United Way commits $7 million to help nonprofits that lost support

Local United Way officials are increasing promised bridge funding for nonprofits that saw their support reduced in recent grant awards.

An initial pledge of $2 million will be increased up to $7 million, and spread over two years — enough to provide 75% funding for affected agencies next year, and 50% in the year after.

United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes made the announcement Friday.

“What that allows for is more time, more planning for community solutions,” said Jaime Saunders, the organization’s president and CEO. “Because just as our name states, this is not for United Way to solve on its own. It is collective.”

When the local United Way announced its next round of multi-year grants this month, it reduced or did not renew awards to many key nonprofits . The breadth and depth of impact raised concern as agencies spoke of potential program cuts and the impact on some of the region's most vulnerable residents.

Sixteen affected agencies signed onto a statement this week that put their collective impact at $5 million in lost funding, and warned of service cuts affecting upwards of 40,000 individuals or households. Among the agencies were Charles Settlement House and Community Place. Scott Benjamin leads both nonprofits and said the funding shortfall would hit family service programs that don’t operate in isolation but, in some instances, are the backbone of a constellation of efforts — widening the impact.

Now, though, there appears less of a hole to fill.

"It's a big step forward," he said of the United Way's increased assistance. "I think I will probably sleep a little bit better tonight ... but we know we've still got a lot of work to do as our own organization, and I think as a broader community, to stitch back some of the the safety net."

The $7 million commitment is dependent on United Way hitting targets with its annual fundraising campaign, and being able to meet its other obligations. The agency serves a six-county region encompassing Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Wayne and Wyoming counties

United Way historically has awarded nearly all its program assistance in multi-year grants. That committed the agency's current and future revenues, and limited its ability to respond in the moment — like when busloads of asylum seekers began arriving in Rochester last summer, Saunders said.

She has pushed the need for a broader community answer to the increasing demands on and by nonprofits, at a time when community giving is down nationwide.

United Way plans to fund the $7 million in bridge funding from reserves, an existing loan balance and draw on a past award from novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott .

“We listen,” Saunders said. “We are dedicated to this community. We share in the pain of this moment. We get it.”

That said, Saunders stressed there is more money coming, just in different ways than most are used to.

"Multi year grants continue to be a core of what we do," she said. "What we haven't seen or experienced is the balance of those one-year grants that are coming."

She added: "It's really a shift to multi-year being just half of our grant-making based on campaign .... The full picture isn’t understood."

Monroe County Legislature Vice President Mercedes Vazquez-Simmons joined Legislator Rachel Barnhart this week in calling for the county to allocate its remaining federal pandemic relief funds to help.