Sitting in Washington DC during a government shutdown is a bit surreal. The metro is near empty and traffic is thin. I walked by a coffee shop yesterday that had a sign out front that read: “free coffee for furloughed workers.” Other establishments are offering pizza or bagels. Empathy. We are, after all, a company town.
We can’t lose sight of the fact that the shutdown is having a negative impact on many LeadingAge members and those they serve. Alma Ballard, who oversees San Jose Manor II Apartments, a community of older adults with low incomes in Jacksonville, FL, has been stopped in her tracks with her plans to fix a long-leaking roof. On top of that, her organization never received its December or January payments from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), totaling about $40,000, immediately putting the property under financial strain.
Ballard says that Family Housing Management, the organization that runs San Jose Manor II, has been saving up for a new roof for the 50-unit, government-subsidized property, but had to put the plans on hold because its contract with HUD was still in the process of being renewed when the shutdown began. Family Housing Management is not alone. There are hundreds of affordable housing contracts that have expired under the shutdown.
More than 200 of the contracts that expired in December are for properties like San Jose Manor II that provide rental assistance for older adults. In most cases, management has already resorted to its reserve funding to make up for the missing HUD payments and is doing everything possible to shield its residents so there are no evictions.
San Jose Manor II is just one of many communities living on the edge, an edge that has become more problematic with the government shut down. And then there are more than 4 million older adults who receive food assistance through the SNAP program. How will they eat?
The optimist in me says this will be resolved soon and we’ll be back in business. The political realist says not so soon. Either way, it’s a stark reminder of the fragility of many organizations’ finances. The commitment to serve those who are most vulnerable comes with an expectation that if we do our part, government will do its part. When that doesn’t happen, we teeter perilously on the edge.
At LeadingAge, we’ll do our part to draw attention to the impact on real people, in real time of the shutdown. Loudly and forcefully. We’ll work with HUD and other agencies to advocate for solutions so that you can back away from the edge and do what you do so well without the fear of not meeting payroll or paying utility bills.
Being mission-driven is a noble calling. Serious challenges such as the shutdown cause us to dig deep, deeper than we thought possible. Yet, time and again, I’ve seen LeadingAge members pull together and support each other during times of adversity. I’ve seen grit, creativity, and the power of community prevail. And for that, you have my deepest admiration.