dog, a nonprofit theater group in lower Manhattan. “If we don’t want New York City to turn into a northeastern version of Houston, Texas, we need to take some kind of action.”

So, when you're wondering why we're fighting to make the NYC dotOrg-athon a meaningful vehicle to support mission-based work in the city; why we keep pressing on despite various setbacks; why our vision is expansive despite operating on a shoestring and with little support -- remember that the need is great, and that a small group of people decided to spend their entire summer trying to find a way to meet that need.

A Letter of Support from Mayor Bloomberg

The dotOrg-athon received a wonderfully worded letter from Mayor Bloomberg today which rather impressed me because it actually describes the impetus behind the event exactly the way I would want it to be described. lol I guess his letter writers are sharp cookies who actually read the written materials I sent in.

Yes, nice sentiment. Almost makes me forget the extreme bitterness I feel at having to completely gut my beautiful concept like a fish... Almost.

Non-profit organizations fulfill a vital need in services and support throughout the five boroughs. Today's event is a terrific opportunity to celebrate the work of these vital organizations and the tremendous impact they have on our City. It is also a wonderful example of the community-minded spirit of New Yorkers, something we are working hard to expand and cultivate through NYC Service initiatives. Making non-profits stronger involves collaboration between government and non-profits, and our Administration is committed to ensuring that these organizations have the resources and support necessary to thrive during these economic times.

Nice. I guess I'll read it out loud on the day of the event. :sigh: Though it would have been even nicer if someone from his office could have returned my call...

Open Letter to the Mayor's Office

There has been much to be thankful for in the implementation of the dotOrg-athon event on a time schedule that basically compressed 8-12 months of work into 4 months. Many people and organizations gave of their time and resources to make the vision a reality. At every turn, all it took was a serious discussion about the event impetus and help was offered sua sponte. Except in the instance of the government entities. If ever there existed an impediment to progress, a stumbling block on the road to innovation, the bureaucracy I faced in having this event vetted and approved was it.

My initial thinking in visioning the first round of this event in the Bronx was that it would be easier to work out the logistics. Orchard Beach is a gorgeous venue that is 95% underutilized 9 months out of the year. In fact, there should be some sort of public outcry that there is no bus service to the beach 9 months out of the year, and that the programming in those months is practically nonexistent. As a Bronxite, it seemed...like a great idea to do this innovative special event in a borough that has so few marquee events, rather than to try to shoehorn another event into Central Park.

Well, shame on me for thinking that all boroughs were created equally. That services which are afforded to the residents of other boroughs, especially Manhattan, would be equally available to the residents of the Bronx. After all, we all pay taxes...or is it assumed Bronxites are poor, generally, and therefore pay less taxes...and therefore should have less in the way of governmental services available? Perhaps, poor people shouldn't be allowed to walk the streets, ride their bikes, run marathons, have a successful festival, fundraise to support community, hold high profile events, use public space to showcase innovation. Perhaps we should all be standing in a line for cheese, while the government intelligentsia shake their heads and bemoan how we're all fat, and unemployed, and organizationally "below-median" while they're trying to figure out how to tax soda, raise the tolls on every outer-borough crossing and charge NYC residents to drive into Manhattan. I wonder what the powers that be actually think about this.

I love the Bronx. With all the rhetoric lately, I've had occasion to forget that it's not the world that sees the Bronx as an underclass destination as much as it is the way NYC treats the borough internally. Treat the Bronx as an integral part of a world class city, and maybe, just maybe, people all over the world will stop sucking in their breath sharply when they are given the response to: "Where in New York?"

The Bronx.

Below, my open letter to the Mayor's Director of Community Affairs for the Bronx -- who, of course, didn't event bother to respond. I guess we get the community affairs people who...don't feel it necessary to respond to public inquires. lol

***

Dear Mr. Torres:

I spoke to you last week about the NYC dotOrg-athon, a special event for nonprofits that we were trying to have permitted for October 11th. You were kind enough to call the police department - Bronx Operations -- to try to facilitate.

Unfortunately, after some discussion with various police officials our permit application has been denied. I am writing to request that you review our case and offer what help you think is appropriate.

First, we were told that our event apparently conflicts with the Bronx Columbus Day parade on Morris Park Avenue. The police feel they would be spread too thin on this day, however, it is the only date we can use because the Parks Department gave our original date away as a rain date, and the following weekend is the Tour de Bronx. I was also told that Yankees playoff games are somehow a consideration.

I very much appreciate cultural celebrations like parades, and tourist attractions like the marathon and the Tour. These very fine events make NYC the cultural mecca of the world. However, the event we are organizing involves hundreds of nonprofits from all across the city, including a host committee comprised of major nonprofit institutions such as World Vision, the American Red Cross, The Bowery Mission, Citizens Advice Bureau, NYC Clothing Bank, Per Scholas, Hope for New York, and Bronxnet. This event is structured to provide much-needed resources for nonprofits that are currently struggling, and will be struggling to make it through the holiday season. Long after the last drunken reveler is escorted home and the last tourist has left the city, the money raised through this event will be impacting the lives of NYC residents in meaningful, measurable ways.

Second, this event is directly in line with the Mayor's strategic goals for the nonprofit community during these difficult economic times, as evidenced by his Five Borough Economic Plan, NYC Service, NYC Civic Corps and Greater NY initiatives. The dotOrg-athon event is a nonprofit empowerment project more than it is just a simple walk-athon. It equips and empowers nonprofits to rally their regular constituency -- those individuals that can only give $25, $50 or some other modest increment -- and leverages what is basically the economic power at the bottom of the pyramid, which is exactly how our esteemed president was able to set fundraising records during this past presidential election. I can't believe that the city can't find some resources to spare for such a broadly supported initiative at the grass roots level that is so firmly in line with our Mayor's expressed interests.

Third, our esteemed Bronx police force feels that this event is too expansive in its vision, and they, therefore don't have the resources to support it. Their apparent feeling is that it should be sufficient for us to walk around in a circle in Pelham Bay Park. However, this event has an economic model. That model enables hundreds of organizations to participate in the event at no cost; enables event expenses to be centralized; and enables a matching fund to be developed so not only do the participating organizations get what they raise themselves, but they also receive a share in the economic power that their unity around this initiative engenders. This model requires that we be noticed. It requires a visible mobilization -- because that is the best way to attract consumer-based sponsorship. For instance, we have Target willing to sponsor a formation area at the Gateway Center, in which they are providing money and hundreds of volunteers -- all because we can bring a substantial group of people to their parking lot. Walking around in a circle in Pelham Bay Park neuters the event, and because we are trying to raise community funds, rather than funds that support national awareness around research our sponsorship procurement potential would be extremely limited if we have to so drastically change our event format.

Fourth, while I very much respect the limited resources argument, NYC is a wold-class city, and the Bronx is a part of that city. Manhattan manages to have multiple events on the same day all the time. Queens can have the US Open and a Mets ballgame all on the same day. I can't help feeling that this response is somehow indicative of outer-borough discrimination; after all, the Columbus Day parade on Morris Park Avenue is, perhaps, a 10 block procession? It's certainly not the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Our event would encompass 2-3 hours in the morning. Most people will be walking, on sidewalks and greenways. It should be possible to do both of these events at the same time, or, if police resources are really stretched that thin, to have help detailed out from another borough, since many of their residents will be in attendance, or to somehow coordinate Parks PEP and Parks Rangers to lend support. I find it astonishing that only one event can take place a day in a borough the size of Philadelphia.

Fifth, from a practical standpoint, this event will be one of the largest collaborative showings of the nonprofit community to ever take place in NYC. The Fiscal Policy Institute released a report in April that definitively established that the nonprofit sector is the biggest economic sector in NYC, second only to government; that in the Bronx, 33% of private employment resides in the nonprofit community -- that's 1 in 3 people working for nonprofits in the Bronx. I can't believe in an election year, the Mayor wouldn't clearly see the import and magnitude of the perception of his support in this instance.

I understand that we are asking for much--perhaps, too much. But I am going to ask because the cause is just and so significantly supports the common good. We are well aware that we are trying to do an enormous event in very little time. However, the situation facing our nonprofit community is critical. Simply because the nonprofit community always finds a way to fight the good fight doesn't mean we are not in desperate need. We designed this event to have an impact now, before the holidays, and committed ourselves to working double time without immediate pay to see this initiative become a reality. I would really hate to have to tell all of these nonprofits that our city, the city that we support day in and day out, let us down, in favor of a parade, or a Yankees game.

I respectfully request that you consider escalating this situation to someone who can allocate resources on a citywide level. I'm not asking on behalf of myself, but on behalf of nonprofits, big and small, who desperately need this event to go off in the way we envisioned it. Please excuse my long-windedness, but this matter is of the highest import.

Please call me, at your convenience, to discuss.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Sincerely,

***

Somehow I think...if Michael Jackson had died in the Bronx, somehow, someway, the government would have found the means to accommodate a public outpouring in very little time. But, I suppose, we're no Michael Jackson. I suppose there should be a bailout of Wallstreet, and of the banks, and of the insurance agencies, and of the auto industry and let's give them cash for clunkers, too, and the financial fat cats should still be entitled to their bonuses out of their bailout money because without those bonuses, they might abscond to...Japan? But the NYC nonprofits--certainly not important enough to warrant anything meaningful. Certainly not.

After all, we have NYC Service, and gosh, shouldn't that be enough?

--Theresa

Hello NYC!

Welcome to the NYC dotORG-athon blog. Here you will find the latest information on the event via updates by event staff and discussions of overall goals, successes, trials and tribulations.

Subscribe to stay up-to-date!