Coronavirus Pandemic Hits Nonprofit Organizations Especially Hard
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Many businesses and organizations are struggling to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, and nonprofit organizations have been hit especially hard. As the need for many of their services, like food banks, rises, donations are plummeting.
According to the National Council of Nonprofits, an estimated 1.6 million nonprofit jobs have been lost since the pandemic began. 13% of nonprofits have been forced to suspend some or all of their operations.
Tim Delaney, president of the National Council of Nonprofits, says the situation is dire.
"We're often referred to as the good people, the angels who are out there doing things. Well I'm here to tell you that angels have to pay rent, angels have to pay their utilities, angels have to pay their employees, angels do have costs," he says.
Dawn Ireland is having to stretch every penny to keep her nonprofit from going under. She is the founder of CDH International, a charity that works with young patients born with a rare diaphragm and lung defect.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought her work to a near standstill.
"It is going to be a very long recovery for our community and our charity, if we can recover from this," she says.
Ireland, who is a COVID-19 survivor, has turned to online fundraising to keep her charity alive.
"We're 25 years old and if we go under, there is no one who's gonna do what we do," she says. She knows many young patients around the world are counting on her.
The Federal Reserve recently announced its "Main Street Lending Program" will now be available for nonprofit organizations that have been established for five years or longer.
