Nonprofits have something to say about the midterm election results

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood is pushing back at efforts from the White House to effectively renew family separations at the border. She has joined 18 other attorneys general in calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services in rolling back proposals that protect immigrant children held in detention facilities, which would undermine limits on the duration they can be held in custody under the Flores Settlement Agreement.

“To take away protections from these children is to ignore their basic health, safety, and well being,” Underwood said in a press release. “These children have already suffered irreparable harm from detention and separation from their families. We won’t stand by as the Trump administration continues to undermine children’s most fundamental rights.”

Breaking Ground has won a $20.7 million contract from the New York City Department of Homeless Services. The money will fund a transitional residence and drop-in center for homeless adults at 100-30 and 100-32 Atlantic Ave. in Richmond Hill, Queens. The contract will apply retroactively from July 1, 2017 through June 2022, according to the City Record.

The Westchester Community Foundation has released a total of $448,000 in grants to 15 local nonprofits. The grants will benefit efforts to provide free legal services to immigrant populations, help first-generation Latino youth go to college, and other efforts to promote civic participation, according to a Nov. 7 press release. View the full list of recipients here.

A few nonprofit leaders have something to say about the midterms. Democratic control of the U.S. House of Representatives was a welcome development for some, though optimism was dampened by expanded Republican control of the U.S. Senate. In any case, nonprofit leaders say that the fight continues for the causes they support – whether that involves battling President Donald Trump or simply securing enough government support for the services they provide to ordinary people.

Democratic norms remain in jeopardy, according to Teresa Younger, president of the Ms. Foundation for Women. “Victories in the House of Representatives show that the American people stand together in our rejection of the racist, sexist, supremacist and regressive attitudes of the Trump administration and its supporters. Millions of citizens stood in line, some for hours on end, to demand change and have our message heard loud and clear – we will not stand idly while the ugliest parts of our democracy work overtime to undo decades of progress,” she said in a statement. 

Strong Nonprofits For a Better New York, a coalition of nonprofits looking to improve state support for human services, sees the reelection of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a Democratic takeover of the state Senate as providing a new opportunity for long-running goals.

“We are hopeful that with substantial changes in Albany, there will be an opportunity to make long overdue investments in the sector’s workforce and infrastructure,” reads a Nov. 7 statement. “Working under contract with the state, human services organizations provide crucial services to uplift New Yorkers from all walks of life, but these providers have been overlooked for decades. Our workforce has had the statutory cost-of-living adjustment taken out of the budget for ten years, with over $500 million in wages being denied to predominately low wage workers.

“The state has not committed to funding the minimum wage increase for contracted workers; and organizations struggle to maintain needed infrastructure because contracts do not cover essential costs. Most recently, the Governor announced a significant investment in the hospital and nursing home workforce, but once again has not addressed the hundreds of thousands of workers at nonprofits, 80 percent of whom are women with nearly half being women of color.”

A coalition of nonprofits and advocates, including Safe Horizon, The Foundation for Survivors of Abuse and The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, also see hope for the Child Victims Act to quickly pass the state Legislature under Democratic control.
“It is a new day for survivors of child sexual abuse in New York State. For the first time, we have a partner in the state senate that can and will commit to passing the Child Victims Act,” reads a Nov. 7 statement. “Every day another survivor turns 23, losing their right to justice while their abusers go free. New Yorkers can’t wait another minute, and soon we won’t have to. We anticipate swift action for this priority issue in both chambers and look forward to a long-fought victory.”

.@SafeHorizon thanks @NYSA_Majority @CarlHeastie @LindaBRosenthal for once again prioritizing the passage of the #ChildVictimsAct in the coming year.  After years of roadblocks in the @NYSenate, we are more hopeful than ever that justice for survivors is close at hand. @nypasscva

— Michael Polenberg (@PolenbergM) November 7, 2018

And FPWA also had some thoughts to share in a Nov. 7 email:

“Yesterday, we witnessed an important election. Americans turned out to the polls to cast their votes for representatives who they believe will stand for the interests of their communities. Women, minorities, and LGBTQ candidates all made history by running for office in the House, Senate, and governorship. These candidates sought to galvanize and inspire their communities, and beyond, to affect change. At a time when efforts to suppress the voting rights of low-income communities and communities of color are rampant, these were hard battles fought by fearless leaders. We congratulate those who won their races.

“Now, with the election behind us, the groundwork of ensuring economic opportunity and dignity for all must accelerate. We cannot accept the status quo knowing that more than 40 million Americans are living in poverty, yet threats to weaken our safety net loom. We cannot sit idly by while hateful rhetoric and anti-immigrant policies rip families, and our country, apart. We must reverse the tide of funneling black and brown people into a broken criminal justice system. Moreover, we must advocate for and institute a health care system that prioritizes health and humanity over profits. Now is the time for accountability from our elected officials, not complacency. There’s too much at stake.

“At FPWA, we are dedicated to the demanding work that lies ahead, with a commitment to an economic system that enables people to sustain themselves, their families and their communities, and eliminates the injustices and disparities that create and perpetuate poverty.”