Local Ithaca nonprofit facing financial emergency due to COVID-19

Women's Opportunity Center in Ithaca, NY | Photo by Madison Moore

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravish our country, many businesses and organizations are still trying to figure out how to stay afloat and make ends meet, as grants and state aid continue to be defaulted on.

This grave reality is no different for the Women’s Opportunity Center, a nonprofit organization that supports social and economic self-sufficiency for women and men in the Tompkins County and Onondaga County communities. The WOC provides employment skills training, individualized coaching and a host of other workshops to help clients gain skills that are needed to enter or reenter the workforce.

I have had the privilege and honor to work with this amazing organization for the last three years, volunteering with its Mary Durham Boutique in Ithaca, NY my first year, and serving as its Social Media Coordinator for the past two years. I can personally attest to the astounding services this organization provides to our local community in getting women and men back on their feet and into a place of employment. The WOC has served over 18,000 women and men since 1979.

WOC Mary Durham Boutique in Ithaca, NY | Photo by Madison Moore

The WOC relies heavily on the Displaced Homemaker Program that awards them an annual grant funded through the New York State Department of Labor. According to a recent article by the Ithaca Voice, this grant accounts for 40 percent of the center’s income, a grant that the DOL has defaulted on since March.

The WOC stated in a press release this week that they had to lay off almost all of its employees due to this financial emergency. Nonprofit organizations around the world are feeling the financial impact of COVID-19 as well.

According to the Nonprofit Quarterly Magazine, a recent survey of Arizona’s nonprofits shows that 25 percent have had to lay off or furlough employees and fundraising and program cancellations due to COVID-19 have cost Arizona nonprofits an estimated $53 million in lost revenue.

A recent Washington Post article projected that smaller nonprofits, such as the WOC, would be the most vulnerable during this pandemic as these services are not currently seen as essential.

While the WOC is trying to make up for lost revenue by applying to grants and relief funds, they are calling on their local community for support and accepting donations online or by mail to 315 N. Tioga St. Ithaca, NY.