Last week I had the opportunity, at the invitation of Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, to testify before the U.S. Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship committee regarding the impact of the pandemic on large not-for-profits like the Y. After waiting for a year for any help from the federal government and being snubbed in the two big packages passed by Congress to date, large not-for-profits were finally included in the recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 as eligible for the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), which has been so essential to keeping smaller business and not-for-profit organizations afloat since COVID arrived.
I am incredibly grateful for this development and for Senator Cardin’s hard work to ensure our inclusion in the recent legislation. It’s not very complicated. The fact is that this pandemic has been uniquely devastating to the Y’s business model. We need the help. We deserve the help.
I say this while fully understanding the misperceptions, however.
As a tax-exempt human services organization, large Ys like us are bigger than the small grassroots organizations that typically do one thing in a local community. We offer a diverse set of services, many of the most visible of which are funded through “earned revenue” (i.e. paid for by the end-user). It makes us seem like we don’t have to worry about much, even in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic. That’s wrong, but that’s how some folks see it.
In fact, our scale is a primary asset that should be rewarded; not penalized. It means that we have the capacity and infrastructure to lean into some of today's most critical challenges and have a uniquely broad and deep impact. The examples abound. Our leadership in Head Start and Community Schools, which annually help thousands of children, youth, and families at the bottom of the income scale to overcome the achievement gap, can only happen because we have the scale to fully support and manage these complex, critically important programs.
But beyond the programs themselves, something bigger and even more foundational is happening at the Y which can only happen because of our scale. First and foremost, it's the story of the Y is a community builder.
Think of it. No other organization today daily connects a larger and more diverse population of people of all ages, backgrounds, faiths, income levels, and walks of life under one roof to work together in the shared pursuit of individual and community health and being. Our family center Ys and a diverse range of programming bring together people and families across every aspect of our community who otherwise rarely intersect in any meaningful way. This is by no means accidental. It's highly intentional and strengthened by our Open Doors policy which makes it possible for thousands of families from the bottom of the income scale who might otherwise be left out to fully participate in Y community life alongside others whose life circumstances are vastly different. This kind of meaningful intersection is rare in our country. And yet, it’s what helps us all to see one another for who we are as human beings, and in so doing, helps to foster and strengthen the fabric of community life in ways that are absolutely essential to civil society.
And no other organization I know of is doing that in this region, or for that matter, anywhere else in the U.S.
If you are interested in watching a replay of the committee hearing, you may do so by following this link (my testimony starts at roughly the 44-minute mark):
A copy of my testimony can be found here.
All the best,
John
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland