Needham Nonprofits Still Tackling Rising Need

October 21, 2024
• Post-pandemic, changing finances play a role in local nonprofits’ operations.

At the Needham Community Council, this year’s annual fiscal report looks a little different than those in recent years. During the pandemic, “everybody sort of knew that we were in crisis,” Executive Director Sandy Robinson said, which prompted people to step up and support the organization.

Now four full years later, the support has dropped. Since last year, the council saw 335 fewer donors, most of which supported the organization with less than $250. Despite rising costs, the NCC found ways to persevere, Robinson said.

“It’s expensive to buy all that produce, to help people with transportation rides, just to keep the lights on in the building. Things have a cost to them,” Robinson said. “We know it’s our friends and families that are supporting these programs, so we want to make sure they run as effectively and efficiently as we can, that we are serving the maximum number of people and we’re doing it at the least amount of cost.”

A similar story is playing out at other local nonprofits, as they continue to adjust to post-pandemic operations and funding.

When times were tough, particularly for service-oriented operations, people eagerly extended a helping hand — either physically or financially, said Circle of Hope’s Executive Director Ari Barbanell. Minimal grant funding also kept them rolling through COVID, she added.

“There was definitely an increase in funding opportunities,” Barbanell said. “There was definitely an increase in compassion and in empathy.”

Now, it seems past donors may be experiencing “compassion fatigue” or finding other ways to give back, Barbanell said.

The need, however, has only increased since COVID. Circle of Hope, which is based in Needham, served 26,000 people last year with clothing, hygiene products, school supplies and more. Despite that growing network, as well as new partnerships, the nonprofit is receiving fewer monetary donations.

“The economy is changing. People are thinking about what’s ahead with the election,” Barbanell said of donors. “Quite honestly, we’re O.K., [but] we never have enough. We always need more to reach more people. But definitely, we are part of the trend.”

Funding also remains the biggest challenge at Storytime Crafts, Inc., which promotes literacy and kindness through the distribution of books to educational facilities and elsewhere.

“We do have a donate link on our website. It doesn’t get that much traffic, so it doesn’t bring in that much money,” Founder and President Lisa Vergara said. “It really is just putting the word out.”

The NCC’s expenses totaled more than $1.1 million, most of which went toward programming — including their transportation services, technology and tutors and English language learning — as well as the food pantry, which donated more than 38,000 pounds of food in FY24.

Running a food pantry is costly, Robinson said, particularly a “fresh-first” one, as they call it. The council provides fresh produce, milk, butter and other goods found in a typical grocery store.

The pantry saw a slight uptick in visits from 2023 — with 4,054 visits this year — which Robinson said reflects both residents’ needs and increased awareness of the resource. The NCC also gave out $10,000 to about 200 students who use the food pantry, Robinson said.

Unlike produce, books are shelf-stable, and for Storytime Crafts, that means they can accept all donated books. The funding they do receive is put toward purchasing books to amplify diverse authors.

New books often come at a steep discount, thanks to another nonprofit that supplies organizations with affordable, diverse titles. Thanks to funding from a local credit union, the nonprofit recently secured its dream book van.

Students, however, are still burdened by high costs — when the Scholastic Book Fair rolls into school, Vergara said many Boston-area students are unable to buy anything, prompting teachers to fundraise on their own social media to fund their classroom’s purchases.

“So we come into schools with free books, and schools are blown away,” Vergara said.

At Circle of Hope, they’re able to accept more donations than they could during the pandemic. Given the health restrictions, the organization only took in new items, but they now welcome gently used items, too.

They’ve since added additional donation center hours on Saturday and received additional support when a need arises — recently, there’s been a significant push for toiletries and for newborns and mothers.

Hope and Comfort, a Needham nonprofit that also provides hygiene care, has also witnessed the increased demand, which has only “exacerbated” since the pandemic, CEO Kerry Carter said.

Eligible households received additional SNAP benefits during COVID, but those reduced back down about 18 months ago — when inflation hit a 50-year time. Fewer SNAP benefits means families spend more on food and thereby less on other essentials, such as soap and toothpaste, Carter said.

But in their own operations, Hope and Comfort hasn’t experienced the decreased revenue others have. Individual donations have remained steady, Carter said, and the organization recently received $350,000 from the state.

Still, the nonprofit sees room for improvement, as more than 2 million Massachusetts residents experience hygiene insecurity. An influx of newcomers to the state has also put a strain on resources, Carter added.

“Things are more difficult now, if you can believe it or not, in some ways than it was during the pandemic,” Carter said.

Storytime Crafts, which started less than a year before the onset of COVID, actually moved “full speed” in the years since, Vergara said. Partnerships with the Friends of the Needham Public Library, as well as with Hope and Comfort, allow them to serve in historically underserved areas.

They’ve installed a series of free little libraries in the region, including two in Needham, in partnership with Needham Rotary. It’s specifically the community connections — with Needham High School, Boy Scouts, additional local libraries and more — keep the nonprofit alive, Vergara said.

“We have lots of ways that families can engage with the nonprofit, and really feel good about giving back and making an impact,” Vergara said.

Bright spots at the NCC include their more than 3,000 rideshare trips this year, which increased by nearly 1,000, as well as its thrift shop, which supports about a third of its operating budget.

“All of those special sales make a difference,” Robinson said of the shop. “Not only do we need people to donate to us, but we need people to come and buy things from us.”

Hope and Comfort’s pre-pandemic reach pales in comparison to its 2024 distribution numbers: in 2019, the nonprofit distributed 500,000 hygiene products, and this year, they’ll distribute 5 million. During its inaugural Hygiene Insecurity Awareness Week earlier this month, they distributed 600,000 hygiene products.

But Carter said there’s still a big gap to close.

“We have a long way to go,” Carter said. “We’re fulfilling probably about, we estimate, a little less than 5% of the need.”

The belief and engagement within Needham is palpable, but, in reality, it comes down to cash. It’s what allows the nonprofits to operate.

As Circle of Hope looks toward winter coat season and the months that follow, Barbanell said she’d like to see the nonprofit landscape strengthen.

“I’m hoping that it continues to improve, and that we continue to reach people with our work to know about it and fund it,” Barbanell said. “We certainly are all finding that the need for the work is really significant.”