Urgent: Include nonprofits in COVID-19 stimulus bill

March 2020 · Coronavirus, Ministry News

Current U.S. Senate Proposals Overlook
Community-Based Organizations
Essential for COVID-19 Response

You Can Help: Insist that essential human services nonprofits are included in the next COVID-19 stimulus bill

• This is an urgent request to email or tweet your U.S. Senators and Representatives today or tomorrow (March 21 or 22) and insist they do more in their COVID-19 stimulus bill to support the ability of nonprofit, community-based organizations like Saint Francis Ministries to serve, heal and treat during the pandemic, and to survive its economic impact.
• Since all Legislative offices are now closed due to COVID-19, please send an email or tweet as soon as possible. Writing your senators and representatives is easy; just click the links and find your officeholders. Sample Tweets and posts are included below.

This week, Kansas made national news when schools were closed until August. Parents and employers are scrambling to find childcare, offer home schooling and stabilize their own employment in the midst of the lifechanging effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The full impact of these changes and social distancing guidelines place them in a new reality. Such stressors can exacerbate social isolation and erode protective factors that support mental well-being and stabilize families.

In short, many families face unprecedented adversity that increases their vulnerability.

Saint Francis Ministries, an employer and frontline responder to mental health and child safety concerns, joins other nonprofits doing this critical work in making sure those families have support and critical services. As Congress considers bailing out the airline industry and businesses, we need our nation’s legislative leaders to respond in kind to ensure the needs of children and families are met.

“We are adapting quickly to the storm this crisis is just beginning to create,” said The Very Rev. Robert N. Smith, dean, president and CEO of Saint Francis Ministries. “With the news that school children will be home and likely social distancing for the rest of the school year, we know the needs of families who deal with substance use disorders, mental health issues and other adversities will increase.

“Saint Francis Ministries is one of 280,000 organizations of its kind across the country that suddenly are facing an exponential growth in need for services,” he added.

Saint Francis and others are calling on Congress to ensure nonprofit stimulus or relief provisions in response to the coronavirus pandemic are on par with those for small businesses and corporate industries. Like fire fighters, organizations like Saint Francis are essential service providers in the unique position of moving toward the problems that the COVID-19 pandemic creates instead of isolating away from them.

As employers, community-based nonprofits contribute to the economy at the same level as the $200 billion airline industry. A major difference is that, as community-based organizations who are essential partners to governments, community leaders and families, that money is spent on treating, healing and serving the people in America who cannot weather this storm without our help.

Saint Francis Ministries has joined with nearly 200 national nonprofit organizations in a request that Congress include $60 billion in immediate, emergency financial relief expressly for nonprofits, through the Senate-proposed $200 billion loan fund for businesses. Also, Congress needs to clarify that nonprofits of all sizes, including those who receive Medicaid to heal and treat families, can participate in the emergency Small Business Loan Program. To encourage Americans who can donate to help, the coalition wants Congress to raise the cap of the above-the-line charitable tax deduction and to claim the deduction on their 2019 taxes (due on July 15, 2020).

You Can Help: Insist that essential human services nonprofits are included in the next COVID-19 stimulus bill

This is an urgent request to email or tweet your U.S. Senators and Representatives today or tomorrow and insist they do more in their COVID-19 stimulus bill to support the ability of nonprofit, community-based organizations to serve, heal and treat during the pandemic, and survive its economic impact.

The next stimulus bill from Congress may be enacted as soon as this coming Monday, March 23. The latest draft, from Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY), provides minimal support for community-based organizations, but certainly not enough to help nonprofits succeed and survive.

“Earlier this week, the national charitable nonprofit community sent a very strong package of policy solutions that would address the immediate needs of organizations and the people they serve. Read the letter here. Some of these details show up in small measure in the McConnell bill and other draft bills. But the importance of the nonprofit community is not being acknowledged on par with for-profit corporations and businesses. Yet, like fire fighters, nonprofit, community-based organizations are essential service providers in the unique position of moving toward the problems that the COVID-19 pandemic creates instead of isolating away from them. As employers, community-based nonprofits contribute to the economy, nationwide, at the same level as the $200 billion airline industry.

TAKE ACTION NOW (Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22)

Since all offices are now closed due to COVID-19, please send an email or tweet as soon as possible.

Writing your senators and representatives is easy; just click the links and find your officeholders.

Tweeting is easy too. Go here to find your Senators’ or Representatives’ Twitter handle.

Contact with questions:
Page Walley – Page.Walley@st-francis.org
Marlo Nash – Marlo.Nash@st-francis.org
Rachel Marsh – Rachel.Marsh@st-francis.org

SAMPLE TWEETS

[@YOUR SENATOR HANDLE] Congress is flooding for-profit businesses with cash while leaving out nonprofits who are front-line responders to human needs. Loan Program and bailout must include all community-based orgs. #COVID19 #SaveNonprofits

[@YOUR REPRESENTATIVE HANDLE] Congress is flooding for-profit businesses with cash while leaving nonprofits who are front-line responders to human needs. Loan Program and bailout must include all community-based orgs. #COVID19 #SaveNonprofits

EMAIL TEMPLATE (Click Here For Sample Template)