TULSA, Okla. — Of the 20,000 nonprofits registered in Oklahoma, the YWCA in east Tulsa serves newcomers to the United States.
These individuals are getting help with housing and getting jobs to build a safe life.
Carlie Sturgeon is the YWCA Senior Director of Immigrant and Refugee Services. She oversees helping refugees and immigrants of all ages. She’s been in this role for almost seven years.
Sturgeon said she’s experiencing unprecedented times. Due to the new federal funding cuts by the Trump Administration, in March, the YWCA sent an urgent letter to the community.
It explained that they will face “a loss of $6.5 million in the next six months”.
The YWCA said the “cut is not just a financial challenge; it is a human one.”
Marnie Taylor, President and CEO of the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits, said, “This is not the way we treat people in America, and this is not the way we treat people in Oklahoma.”
“Many of the nonprofits I talked to were having such delayed payments they couldn't pay their bills,” Taylor said. “They owe those bills to other people in Oklahoma. So, there's a trickle effect of how it even affects the for-profit sector.”
She said the amount of money that comes from donors only makes up half of what comes from government contracts. Taylor explained that the safety net to help our most vulnerable and nonprofit employees in the state is gone.
“If nonprofit employees lose their jobs, what's going to happen?," Taylor said. "They're going to be seeking services as someone who was making a nice salary working in a nonprofit, may suddenly be at a food bank looking for food for their family.”
Taylor encourages Oklahomans to reach out to state and federal legislators to let them know the importance of this issue.
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