At 11:55 am yesterday (Tuesday, February 28) I stepped out of a car and walked with a spring in my step toward a crowd of fifty or so people, fifty very special people, gathered at the entrance to Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis.
Each person was there representing one of 42 local nonprofit organizations that had been selected by the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County to receive a grant in the range of $10,000 to $50,000 to address issues identified in Poverty Amidst Plenty, our recently published community needs assessment. The source of funds was our county’s allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act.
As someone who spent much of my career building nonprofit organizations, I feel close to these people. I have great respect for public servants who do their jobs to serve in government, and I have great respect for small business owners who must hustle to stay afloat, but anyone who creates a nonprofit does both. They identify a way to serve, demonstrate to the IRS that their work has public benefit, create and manage a board of directors, and then hustle to generate the revenue that they need to pay the bills.
But why, you might ask, is the government giving money to nonprofit organizations? Aren’t they funded by private donors?
Don’t think of it as charity. Think of it as public-private partnerships, or if it’s more appealing to your political philosophy, think of it even as privatization of public services.
Then think about the pandemic.
Economic downturns always hit the lowest wage workers hardest, but COVID was brutal. The third of our county population that is Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed (the ALICE population) work the hourly jobs, the service sector jobs, the jobs that suddenly didn’t exist. Those who were undocumented not only lost work but were ineligible for federal assistance.
Mission-driven people mobilized through nonprofits in every community. Fortunately our Departments of Health, Aging and Disabilities, Arundel Community Development Services, Partnership for Children, Youth, and Families and other county agencies had good relationships with these organizations. Together they created a food distribution system, emergency housing, pop-up testing and vaccination clinics, locations for kids to do virtual school, and ways to connect with seniors and others who were isolated.
Think about the opioid epidemic, and the way behavioral health services are provided. Nonprofits are providers. Government plays a coordinating role.
Think about recreation. The government builds parks and fields and nonprofit user groups organize leagues.
I could also talk about the arts, health services, affordable housing, transportation, and Bay restoration. Without the marriage of nonprofits and local government, services would be hard to come by.
I’ve made a point of visiting a lot of local nonprofits since I began this job. In fact, I started the day yesterday visiting the Parole Rotary Club’s Books International Goodwill (BIG) warehouse, and hearing about their dream of a more permanent location. Our vision for Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park is a campus of health and wellness nonprofits, starting with a nonprofit incubator at a building that will be rehabbed soon.
Just as we have Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation helping to grow the capacity of local businesses, we should, in my view, do more to grow the capacity of our local nonprofit sector. I hope when I leave this job to be able to say that we did that. If we succeed, our county will have a more engaged, better connected, and better served population of people with experience working for the betterment of their communities. That’s what WILL make us The Best Place - For All.
Until next week…
Steuart Pittman
Anne Arundel County Executive