The non-profit world
Since Nicki and I are having an interesting discussion over non-profits and OneAthens, I figured I'd offer a response to her latest comment. I think these types of discussions are good for us to have as we evaluate the role of OneAthens and the concerns I have regarding how non-profit agencies will be impacted as it gets rolling.
Long before Athens-Clarke County decided to address poverty - or the United States government decided to as well - folks from different faith backgrounds were active in alleviating the suffering and despair that gripped too many people in this world. Likewise, concerned and compassionate individuals from religious and non-religious backgrounds got their hands dirty by feeding the hungry, sheltering the poor and taking care of the sick.
Again, while I don't think anyone would dispute that a more concerted and coordinated effort to address poverty is a laudable and appropriate thing to do, to suggest such coordinator isn't going on isn't accurate. The Homeless Coalition is a band of area non-profits that work together to complement each other and share ideas. The new ARCH group features five area non-profits that will partner together to provide comprehensive services to low-income citizens. The folks with HED regularly share resources and referrals to a variety of non-profits across our community. And new non-profits, like The Stable Foundation, plan to offer expanded services to existing agencies in an attempt to better serve their clients.
If we want to support, expand and enhance our existing agencies who have been engaged in this fight for quite some time, that's one thing. However, if we want to set up a completely different entity that is competing with the very folks who have been addressing this issue for years, then I'll have a hard time supporting that notion.
Please don't misunderstand me. I believe OneAthens has tremendous potential ... if it's deployed in the proper way - working to enact policy, improving coordination and communication, serving as a community-wide voice for the less fortunate, opening the eyes of folks who, for too long, cast a blind eye to the plight of the poor, etc. and etc. Again, don't get me wrong, I'm clearly more pro-OneAthens than anti-OneAthens, but I think it's reasonable to express some legitimate concerns about its impact on the existing infrastructure we have in place.
A lot of folks have pointed out to me that because we have a high poverty rate, our non-profits must be inefficient and not serving everyone. Well, yes and no. We clearly do have a good number of inefficient non-profits in our town that exist only to better their staff and funders rather than truly help people in need, while others just suffer from poor management and a lack of funding.
But there are great success stories in town. I believe IHN of Athens is one of them, and so is AIDS Athens and the Athens Area Homeless Shelter and The Mercy Clinic and Community Connection and Samaritan Counseling and so on. These, and others, are agencies which operate on tight budgets with small staffs and minimal resources, but, proportionally, provide a considerable amount of benefit in our community. I would much rather view their successes as models for how we should go about attacking poverty and look to find ways to support them and build on their framework.
Is some of this 'turf war' discussion, where non-profits don't wish to cede their territory to others? Well, for some, I'm quite sure it is. And, speaking as the board president of one of these agencies, I'd be lying if I didn't suggest that some of my first reactions revolve around 'how is this going to impact us?' That's human nature, and I don't think it's necessarily wrong. But again, my larger concern is alleviating poverty, and if that means IHN of Athens shuts its doors because the mission is being accomplished, then that's something I celebrate.
The larger concern, based on what I've heard from some folks, isn't turf war though, but rather a legitimate concern that some of these tried-and-true models for helping folks might either get cast by the wayside or be shut down because what few funds still exist start getting shuttled over to OneAthens or other agencies. Fighting for donations and grants is difficult, as I can attest from my professional work and my charitable work, and that's worth keeping in mind.
Listen, again, I'm not down on OneAthens. It's a remarkable community-wide effort to address poverty in Athens-Clarke County, and it deserves our support. But it also deserves some well-intentioned scrutiny to make sure that the best solutions are being put forward.
Long before Athens-Clarke County decided to address poverty - or the United States government decided to as well - folks from different faith backgrounds were active in alleviating the suffering and despair that gripped too many people in this world. Likewise, concerned and compassionate individuals from religious and non-religious backgrounds got their hands dirty by feeding the hungry, sheltering the poor and taking care of the sick.
Again, while I don't think anyone would dispute that a more concerted and coordinated effort to address poverty is a laudable and appropriate thing to do, to suggest such coordinator isn't going on isn't accurate. The Homeless Coalition is a band of area non-profits that work together to complement each other and share ideas. The new ARCH group features five area non-profits that will partner together to provide comprehensive services to low-income citizens. The folks with HED regularly share resources and referrals to a variety of non-profits across our community. And new non-profits, like The Stable Foundation, plan to offer expanded services to existing agencies in an attempt to better serve their clients.
If we want to support, expand and enhance our existing agencies who have been engaged in this fight for quite some time, that's one thing. However, if we want to set up a completely different entity that is competing with the very folks who have been addressing this issue for years, then I'll have a hard time supporting that notion.
Please don't misunderstand me. I believe OneAthens has tremendous potential ... if it's deployed in the proper way - working to enact policy, improving coordination and communication, serving as a community-wide voice for the less fortunate, opening the eyes of folks who, for too long, cast a blind eye to the plight of the poor, etc. and etc. Again, don't get me wrong, I'm clearly more pro-OneAthens than anti-OneAthens, but I think it's reasonable to express some legitimate concerns about its impact on the existing infrastructure we have in place.
A lot of folks have pointed out to me that because we have a high poverty rate, our non-profits must be inefficient and not serving everyone. Well, yes and no. We clearly do have a good number of inefficient non-profits in our town that exist only to better their staff and funders rather than truly help people in need, while others just suffer from poor management and a lack of funding.
But there are great success stories in town. I believe IHN of Athens is one of them, and so is AIDS Athens and the Athens Area Homeless Shelter and The Mercy Clinic and Community Connection and Samaritan Counseling and so on. These, and others, are agencies which operate on tight budgets with small staffs and minimal resources, but, proportionally, provide a considerable amount of benefit in our community. I would much rather view their successes as models for how we should go about attacking poverty and look to find ways to support them and build on their framework.
Is some of this 'turf war' discussion, where non-profits don't wish to cede their territory to others? Well, for some, I'm quite sure it is. And, speaking as the board president of one of these agencies, I'd be lying if I didn't suggest that some of my first reactions revolve around 'how is this going to impact us?' That's human nature, and I don't think it's necessarily wrong. But again, my larger concern is alleviating poverty, and if that means IHN of Athens shuts its doors because the mission is being accomplished, then that's something I celebrate.
The larger concern, based on what I've heard from some folks, isn't turf war though, but rather a legitimate concern that some of these tried-and-true models for helping folks might either get cast by the wayside or be shut down because what few funds still exist start getting shuttled over to OneAthens or other agencies. Fighting for donations and grants is difficult, as I can attest from my professional work and my charitable work, and that's worth keeping in mind.
Listen, again, I'm not down on OneAthens. It's a remarkable community-wide effort to address poverty in Athens-Clarke County, and it deserves our support. But it also deserves some well-intentioned scrutiny to make sure that the best solutions are being put forward.
posted by Jmac at 8:04 AM
1 Comments:
Hey, JMac -- thansk for keeping this ball in the air. Poverty is a complicated issue here, and I appreciate your exploring it.
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