Pennsylvania Nonprofits Stand Up for their Fellow Citizens

The news in Pennsylvania is not good. The Governor and Legislature have been at loggerheads over a budget, which is now five months overdue and very many organizations that have been providing services on behalf of the Commonwealth have not be paid since mid-summer. The Governor agrees that the “nonsense” must end and legislators say they remain committed to completing a budget deal. But they still have failed to act, putting the public in jeopardy. So what are nonprofits that are dedicated to public service, community building, and problem solving to do? Take a stand for passage of a budget, of course.

November 23 was “celebrated” as the Stand for Pennsylvanians Day. More than 100 organizations participated in the project organized by the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, the United Way of Pennsylvania, the Adams County Community Foundation, the Pittsburgh Foundation, the PA State Alliance of YMCAs, and a coalition of nonprofits and schools districts. 

The campaign goals are two-fold:

• To tell the collective story of Pennsylvania citizens directly impacted by the budget impasse, and
• To mobilize clients and members of local communities to support the bi-partisan efforts already underway to pass the budget.

Participants accomplished their goals through a media campaign demonstrating the impact that nonprofits make on their local communities and the people they serve. Word was spread through Twitter (#StandForPA) and Facebook. Nonprofits from across the Commonwealth reached out to their legislators and the Governor expressing the simple message: pass the budget.

Much media attention was devoted to a Statehouse rally conducted that day. Speakers laid bare the severe challenges the politicians are inflicting on Pennsylvanians. A director of a domestic violence and sexual assault shelter reported that the budget crisis has forced her to turn away more than 180 people seeking refuge. A representative from an organization providing employment for people with disabilities shared that the failure of the government to complete contracts – a result of government agencies not knowing how much they can spend – has forced h is nonprofit to lay off several of the employees that the state contracts are designed to help.

Anne Gingerich, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, brought home the demands of the nonprofit community and all Pennsylvanians adversely affected by the budget impasse: “We need to get a budget passed and we need to start looking at next year's budget frankly and how to build a system so that we do not go through this again.”