COUNCILOR LIZ BREADON CALLS FOR HEARING ON
POST-PANDEMIC RECOVERY FOR BOSTON’S NON-GOVERNMENTAL, NONPROFIT SECTOR
Councilor calls for City to consider directing federal funds to
assist hard-hit local social sector
Boston, Mass. – Boston City Councilor Liz Breadon today filed an order for a
hearing on the state of Boston’s non-governmental, nonprofit social sector and
charting a post-pandemic recovery. [Recording]
The initiative for the hearing recognizes the vital contributions
of non-governmental, nonprofit organizations often regarded as the voluntary,
civic, social sector–or the “third sector” in contrast to the public and
private sectors. Breadon raised the importance of viewing local community-based
nonprofits as the City’s natural partners, serving the same constituents and
working to address shared challenges.
“Locally-based nonprofit organizations provide direct services
across Boston while harnessing deep knowledge of community needs with a
high-impact reach and an established presence as trusted messengers,” said District
9 City Councilor Liz Breadon. “The social sector has really stepped up to
meet the needs of our residents throughout the past two years of the pandemic,
and we must especially prioritize the sustainability of smaller nonprofits as
essential toward charting our City’s recovery.”
The hearing order draws attention to negative sector-wide impacts
of the pandemic on nonprofits, citing reports from the National Council of
Nonprofits, the Center for Effective Philanthropy, and the Center for Civil
Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University. The proposal is timely due to
increased national scrutiny of the so-called “Great Resignation” and its pronounced
impacts on the nonprofit social sector’s workforce recruitment and retention,
in particular.
Breadon referred to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Final Rule for
the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program, released in January
2022, which clarified eligible uses for the City of Boston’s remaining $350
million in relief funds to include the eligibility of charitable nonprofit
organizations as both recipients of assistance as well as being providers of
assistance to others.
Mayor Michelle Wu today also announced that the City of Boston has
received more than $38 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) to be distributed among 15 nonprofit organizations that
provide critical services and support to Boston’s unsheltered residents.
“The availability of once-in-a-generation resources through
federal relief funds provides the potential to address longstanding challenges
and improve conditions for our communities,” said Councilor Breadon. “Our local
government and the nonprofit social sector are stronger together when we
collectively invest in targeted collaboration and intentional, strategic
partnerships. I look forward to working with the City administration and local
leaders to discuss charting sustainability, relief, and recovery.”
The order, designated as Docket 2022-0436, has been referred to the City Council
Committee on Boston’s COVID-19 Recovery and a hearing date is to be scheduled.
