Moorhead shelter faces financial crisis, possibility of cutting services to unsheltered
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A Moorhead nonprofit that provides emergency and transitional housing is struggling with a financial crisis.
Churches United for the Homeless is one of the largest emergency shelters in the Fargo-Moorhead area, filling more than 100 rooms each night.
Devlyn Brooks, interim director, said the organization also provides food to about 7,000 people each month at the food pantry it operates in Moorhead.
Churches United also runs a transitional housing apartment complex and is currently constructing housing units for unsheltered senior citizens.
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Brooks said a combination of the end of federal pandemic funding and a double digit decline in donations led to a $2 million deficit.
Earlier this year, the Dorothy Day shelter for men in Moorhead closed because of budget constraints. Last year Churches United closed a women’s shelter after funding ran out.
“We started the year of 2022 with a reserve of about $500,000,” Brooks said. “By mid-year, a lot of that was gone. By the end of 2022 we were into deficit spending.”
On any given night in Fargo-Moorhead, there are about 1,000 unsheltered individuals. Brooks said Churches United has served more than 600 people so far this year, including more than 100 children.
“From our community standpoint, imagine Fargo-Moorhead if Churches United fails. That’s hundreds of people that will need to find shelter,” said Brooks. “That is thousands of people that won’t be receiving food through our food pantry.”
Brooks said since he first made a plea for help earlier this week, the community has donated enough money to allow the nonprofit to make payroll. But more money will need to be raised to again pay 50 staff members at the end of the month.
Brooks said operational costs for the organization are about $225,000 per month.
The organization is also awaiting a federal Employee Retention Tax Credit which Brooks said would bring about a one million dollar cash infusion. He said the organization was approved for the credit but has been waiting for the funds for several months.
Brooks said the need for services is increasing as federal funding dried up and donations declined, leaving the nonprofit with an untenable choice.
“I think to a certain degree, after 40 years of being in the community and successfully doing what we’ve done, people just took us for granted,” he said. “And our message is, please don’t take us for granted.”