It has been a head spinning
week at the national level and here
at home.
Wisconsin smacked with a potential
loss of more than $28 billion
in federal grants and loans
following a Trump administration
pause on trillions of US
funding.
A federal judge temporarily blocked
the freeze, and quickly thereafter,
the administration rescinded most
of it. But for grant and loan
recipients, everything from Meals on
Wheels to Headstart to farm and
housing programs, the chaotic
week has left uncertainty and
anxiety in its wake.
The women's community in Wausau
reports that federal grant dollars
make up about 20%
of that agency's total budget.
Executive Director Jane Graham
Jennings joins us for a firsthand
look at what those grants deliver.
And thanks very much for being here.
Thank you.
So at this hour, is it still
confusing about what's happening
with the federal grants freeze?
It is confusing.
So our federal funds come through
state organizations so
the state filters those funds and.
And when the initial
freeze came out, even
our state administrators weren't
sure of what was happening.
So then when it was rescinded,
we still don't know and we haven't
heard from our state administrators
whether there is an actual freeze
or or not.
So basically, we're just continuing
with business as usual
because, you know, that's just kind
of where we are. But it we're still
very unclear about
what that means for our future.
Does your agency have access
to those funds?
We do it on a reimbursement.
So that's the way the grants
operate.
So we have to send in the reports
to the state administrators and then
they reimburse.
So we do that every month.
So we don't have direct access until
after we have put our reports
in.
Okay. And so you say that is
about 20% of your total budget.
What amount is that?
I'm so we did some calculations
and the percentage would
be about $26,000 a
month for our agency.
What are the services that
your agency provides and what
would happen to those services
without that money?
The most
what we feel the most devastating
impact. One of the grants that we
provide is called Domestic Violence
Housing First, and it's
a pilot project that gives us the
ability to actually pay rent
for survivors of abuse
who are able to get out of
an unsafe environment and
maintain a safe environment because
we can pay their rent for up to a
year.
So we actually have someone in that
program right now that we
have promised a year of her rent
that we're not sure we can now
follow through with.
We have several other people that we
are assisting with rent for three
and six months, and we're not
sure we can follow through with
those promises.
So that's the most difficult part
because they are relying
on that to be able to maintain
a safe home.
So they are back in a situation
that they have to choose between
homelessness or returning
to a violent home.
So that is the the the particular
funds we're most concerned about.
And then for our staffing,
it would mean we would have to end
our abuse in later life programs.
So we have advocates that work
specifically with victims 60 and
older.
And those funds would mean we
wouldn't be able to support those
advocates in our sexual
assault program.
We have two advocates that are
funded by federal dollars that we
would have to cut our sexual assault
services in half.
And then in our shelter program, we
would have to reconfigure how we
do that because it would
eliminate funding for a number
of our weekend and after hours
advocates.
So we'd have to figure out how we
could maintain our shelter services.
Big, big impacts
there for you locally.
The aim of the freeze was to ferret
out wasteful spending.
What would you say to people who
might think your agency or others
shouldn't get this.
That we shouldn't get the funding?
Yeah.
I always say if you want to
know how to really pay attention
to your dollars, go talk to a
nonprofit agency.
Nonprofits.
You know, we're kind of given
a business plan that no actual
business would ever think to
utilize.
We are given the idea that you have
to do all of these things with
nothing.
And so we know how to squeeze
to the last penny to be as efficient
and use every dollar in the most
responsible way.
So I would say when you're
getting federal funds to a nonprofit
organization, that's not wasteful
spending.
People are on the ground
helping other humans
in a way that they utilize
every cent because we have to report
several reports on every penny
that we spend.
So we have to turn in all of our
reimbursement forms.
We have to prove that we are
using the funds as we said we would,
and we have to back all of that up
with documentation.
So it is certainly not wasteful
spending.
It is being used to help
people train.
Graham Jennings.
Thanks very much and thanks for the
work you do.
Thank you.
I thought that last part was really
important, right, for folks
to understand that,
as I can well imagine,
because we are the recipient of
some, you know, grants
or gifts.
And yes, it has to be documented,
really scrupulous.
How do you say that word? Scrupulously
scrupulously.
Thank you. I'm glad I didn't do that
on the air.
All right. But yeah, so thank you.
I think people don't understand
that. I mean, I it sounds
kind of flippant, but it truly is
fact. No business would ever set
up a business plan the way they
expect nonprofits to operate.
So.
Yeah.
Good. Well, thank you so much.
And I'm sure we'll be checking back
in with you.
Okay.
Thank you.
Okay. Good luck.
Thanks.