Hartford Business Journal

20 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JULY 14, 2025 FOCUS | Nonprofits Young women who are part of Roca's first Hartford cohort graduate from a years-long violence intervention program. Contributed Photo Funding Cliff CT nonprofits search for answers — and potential survival — amid federal funding cuts, uncertainty • Agencies are still waiting on Housing and Urban Development funds — for homeless response and permanent supportive housing — that were allocated in fiscal year 2024 during the Biden administration. • The abrupt closure of the regional Head Start office in Boston meant new, five-year grants in Connecticut were delayed until a day before programs were due to restart. • In March, the state legislature had to pass a bill providing emergency funding for several high-profile nonprofits, like immigration services provider IRIS and Planned Parent- hood, that had been targeted for federal cuts. And, even for those who saw funding temporarily restored or back- stopped, the future remains uncertain, with Republicans planning to codify many of the attempted executive order cuts via the federal budget process. Medicaid cuts are likely to significantly distress entities like federally qualified health centers. "For those organizations, the unknown certainly has created opera- tional instability," said Thea Montañez, a senior adviser to Gov. Ned Lamont who is charged with developing public-pri- vate partnerships, including those with nonprofits. "It's really challenging for them to develop budgets based on what they don't know, and what that could poten- tially mean with regard to staffing and services." Planning for the unknown The state has launched a tool for nonprofits to report federal funding cuts so that it could track the impact across Connecticut. But Montañez says it hasn't been universally used, and it's difficult to build a complete picture of what the federal changes have meant. Meanwhile, she sees nonprofits doing a lot of planning for the unknown. Some are considering steps like merging or partnering with similar agencies. Others are attempting to diversify their revenue streams to become less dependent on government dollars. "I've been involved in a lot of conversations about how do we work together more effectively with our contracted providers, and are there different ways we can be working together that ensures at least we are maximizing the funding that we currently do have access to?" she said. That raises another huge headache for the state. Some of its core services are contracted out to nonprofits, many of which rely either on direct federal grants, or pass-through dollars that the state administers. Natalie Wagner, the governor's deputy chief of staff, is leading the state's response to federal policy changes, reviewing each funding cut, or new set of rules as they're issued. "It's really a case-by-case analysis By Harriet Jones hjones@hartfordbusiness.com R oca, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit focused on commu- nity violence intervention, launched a program in Hartford four years ago specifically targeting at-risk young women. "We are getting referrals for young women who are victims of non-fatal shootings, who are engaged in human trafficking, who are experiencing high levels of sexual violence," said Sunindiya Bhalla, an executive vice president and program lead at Roca. "Hartford in many ways has esca- lated our understanding of what community violence looks like among young women, and the role they play and how they're impacted." In fact, it's one of the few community violence intervention programs in the country focused exclusively on women and their children. The program has worked with 150 young women so far — many of them referred from state agencies like the Department of Chil- dren and Families — and just graduated its first cohort of 22 participants. The organization was thrilled when, in January of this year, it received a $2 million, three-year grant from the federal Department of Justice for its work in Hartford and Springfield. The funding would have implemented a community-needs assessment and evaluation, and allowed Roca to extend its work, taking more at-risk women off the waitlist for services. But on April 22, the organization received a letter rescinding the grant — along with another $4 million for its work in Baltimore and Massachusetts. It was just one of hundreds of violence intervention, victim services and youth and criminal justice organizations around the country that saw their funding cut off. Roca has filed an appeal with the DOJ, but has no idea how that process will work, or how long it may take to be considered. "We don't feel as though we're enti- tled to any public or private support. We are happy to be subject to merit- based reviews," said Dwight Robson, Roca's executive vice president of operations. "We think … that we're well aligned in terms of what we're doing with what the Department of Justice says they want to achieve." Roca overall has had to eliminate 50 positions, including 25 layoffs, although none of those will hit in Hartford. It's a familiar story for many nonprofits: Earlier this year, a Trump administration executive order abruptly cut off numerous federal grants. Funding was only reinstated after a court issued a temporary restraining order. But the restoration — like the cuts — has been a patchwork, and Roca is not alone in being left stranded. • Several million dollars slated for Connecticut from the Environmental Protection Agency's Thriving Commu- nities program, which supports nonprofits that address environmental and public health issues in under- served communities, was rescinded in May. Nonprofits, including the Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, had been working in antici- pation of the grant since September. • Two food-assistance programs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Federal Emergency Management Agency were cut, leaving food pantries scrambling. Dwight Robson Sunindiya Bhalla Thea Montañez

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