Nonprofits found creative ways to fulfill missions in a challenging year

By most accounts, the need for nonprofit agencies has never been greater than in the past year, with the COVID-19 pandemic and August’s devastating derecho creating astronomical health care expenses, property damage and employment losses. But many nonprofits are dealing with a parallel trend – a pronounced drop in resources to meet those needs, as traditional funding sources grapple with their own fiscal challenges. With those competing factors in play, one might wonder how many nonprofits have managed to maintain their operations and continue serving those in need. Karey Chase believes for most agencies, two factors have been key: Collaboration and the ability to pivot. “I think in any disaster, we see that a significant response comes from our nonprofits,” said Ms. Chase, director of community impact for the United Way of East Central Iowa. “They’re already doing their mission and what they were supposed to do, and either you see an influx, or you see a pivot, and I think we’ve seen both of those things. I can confidently say that of the nonprofits that United Way funds, 100% have either had to pivot or have experienced increased need, or both.” As an example, Ms. Chase cited Waypoint Services in Cedar Rapids, an agency that previously served as the central point of contact for homelessness and support for domestic violence victims in Linn County. Since early 2020, Waypoint has also taken the lead on the expansive Providing Assistance to Community Homeowners (PATCH) program, as well as rent and utility assistance. “For housing, they basically became the single point of entry for anything that was pandemic- or COVID-related,” she said, and that need was magnified as thousands coped with significant derecho-inflicted property damage. Another local nonprofit, the Jane Boyd Community House, was forced to readjust programs focused on childhood learning and development were curtailed with the pandemic’s onset. Jane Boyd’s leaders teamed up with United Way’s disaster services and the Cedar Rapids Community School District to offer new, safe learning places for children forced into home or remote learning settings. The new partnerships offered more supervision and assistance for kids who needed it most. “Instead of just having the regular after school programming, they had to reimagine course,” Ms. Chase said. “Obviously they weren’t able to offer their summer programs. But they were able to team together to provide meals for kids, and we were able to get some books handed out to those kids as well.” Similar stories surfaced with dozens of nonprofits, both old and new, as they found resourceful ways to continue delivering services outlined in their missions. The same held true for United Way itself, as the agency’s traditional fundraising campaign, focused largely on employers, suffered a drop in proceeds. But like many others in the Corridor, United Way has pursued efficiencies and examined priorities to continue operations. For Ms. Chase, that’s a testament to the resilience and dedication nonprofits have historically demonstrated. “This last year has made us all reimagine how we fundraise and do things differently,” she said. “I believe pivot was the word of 2020. You had to rethink how you got things done. There was a lot going on and the need was growing, but we have seen great partnerships and collaboration with the counties and cities. It’s been a great collaborative approach to problem solving.” Challenges aside, Ms. Chase said United Way hasn’t been made aware of any nonprofits ceasing operations or dramatically curtailing services. “I don’t know specifics of how much a specific nonprofit is struggling,” she said. “But I have not seen one nonprofit not step up to help out when needed. I’ve got 20-plus years of experience working in nonprofits, and you know, you just get done what needs to be done. You figure out a way. I still think that’s the mentality that we see. I am really very proud, with United Way being known as a convener and a funder, but there’s been some great things that we’ve been able to be a part of that have really been collaborative.” Iowa Giving Crew The Iowa Giving Crew actually began as a prank. “In November 2017, just before Thanksgiving, one of our friends’ information was put on Craigslist saying he was giving away free turkeys,” recalled Iowa Giving Crew president Nick Dusil. “He wasn’t, but he received a bunch of calls, and there were a lot of disappointed people once they found out that he wasn’t giving away turkeys.” Mr. Dusil and his friends made the best of the situation, springing into action with a viral Facebook campaign that raised about $1,400 and provided Thanksgiving meals to about 80 families in need. “In 2018, we wanted to do that again,” Mr. Dusil said. “We enjoyed helping people out, and there was obviously a need. So we did more planning, and we were able to raise money, again through viral efforts, about a month in advance, and we provided 280 meals. And then in 2019, our group got together and said ‘OK, what else can we do? How can we continue to grow this?’ That’s when Iowa Giving Crew, the official nonprofit, was born and we went through all the steps to become a 501(c)3. So we’ve kind of grown from that prank in 2017 to a nonprofit to where we’re at today.” The annual project, now known as “Operation Give Birds,” continues as the group’s cornerstone event. Mr. Dusil said the campaign expanded to Iowa City last year and is planning a Waterloo giveaway this year, with a goal of 1,000 Thanksgiving meals. But since March 2020, the Iowa Giving Crew’s efforts have mushroomed. “We try and fundraise a year in advance, and we had a successful fundraising effort in 2019 going into 2020,” Mr. Dusil said. “Then the pandemic hit, so we wanted to kind of pivot and use that opportunity to help out in any way we can.” The crew’s efforts spread to a host of local agencies – providing educational toys to the Boys & Girls Club, donating hand sanitizer, gloves and other supplies to Willis Dady Homeless Services, replenishing the food bank at the Olivet Neighborhood Mission, and organizing a thank-you drive for first responders and front-line hospital workers. “Then the derecho hit, and things kind of went crazy for us,” he said. “Everybody in our organization lives in the Cedar Rapids and Marion area, so we were all impacted. We all saw what was happening. We noticed it was like the flood of 2008, but we knew it was going to be bigger and longer lasting and more impactful. So we just started fundraising and saying, ‘Hey, if you’re from out of state or in state and want to help, donate to us. We’ll get it into the hands that need it.’ And it was just crazy. The response was amazing. Our fundraising efforts from the previous year to what happened in 2020 grew probably 10 times.” One of the group’s signature efforts was a cooperative effort with Price Electric in Robins to rebuild damaged electrical masts and boxes for approximately 56 homeowners, a requirement for utilities to re-connect electrical services. Another was the purchase of 10 chainsaws through the Do It Best hardware store in northwest Cedar Rapids, which were then made available for homeowner use at no charge for up to 48 hours to clean up tree debris. There were many other similar efforts with community organizations, Mr. Dusil said, and while the demands of 2020 came as a surprise, the Iowa Giving Crew had long planned to expand its mission. “When we organized as a formal nonprofit, we knew we wanted to do more, but with 2020, we realize the things that impact the community most are the ones that just kind of come out of nowhere, like COVID, and then the derecho,” Mr. Dusil said. “That’s when you need to have people mobilize quickly. It was so widespread, so many people needed help, and it was really just kind of, all right, let’s do what we can. We didn’t realize going into 2020 how much that would mean. “Now, we do have some money set aside,” he added, “so when there is the next storm, or whatever inevitably will impact the community, we have money ready to go and we have a model that we can follow to help people right away. 2020 was trial by fire, so to speak. And it worked out great.” Together We Achieve The genesis and growth of the nonprofit group now known as Together We Achieve is a testament to the transformative power of social media in the wake of a disaster – in this case, the Aug. 10 derecho. Raymond Siddell, the nonprofit’s founder, said he formed the idea while sitting in the dark at his home the night of the storm. “I live a little further north, so I probably had just a little bit more cell service than most people, but no power or anything like that,” Mr. Siddell said. “I thought, let’s get a group started, give us an opportunity for people to come together and start that conversation on what cleanup and recovery looks like. It just seemed there wasn’t a lot of communication on what to do. Facebook is a powerful thing. We hear those stories all across the world where somebody does something on social media, and it blows up into something that they probably never expected, which is what happened here.” That group was the Iowa Derecho Storm Resource Page, which became the go-to digital destination for derecho-related news, resources and announcements. Mr. Siddell started the page by adding a few of his friends at a time, but membership swelled to 10,000 after just two days in existence. The page now has nearly 67,000 members, and Mr. Siddell said he still receives about 50 new requests each day to join the page. Just two days after the storm, on Aug. 12 (“at 11:30 a.m., Mr. Siddell recalled), the Iowa Derecho Resource Center opened, providing access to household and personal care products and food, as well as vital storm recovery supplies and warm meals for storm victims. Mr. Siddell produced daily videos to keep residents informed on derecho-related developments and coordinated the distribution of thousands of pounds of goods a week, along with 11,000 hot meals served in the week immediately following the storm. As the demand for services grew, Mr. Siddell admitted the workload became difficult to handle, particularly in conjunction with his work as a Realtor with Keller Williams. “It was chaos, it was just triaging,” he said. “We were seeing over a thousand people a day through the Resource Center. I was working about 18-hour days, with very little sleep. But I will say that my colleagues really stepped up to help me with whatever I needed. I didn’t have my phone half the time [and] for three weeks, somebody else was responding to all my messages. I went back one day and read through [them] and I’d say, yeah, that was definitely not a message that I sent. It was interesting to go back and look at some of the things that happened early on.” As the effort morphed into its current form, the nonprofit umbrella organization Together We Achieve, Mr. Siddell developed a second Facebook page for that organization, and there are two websites devoted to the operation – togetherweachieve.org and the group’s original site, iowastormhelp.com. It’s a large undertaking that continues today, with the Resource Center serving an estimated 150 families a week from a warehouse in southwest Cedar Rapids, serving hot meals on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and distributing an estimated 91,000 pounds of goods in February alone. And Mr. Siddell doesn’t see an end to his efforts any time soon. “Ultimately, two months after the storm, we could have closed the resource center and said, ‘hey, we’ve done what we set out to do,’” he said. “My goal going forward is, one, continue to be a resource for the community. But we have some long-term goals as well, two- to five-year goals. And should another natural disaster occur, and we need to act quickly, I believe that we have built systems, processes, and relationships and communication methods that would allow for us to be a resource. My goal would be to show up and be a part of those efforts.” Bridge Under the Bridge An interstate highway underpass might seem an unusual choice of venue for a food-based nonprofit group. But Bridge Under the Bridge founder Bridgette Williams-Robinson and her husband, Jovountae Robinson, have worked for years to make the best of challenging situations. And after the derecho tore through Cedar Rapids Aug. 10, Ms. Williams-Robinson felt a deep urge to help a community in desperate need. So the couple, supported by occasional volunteers and community donations, have been serving hot meals and preparing food boxes for anyone in need since the storm passed. “It’s just about providing those basic essentials,” said Ms. Williams-Robinson. “After the storm hit, people lost so much. So to be able to take that weight off someone’s shoulders, and not have to worry about feeding or providing meals for their family – that was our underlying motivation. Once we realized there was so much more need, we wanted to make sure that there was a constant provision. And now we want to make sure that we’re a partner for everyone that needs something, even if it’s just companionship. You can come down and not get a meal and just want to talk. We’re always available to listen. We’re going to make sure that we provide for families or single dads or single moms. It’s not just one group of people that are in need. We all need something.” The group gained national attention when eBay donated a new food trailer to the couple, an event carried live on a “Good Morning, America” segment in Dec. That trailer allowed Bridge Under the Bridge’s efforts to continue throughout the harsh winter months. “We are so very, very grateful for that trailer,” Ms. Williams-Robinson said. “It was right on time, because we were still standing out in the cold up until December 22. We took that week off for Christmas to spend with our family, and that next Wednesday they came out. We thought the story was just about Iowa and the storm and we were just going to be a part of it. I never knew this was going to be the end result.” Ms. Williams-Robinson’s family has experienced its own struggles. The couple launched a party planning and catering business, Have a Blast Parties, in October 2019, but that business was heavily impacted by the pandemic and virtually halted after the derecho. They haven’t had steady employment since, and Ms. Williams-Robinson said it’s been a challenge at times to make ends meet for the family, which includes seven school-age children, but her awareness of the community’s needs keeps her focused on the effort. “My motivation primarily comes from my kids,” she said. “I have been in a position with my kids where we didn’t have anything. We were living wherever we could, and we didn’t have a lot of food. Where we lived, there wasn’t somewhere where you could take your kids to go get a hot meal, get your free diapers, fill in those voids and gaps for parents and families. So every day that I wake up, I’m grateful, and I am appreciative. I have a strong backing on where I’ve been and how far I’ve come, and how many people are in the same position now that I was 10 years ago. I can’t let those people down because I was let down, and I know how bad it feels.” Bridge Under the Bridge continues providing food and supplies as needed from their spot under the Eighth Avenue SW bridge in Cedar Rapids, from Sunday through Friday, with a “food box day” each Tuesday. And despite an occasional lack of resources, Ms. Williams-Robinson said she wants to expand the program to smaller communities in the area, where food pantries and meal programs aren’t as prevalent. “There is such a break in the system, and that’s a big deal for us,” she said. “A lot of people don’t come on food box day because they feel like they have to qualify. You shouldn’t have to qualify to be poor. We don’t have any qualifications. There are no questions asked. If you need it and you show up, we are never going to tell you no.” Ms. Williams-Robinson said she sees no end to her efforts, and that the challenges of 2020 have opened her eyes to the sometimes-invisible needs of others – an awareness she says she can’t ignore. “We’re flying by the seat of our pants at this point,” she said. “I’m very new to this, but I feel confident in what we’re doing, and I feel very confident that the community is going to stand behind us. There’s nowhere to go but up.”   CBJ