COVID-19, the collapse of oil prices, and an unstable stock market are taking a toll on non-profits in the Permian Basin.
Times are tough right now, said Hector Aguilar, executive director of the Permian Basin Mission Center and pastor of Jesus Connection Church. Protecting Mission workers during the pandemic has prompted changes in the way the center operates, Odessa American Online reported.
"We used to do a client-choice food pantry where our clients would actually come in and pick out their food when they needed it," Aguilar told Odessa American Online. "Since the epidemic, we’re doing curbside. We’re still helping our clients and our doors are still open. We’re just helping in a different way."
While the Permian Basin Mission Center is still receiving enough donations to get by, many non-profits are not.
The Permian Basin Area Foundation is a community foundation that awards scholarships and grants to local non-profits that specialize in education, civic affairs, health and social services, community development, and more according to its website.
Many area non-profits rely on fundraising events to continue their community outreach. With the pandemic and social distancing guidelines, those fundraisers have been canceled, Odessa American Online reported.
The Community Foundation is now accepting donations through its Emergency Relief Fund to help non-profits facing financial difficulties while "addressing the immediate needs of the COVID-19 crisis," according to Odessa American Online.
Guy McCrary, president and CEO of PBAF, said the community foundation is doing what it can to assist those non-profits experiencing "fundraising failures."
"We’re considering how we could step in and maybe help mitigate some of that lost revenue,” McCrary told Odessa American Online.
Laurie Johnson, executive director of the Nonprofit Management Center, said the loss of donor dollars from individual contributors, special events and grants is having a devastating impact on non-profits.
“We have the triple whammy right now," Johnson told Odessa American Online. "A lot of the expendable income that goes to nonprofits, whether it’s from an individual or from a foundation, they’re tied up in the oil and gas or stock market. It’s going to be a really tough time and I am concerned about nonprofits that only have three months of reserves.”
Many local non-profits lack sufficient reserves so the PBAF is assisting with basic and emergency needs for non-profits that offer food, shelter or health care during the pandemic, according to Odessa American Online.