Rooted & Rising hosted a “Dine and Dialogue” in November 2024 to shape the future of Washington Park as part of its neighborhood organizing and community engagement work. The organization has lost some federal funding. “I think the biggest challenge for us is just the uncertainty of the situation,” says Bill Schmitt, executive director. (NNS file photo by PrincessSafiya Byers)
By Meredith Melland
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
Some Milwaukee organizations are starting to feel the effects of federal funding cuts, the result of Trump administration efforts to shrink the federal government and make it more efficient.
Although many attempts to roll back funding face legal challenges, and the federal and state budgets are under review, neighborhood and advocacy-focused organizations in Milwaukee are making difficult decisions around staffing, program planning and fundraising as they wait for answers.
“I think the biggest challenge for us is just the uncertainty of the situation,” said Bill Schmitt, executive director of Rooted & Rising, a social service agency based in Washington Park.
Uncertainty impacts staffing
Uncertainty around funding led the Hmong American Women’s Association to cut its staff from 11 to four people.
Vina Xiong, education and outreach director at HAWA, said 63% of the organization’s budget relies on federal funds.
“We had to do this because a lot of the federal grants covered our staff pay, and without us really knowing if we’re going to be getting the funds, we couldn’t allow to keep anyone on our team without paying them fairly,” Xiong said.
HAWA receives funding to advocate for domestic abuse and sexual assault survivors through the Victims of Crime Act, or VOCA, and other grant programs administered by the state Department of Children and Families or End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin.
Building capacity
Schmitt said the first funding cut to directly impact Rooted & Rising is tied to Section 4, a capacity-building and community development grant program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Associated Press and Bloomberg CityLab reported that HUD terminated awards in February to at least two of three national organizations that distribute Section 4 grants to local community organizations, including Local Initiatives Support Corp., or LISC.
LISC Milwaukee distributed $225,000 in Section 4 grants to four local organizations with contracts ending between February and May, according to Theodore Lipscomb, executive director of LISC Milwaukee.
Lipscomb said the grants are foundational to LISC’s efforts to help other organizations become prepared to develop new work and pull in other investments, especially with affordable housing projects.
“It can include a portion of staffing,” Lipscomb said.
“It also can be about organizational capacity, like making sure that you have good, strong financial oversight and governance and that sort of thing to make sure that you’re successful long term.”
LISC plans to appeal the Section 4 cancellations.
Rooted & Rising used its $50,000 community development grant, ending in March, to support neighborhood engagement. Losing that funding would impact the work, Schmitt said, but it is not fully reliant on one grant.
“But if it’s a sign of things to come, it certainly becomes a much bigger problem for us,” Schmitt said.
Supporting projects and programming
VIA CDC, a community development corporation serving the neighborhoods of Silver City, Burnham Park and Layton Park, also received a $50,000 Section 4 grant from LISC Milwaukee that it used to pay staff salaries.
“My fingers are crossed that there will be a resolution that comes forward that allows us to apply for this funding or some version of it,” said JoAnna Bautch, executive director of VIA CDC.
Bautch said she doesn’t think the grant changes will cause VIA to make staffing changes, but it may have to reallocate some other funding.
VIA’s Section 4 contract ended at the end of February, but Bautch said LISC offered support to the organizations for 30 days after the grants were halted.
LISC Milwaukee had planned to distribute another award of $420,000 to extend contracts to four organizations and provide contracts to five additional organizations – all of which are currently suspended, according to Lipscomb.
“Then what that really means is that there’s a project somewhere that’s going to stall because someone’s not going to be working on it,” Lipscomb said.
Thinking about funding alternatives
At HAWA, Xiong said the organization has been able to submit reimbursements to cover pay and services so far this year, but that the organization’s leadership team is thinking about ways to pursue other funding.
“I think this current situation makes us really think about where else we need to look, in terms of more stable funding or funding that can also help support advocacy work that doesn’t rely on federal state funding so much,” Xiong said.
Bautch and Schmitt both said they are working to identify alternative sources of funding.
“I see our philanthropic funders wanting to step up to the plate,” Bautch said. “I had a brief conversation with folks at Zilber Family Foundation who give us a lot of support, and they are trying to strategize on how they can support us.”
How you can help
HAWA, Rooted & Rising and VIA recommend following their social media accounts and newsletters for updates, contacting your senators and representatives, or donating to their programs to show support for their work.
“For the most part, what we’re talking about here are really essential services for our community that are being provided by agencies like ours, that are mission-driven and meeting real needs for the community, and it’s really vital that those programs continue,” Schmitt said.
Are you being impacted by federal funding cuts? Please visit https://milwaukeenns.org/2025/03/18/are-you-being-impacted-by-federal-funding-cuts/