Last month, the Haines Borough Assembly unanimously voted to grant Becky’s Place—a local safe house for victims of abuse—$8,000 for rent.
Becky’s Place serves about 35 victims a year with piecemeal funding from a combination of an annual fundraiser, private donations, Chilkat Valley Community Foundation grants, and now borough funding. “I can confidently say that our doors are open for another year because of that help,” owner Jackie Mazeikas said. This is the second year the nonprofit has sought borough support.
The funding request prompted assembly members Sean Maidy and Stephanie Scott to advocate for the organization’s permanent funding in the Haines Borough operating budget.
“I think that nonprofit is a health and safety issue,” Scott said. “It’s not a choice, it’s something we absolutely need to do in this community.”
In the FY20 budget the assembly adopted in June, the borough listed $40,000 in “discretionary appropriations” for nonprofits, with $20,000 in the Tourism Promotion and Economic Development Fund and $20,000 in the General Fund. Borough manager Debra Schnabel recommended that the assembly sponsor the Southeast Alaska State Fair with $20,000, and consider allocating the remaining $20,000 to support KHNS if state funding to public radio was eliminated. The assembly later voted to approve both allocations.
In past years, the borough announced the availability of a pool of nonprofit money, called the community chest, for organizations to apply for by June 1. Then, an ad hoc committee met to determine which organizations would receive money, and how much. The assembly then weighed in.
Schnabel effectively eliminated that process this year, when she proposed a reduction to nonprofit funding from $59,264 to $40,000 (combined between community chest and tourism funds) in favor of supporting “core responsibilities” of the borough, including fire, police, finance, planning and zoning, education, the museum, pool, library. “Those are the primary things that I feel responsible to fund,” she said. “I didn’t seek to put a lot of money into the discretionary fund for the assembly to give to nonprofits because I didn’t see that we had enough money to be generous.”
During budget negotiations, then-assembly member Tom Morphet advocated for maintaining the prior year’s level of nonprofit funding, but was unsupported by other assembly members.
Maidy said that he disagrees with setting money aside in the community chest. “We should fund what we need,” he said. “I think emergency radio programming…was extremely valid. I think that Becky’s Place that is the only service of this kind of work is also extremely valid.” In April, the Haines Avalanche Center requested $20,000 from the assembly to support forecasting and educational classes.
On Tuesday, the assembly dismissed the Avalanche Center’s request without any actions.
“There’s no funds left in the budget for this,” assembly member Brenda Josephson said. We had a budget which has been expended.”
Maidy said he’s like to support the avalanche center, but doesn’t see it as a priority. “It is not a choice to be in a domestic violence situation.,” he said. “You do have a choice not to go backcountry in avalanche terrain. I see that it’s basically up to the assembly to decide whether something is important enough to be a line item (in the) budget.”
But Chief financial officer Jila Stuart said that “nothing is in the budget forever,” with the exception of bond payments owed to the state for the life of the bond. “Everything else is up for renewal every year.”
Schnabel said she thinks that the assembly needs to be cautious of what it chooses to fund as a program of the borough.
“I think the borough assembly has to be very clear about what its purpose and its mission is,” she said. “You can’t go out and pick and choose. It needs to fit within the mission and the vision the borough has for itself. When we fund nonprofits, or anything, outside of the budget cycle, it’s taking our reserves.”
Schnabel said the assembly could decide to enter into a contract with Becky’s Place, as it’s done for years with Haines Animal Rescue Kennel. The borough pays HARK $28,540 annually on a two-year contract cycle for animal control services.
“We know that in the town of Haines we want to have dogs picked up and cared for humanely so we don’t want to employ staff to do that, so we do it as a contract with the nonprofit,” she said. “That is an option that the borough would have, specifically for providing a safe haven and programs for victims of domestic violence.”
The CVN surveyed other Alaskan communities, and found that most dole out nonprofit funding from a specific, limited reserve before each budget cycle.
In Petersburg, the borough has a community services general fund that grants money to its museum, public radio station, a food service that cooks meals for elderly people and its public schools for operations and maintenance. In 2016, borough clerk Debbie Thompson said, the borough granted $45,000 to its domestic violence and sexual assault shelter and advocacy group, Working Against Violence for Everyone (WAVE). Nonprofits must apply for funding each budget cycle, Thompson said.
Women in Safe Homes (WISH), a 32-bed emergency shelter program in Ketchikan, is regularly funded through grants from the City and Borough of Ketchikan, said shelter executive director Agnes Moran. This year, the shelter received $17,356 from the city and $22,000 from the borough, which Moran said covers the cost of one staff position. The organization applies for its funding annually.
The Municipality of Skagway has budgeted $301,126 in community grants this fiscal year. In June, Skagway’s borough assembly voted on a resolution to set guidelines for the nonprofits applying for community funding. The resolution limits 4 percent of the total budget to be spent on nonprofits, states that no grantee will receive more than 10 percent of total funds allocated, and that grants above $5,000 will not exceed 50 percent of the total project cost. “Any organization that applies for funding would have to follow these guidelines,” Deach said. “It makes it more cut and dried.” Community organizations apply each year for funding.
Sitka appropriates $50,000 to nonprofits annually, with $5,000 of that set aside for emergency funding, said municipal clerk Sara Peterson. The borough accepts applications prior to setting an operating budget each year, and votes to decide which organizations get funding.
Each year, the Sitka assembly appropriates money from its general fund to support Sitka Against Family Violence, a local shelter and advocacy center, administrative coordinator Renee Wheat said. This year, it allocated $50,000 in a “donation,” not a line item.
For Haines residents wishing to make a contribution, money given to participating charities on Dec. 3 will be stretched twice as far. Giving Tuesday, an international movement, pairs nonprofits with supporting organizations who pledge to match donations.
Organizations like Facebook use the day as a time to match donations given to specific nonprofits.
Haines Friends of Recycling organizers Dena Shelby and Molly Sturdevant are promoting the event for their nonprofit, but Sturdevant encourages locals to donate to their favorite charity. “Pick one, is what my message to people is,” she said. Haines Friends of Recycling will have its donations matched by Facebook. For Alaskans, the donation period opens at 4 a.m. on Dec. 3.
Southeast Alaska Independent Living is also registered for the matching via Facebook.
The Chilkat Valley Community Foundation will be partnering with local coffeeshops for Giving Tuesday. A portion of all coffee proceeds will benefit the foundation’s endowed operating fund that supports its work. All community donations made to the CVCF’s operation fund will be matched 1:1 up to $25,000 through 2020, said program manager Sara Chapell.