A gift for the givers

Ocala Mayor Kent Guinn, left, and Ocala City Manager Sandra Wilson, center, give money to Erica Martinez of the non-profit, Generation Path For Success, right, as non-profits receive ARPA funding from the City of Ocala through the Community Foundation For Ocala/Marion County at Citizens’ Circle in Ocala, Fla. on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. Thirty-five local non-profit organizations received money through the program on Friday. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

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Posted January 15, 2022 | By Matthew Cretul

Representatives from over 30 Ocala-based nonprofit organizations were on hand at Citizen’s Circle in downtown Ocala Friday morning as the City of Ocala and the Community Foundation of Ocala/Marion County awarded over $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) relief funds.

As representatives from the nonprofits looked on, Ocala Mayor Kent Guinn, City Manager Sandra Wilson, and Community Foundation Executive Director Lauren Delorio offered their thanks to the groups for their service to the citizens of Ocala before handing out checks to each of the organizations.

“I appreciate [the City Council] in thinking about the nonprofits in our community, and carving out some of the American Rescue Plan funds to support them,” Wilson said during her remarks.

Delorio applauded the council’s foresight in allocating the funds for nonprofits.

“They [the Ocala City Council] made the decision early on knowing that their city nonprofits were going to be struggling, that they wanted to put some money aside for those that are still trying to ride out the wave of the pandemic,” she said.

“So today is the fruits of labor for the committee that scrutinized [the applications]. It was three long days of all-day mee

tings deciding how they were going to award [the funds],” Delorio said.

Guinn highlighted the giving and caring nature of Ocalans when others are in need.

“I mean, we always talk about, you know, how compassionate we are.  You know, whenever there’s a need, we always come out and, you know, take care of those that are in need,” Guinn said after the event.

A recent report issued by the Community Foundation of Ocala/Marion County highlighted the struggles local nonprofits faced as they navigated the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The report, titled A Year-End Assessment of COVID & the Nonprofit Sector in Marion County, Florida, details how the 1,300+ nonprofits in Marion County fared during 2021.

According to the report, “Regional nonprofits lost $9.6M in revenue, while at the same time needed over $13.2M to help cover payroll, operating expenses, mortgage/rent, infrastructure, and expanded services.”

The report also states that “Not only did local nonprofits see a reduction in their revenue, but of those surveyed for the report, 60% experienced an increase in demand for services due to the pandemic’s impact on the local community while over 50% lost monthly or quarterly recurring donations in 2021.”

As such, the survey concluded that “The Ocala/Marion County nonprofit sector was negatively impacted in 2021 by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

Ann Burnett, the executive director of FreeD.O.M. Clinic USA, which offers free dental, optical, and medical care to local residents who have little to no insurance, said they definitely felt the effects of COVID.

She says the uncertainty around COVID, especially for organizations operating in the healthcare space, was tough to navigate.

“As long as you have human contact, the risk of exposure is high. Clearly, in the medical field, it’s even higher because of the face-to-face encounter, especially with dentistry in their mouths.”

Burnett went on to say that like many other nonprofits, they were forced to halt some programs because of the unknowns associated with the virus.

“We stopped services, dental services from I want to say January or February through August [of 2020] because nobody knew what to do about the mouth. And so, we followed the guidelines of the American Dental Association and local dentists who also closed their offices too., But medical [services] continued [during that timeframe], and eye care resumed after three months of closing,” she said.

Once they were able to restart services, Burnett says the need for their services had grown exponentially.

“We were inundated,” she said. “And we still had to navigate the entire COVID scenario, because we still weren’t sure how to keep ourselves safe or volunteers safe as well as the patients. But we figured it out. It’s a process.”

Delorio said the Community Foundation took applications for the ARPA funding, which brought over $2 million in requests for the $558,000 they were allotted.

While it was a difficult process, she says at the end of the day they made tough but correct choices.

“I think the committee made the right decisions. They looked at all the applications they saw the need. And said ‘let’s figure out how we can make sure everybody in need gets something so they can keep thriving or moving forward’”, she said.

Guinn praised the Community Foundation and said the difficult choices in awarding funds for community organizations were previously made by the city council directly.

So when the Community Foundation came along, we said ‘here, here’s, here’s money, you figure it out.’ So, [a] huge burden off of council like City Manager Wilson said, off their plate to figure out where the money goes and what’s the appropriate amount. So, we’re thankful for, for the [Community] foundation,” Guinn said after the event.

Ercia Martinez is the founder and director of Generation Path for Success, a local nonprofit offering educational and fitness programs in Ocala.  She says her organization has a range of programs designed for toddlers to adults, and they will soon be adding ones aimed at seniors.

While the Community Foundation’s report noted that nearly half of the nonprofits surveyed were forced to decrease or close at least one program or service in 2021, Path for Success was one of the few nonprofits that expanded their program offerings, and Martinez says the added APRA funds are a definite boost.

“This, this has been amazing,” Martinez said.  “During the pandemic, we started the literacy picnic…and it was a hit. So to find out that they’re giving dollars to assist the nonprofits is amazing because we’re going to be able to produce even more than what we did before this was given.”

She said the funds will help them expand to a larger section of the city and reach as many people as they can.

Burnett agreed, saying the money comes at a crucial time as the added need for their services hasn’t slowed down.

“Free services are always in demand because individuals tend not to have insurance for especially dental and eye care,” she said. “But we have great community partners and lots of volunteers. However, the ARPA funding is making a significant difference as well, because demand has certainly increased.”

Burnett says the funds will go to help with staffing needs so they can continue to offer service to as many people as possible.

“We’re a volunteer-based organization. But in certain cases, we have to hire someone even part-time just so that we have consistent help, and so this is really what that was needed for,” Burnett said.

While Delorio is excited the Community Foundation was able to help local organizations in fulfilling their missions, she said there is still quite a bit of work to be done to get over the COVID hump.

“The nonprofit sector in Marion County is going to have a long road ahead still,” she said.  I know there are many out there that will say ‘well, you know, our economy is thriving’. While yes, I agree in some areas, it is. For the nonprofit sector though, they’re going to have some issues moving forward. And the Community Foundation just needs to be ready to assist them, however we can.”

For her part, Martinez remains optimistic.

“I’m hoping to see everybody’s amazingness throughout the season to come.”