State Budget Treats Nonprofits Serving Families Better Than Expected

Tubman and East Metro Women’s Council, organizations that serve Washington County families struggling with violence and homelessness respectively, said state budget cuts will hurt, but not as bad as expected.

Tubman

Tubman got hit extra hard this year when at the same time they were bracing for state budget cuts and a potential government shutdown, .

“It just couldn’t have come at a worse time,” said Jen Polzin, chief of resource development and communication for the organization.

The families who were staying at the Lake Elmo shelter—the Hill Home—have been moved to Tubman’s Minneapolis and St. Paul Park shelters, Polzin said. The organization hopes to have the Tubman Center East—located in Maplewood at Century and Larpenteur avenues—ready for the families to live in by this fall.

Tubman’s $2 million request for state bonding money to renovate the building didn’t make it into this year's bonding bill, however, Polzin said the organization will be able to create a workable living space this fall without the money.

Although the organization did get its funding from the Office of Justice Programs cut by 4 percent—a big hit considering the funding supports the organization’s shelters budget and 50 percent of the legal services budget—the cut was still less than what they expected and planned for, she said.

“It is better than what we feared,” she said. “At one point there was talk of an 11 percent cut to shelters and a 17 percent cut to legal and other services.”

The state government shutdown  that, combined with the fire, caused cash flow issues, but they made it through with help from the community, she said.

The organization hopes to bring in more support at its annual Wing Ding fundraiser from 5 to 10 p.m. Aug. 4 at The Depot Minneapolis. Tickets are $28 if purchased in advance.

East Metro Women’s Council

The East Metro Women’s Council, which works to end and prevent homelessness for families with children, will also endure some state cuts in the budget signed into law last month, but its base funding levels for some of the grants and programs it participates in remained steady, said Executive Director Trisha Kauffman.

“I think homeless services funding did pretty well,” she said.

In the current economic climate, just maintaining funding was what the organization was hoping for, Kauffman said.

Still the funding isn’t meeting the needs, she said.

“The problem is that the number of homeless families is skyrocketing, so there are no additional resources to try and meet those needs,” she said. “Even if we keep our services at the same level, which would be a challenge, we’re just not meeting the need.”

The organization had to turn away approximately 300 people in Washington County in the last two years, she said.