New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Remarkable people ‘never waste a crisis’
The Rev. Bonita Grubbs, of Christian Community Action Inc., has a favorite saying these days: Never waste a crisis.
And this, without a doubt, is a crisis. When it’s over — and let’s hope that is soon — the global pandemic could cost us trillions. The economic shutdown, the job losses, the interruptions in education have shaken us by the neck, and created a catastrophe of enormous proportion.
Hardest hit in wealthy Connecticut are low-income families and — incidentally — the nonprofit organizations that serve them. People who’ve been furloughed or fired may wait months for their unemployment checks in Connecticut, and so people who never thought they’d visit a food pantry other than as a volunteer find themselves standing in line.
On the other end of the equation, people who normally would donate to nonprofits and not-for-profit organizations find themselves needing those funds for their own families.
It’s a real-life example of trickle-down economics, where nothing trickles down. So when people come asking for emergency services, increasingly, nonprofit organizations are finding their own cupboards are bare. According to a recent survey from The Alliance, a consortium of Connecticut nonprofit groups, 65 percent of community nonprofits in the state have noticeably cut back on services. Some have closed.
There’s a little light on the horizon. A report from The Chronicle of Philanthropy says that overall, high-dollar donors have increased their charitable giving during the pandemic, though sometimes the funds tend to be marked for emergency needs.
Recently, a donor reached out to New Haven’s Christian Community Action, Inc. and offered more than $600,000 to renovate a building that once housed a transitional housing program run by the ecumenical social services organization.
And that’s where not wasting a crisis comes into play. The organization was created after a fire burned a family out of a home in ’67. The Rev. Grubbs has led the organization, nestled in the Hill neighborhood of New Haven, since 1988. This pandemic is not their first crisis. With an emphasis on meeting emergency needs, CCA has often had to pivot in response to political will and agendas.
The late, great Gloria J. McAdam, who ran the emergency food distribution organization Foodshare for three decades, used to say she wanted to stop talking about fundraisers like Turkey and a $20, and put her organization out of business. That same attitude is part of the Rev. Grubbs’ public health training. If a lot of people in your community are showing up hungry, what needs to change so that your neighbors don’t have to rely on a food pantry to get to the end of the month? What can you do to put yourself out of business?
Grubbs’ organization had already started a quiet shift, from strictly providing emergency services to people in need to creating new opportunities for people to rebuild their lives. Of course, during a pandemic, the need for those emergency services is heightened, especially African Americans and the Latinx community. But there will be a time after the pandemic.
Thankfully, her donors are on board, she said. On one recent morning, she was on the phone with benefactors who are anxious to see change.
“I’m not going to get biblical on you,” she said, but Eph. 5:16 says to redeem the time, “for the days are evil.”
“You can’t just stand still,” she said. “Time keeps moving. We look at what we’re doing, and how can we do more to create opportunities for individuals.”
Grubbs grew up in Hartford. She understands today’s protests, and she understands that protests must be followed with policy agendas that have in mind the people her organization serves.
Her organization’s latest project is a moving-to-work housing project, in partnership with the Housing Authority of New Haven. Pending approval, workers will renovate the organization’s former Stepping Stone transitional housing program into an 18-apartment complex that will serve as the launching pad for families seeking economic security and housing stability.
It is, she said, a new opportunity that came in a crisis.
“One of the things I learned in public health school was that what happens downstream occurs because there’s something upstream — good or bad,” she said. “Let’s see if you can trace the current situation back to its source and determine what’s a course of action to address it.”