Good news for Community Groups

I heard that Hebron House of Hospitality was having financial difficulties with some of their programs due to cuts in their funding.  Siena House was at the verge of being closed in the near future.  It is very good news that a donor provided money to Hebron House and other community groups, apparently as part of an estate.  Siena House is an emergency shelter that serves women and families, and its loss would've been a significant blow to efforts to end homelessness in the community.

While this donation to keep Siena House running is great, what of the future?  I serve on the board of a different organization serving people who are homeless, and the projected budget cuts from federal sources for 2012 are very frightening, especially if the final budget is more like the proposed House budget rather than the Senate or the President's proposed budgets.  Cuts of up to 60% were projected for some programs, which would've made them impossible to keep operating.

Waukesha has been good to Hebron house and other organizations, but ultimately, for long-term sustainability, there has to be support from government sources, whether state or the federal government.  There are extensive studies on best practices and models for efficient program operations that have come out in the past decade.  With President Bush's pledge to end Homelessness, programs for homelessness have seen more resources and support than they have in long time, and in those difficult economic times, it'd be a shame to see many of the organizations serving the homeless lose the expertise and staff experience that has been built up over the years because of arbitrary budgeting decisions.