Over a dozen Oakland nonprofits are slated to lose their city contracts at the end of the month. At least one says it still hasn’t been paid for work it’s already done. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Organizers at over a dozen Oakland nonprofits are reeling as they face the impending loss of city funding, raising concerns that the cuts will hurt their ability to continue serving Oakland residents.
With the deadline fast approaching, several of the organizations on the list are also worried that they still haven’t received the money the city owes them.
Oakland, which must close a $130 million budget shortfall, announced in January that it will be terminating contracts with 13 community organizations at the end of this month. That amounts to $2.6 million in slashed funding for nonprofits that provide the city with important social services such as free meals for seniors and violence prevention programs.
Sponsored
“We are going to find a way to keep showing up for them every day,” said Kim Olson, director of advocacy at the nonprofit SOS Meals on Wheels. “But in the long run, it means we’re really living in a state of uncertainty and having to decide how do we keep our programs going, how do we make sure that we can continue to serve at the same level we have.”
SOS Meals on Wheels provides free meals and wellness checks to over 1,000 senior citizens across Oakland and Alameda County each year. The organization is looking to expand its services, but those goals will be harder to reach with the termination of its two-year contract, Olson said, adding that the organization still hasn’t been paid the $150,000 it’s owed by the city for services rendered last year.
Donald Frazier, the founder of Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), speaks at a press conference held at the trauma recovery center in Oakland on Wednesday, Oct. 16. 2024. (Gilare Zada/KQED)
According to an email sent to Oakland officials by City Administrator Jestin Johnson on Jan. 28, the city will pay nonprofits for the work they’ve done up to the point of termination, but no other work is authorized.
“We recognize these reductions will be difficult for their recipients and for the community members benefitting from the services they help fund,” Johnson said in the email. “Unfortunately, we do anticipate additional reductions remain necessary, including additional grant terminations and impacts on city contracts.”
Johnson sent termination notices to 13 nonprofits, including Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Trybe Inc., Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, Centro Legal de la Raza and several others.
Despite his reassurances that the organizations will still be paid for existing work, Olson said there’s been minimal communication.
Councilmember Janani Ramachandran, chair of the city’s finance committee, criticized the decision to end the contracts as one that was made unilaterally by Johnson. The council, however, gave him the authority to take such budget-cutting measures when it approved the city’s current budget and contingency plan in July; Ramachandran voted against the spending plan.
While city officials have been looking for ways to mitigate the deficit, Ramachandran said there have been no discussions about ending contracts early. She called it a decision that should not have been made without the input of other city officials.
“I have been trying to demand answers but have not gotten any information, and it’s very frustrating,” Ramachandran said. “I’m not saying that the city of Oakland has unlimited money to continue funding every program that is important to our community, but ones that we’ve already promised and committed to doing, we should not have terminated.”
De’Morea Evans, an organizer with Trybe Inc., said at a Tuesday gathering of nonprofit leaders at the Fruitvale Transit Village that the funding nonprofits receive from the city goes directly to the people. After the termination of its contract, the nonprofit — which is dedicated to supporting families and young people through community events, mentorship programs and violence prevention initiatives — will see its budget slashed by $210,000.
Monique Berlanga, Executive Director for Centro Legal de La Raza, speaks during a press conference with leaders from community groups throughout Alameda County in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland on Jan. 22, 2025. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
Community members are the ones who will feel the brunt of the loss if nonprofits are unable to fully function, Evans said. He urged city officials to consider how ending the contracts will affect Oakland, noting that many of the services that nonprofits provide are sorely needed by the city.
According to Rick Cohen, a spokesperson for the National Council of Nonprofits, the work that nonprofits do in their communities is more critical than ever despite both public and private funding streams continuing to dry up. Without them, government officials will need to find alternative ways to provide services that city community residents need, Cohen said.
“The reality is the return on investment that governments get from working with nonprofits is so much more than the savings that you get from turning off certain programs,” he said.
“Help us to be able to help them,” Evans said at Tuesday’s event. “We all stand for the same purpose — to help our community be better and to provide hope to people that are hopeless and opportunity to people who feel as if they don’t have a choice. I ask you, Oakland, do what’s right by your people so we can continue to do what’s right in our communities.”
