Nonprofit organizations, whether private, public, charitable, community or some combination of the above, are feeling the pinch of these difficult economic times.  Just look at your mail.  Everyone is appealing for money for worthwhile causes in an effort to keep programs running—programs that provide needed services to the disabled, youth, families, elders and animals.

The Martin Luther King Community Center, better known to all as MLK, under the able leadership of Executive Director, Dora Robinson, is facing the same funding challenges as other community agencies.  However, Dora’s response, when asked several months ago how MLK was faring under the deep budget cuts of the state, was intriguing.  She said, “We’re doing okay.  We took a big hit last year and had to regroup.  So we went back to our mission and we were able to withstand this year’s cuts.” 

What exactly did MLK do to deal with a budget cut of approximately 1/2 million dollars in fiscal year 2002?  What exactly was the mission that enabled them to regroup and rebound from state cuts of such a magnitude so quickly, especially at a time when they had just bought a new building, were completing renovations and setting up the Stebbins Computer Learning Center, and making various other building improvements and renovations to both their main building and their new building? 

What MLK did is a lesson we should all pay attention to in our own personal lives, in the organizations we lead and the organizations we serve on as volunteers.  First, they went back to basics with the budget.  At the organization’s inception twelve years ago, they used zero-based budgeting.  The budget was built literally from  nothing ($35,000 the first year to almost $2,000,000 this year) so they had to be very conservative.  “They didn’t have anything, so they couldn’t spend what they didn’t have,” stated Dora.

Second, they took a hard look at their management structure and the programs they offered.  They made a decision to go back to utilizing more of their resources for direct services by combining and consolidating supervisory functions, where appropriate. 

Third, they moved back to the volunteer-driven base of the organization.  “The very heart and soul of this organization has been the sense of volunteerism, whether from the church or the community,” said Dora.  Somewhere along the line, because there was money, the funded programs started replacing the volunteer-driven programs.  So for Dora and the MLK Board of Directors, “The key for this year has been to figure out the delicate balance between paid staff-driven programming and volunteer-driven programming.”

Fourth, going back to basics for MLK also encompassed going back to its basic values and re-emphasizing its holistic approach of dealing with children through recapturing and modeling good human values around hope, the future and wellness.  Dora has declared that for staff and children alike, “old-fashioned and old-school are in!”

Lessons learned and applied at MLK are that support comes in many ways.  “During the good times, of course it’s nice to have money, but during the bad times you need people and there is nothing that replaces people who are just interested in doing service,” observed Dora.  She is also grateful for her very active board of directors who take their fiduciary responsibility to MLK seriously. 

Finally, in addition to the old basic principles and values that are being reintroduced at MLK, Dora has also introduced the “3 i’s of (1) organizational integrity, (2) program service integrity, and (3) professional integrity.” She realizes that if you have integrity, it serves you well in good times and in bad times. And if you are known for your integrity, when the bad times end and good times come again, the organization will still be there and so will the funders. And so will you, Dora.

 Community Chatter

Rumor & Innuendo Are Wrong

by Frederick A. Hurst

Black Springfield is abuzz with rumors about high-profile Black people who have recently become associated with federal inquiries, including Carol Aranjo, Cornell Lewis and Frank Ware, all of whom have been publicly identified in news stories.   

CAROL ARANJO

Federal regulators, who have taken over the D. Edward Wells Federal Credit Union, have made several substantial and very public allegations of mismanagement and potential fraud against the former management of the credit union.  Carol Aranjo, the credit union’s former executive director, has countered with claims of bias, unfair treatment and suggestions of evidence manipulation against federal regulators.  Both sides have had an initial opportunity to air their positions before the fair and firm Judge Michael Ponsor in Springfield Federal District Court, where the credit union’s former management brought a lawsuit for injunctive relief, first to prevent the takeover, and then to reverse it. 

Judge Ponsor’s comments at the hearing suggest that Aranjo and former Wells’ management have a high legal barrier to overcome.  They will probably have to show that irreversible harm will befall them if the takeover is not reversed and a likelihood that they will win if the case goes to trial.  All of this must be accomplished in the dubious context of asking a Federal District Court Judge to permanently overturn the rulings of a Federal Regulatory Agency, rulings that are presumably based upon the Agency’s factual findings of regulatory violations. 

The most immediate of these alleged violations is the regulators’ finding that the credit union refused to open its records for examination, something that is required of all federal credit unions and banks.  Whether or not this allegation is true, and if true, how long the refusal lasted, and whether or not the takeover is the appropriate penalty for refusal are questions for the court to decide.  To its credit, before the takeover, Wells’ management filed the federal lawsuit that will decide those questions. The takeover took place after the lawsuit was filed and before it could be decided, raising the question of whether or not the takeover was an act of federal retaliation.

After taking over the credit union, the regulators found several irregularities that they claim also might justify its takeover.  Carol Aranjo suggested in a Union News article that these after-the-fact findings might be federal fabrications designed to support an unfair takeover.  But they are powerful allegations involving one million dollar overdrafts of checking accounts, including $70,000.00 attributed to Carol Aranjo, a 1.5 million dollar unrecorded loan to Friends of the Credit Union and administrative recording errors involving individual accounts.  Judge Ponsor will eventually separate fact from fiction.

CORNELL LEWIS

Cornell Lewis was indicted by a federal grand jury for one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and two counts of theft from an organization receiving federal funds.  Lewis’ indictment stemmed from his actions as treasurer of the board of the Greater Springfield Enterprise Fund.  The difference between the smaller amount of money related to his indictment and the much larger amount of money involved in the indictments of his White co-conspirators suggests that Lewis may have been only marginally involved and gives credence to the rumor that he was used by others and did not knowingly misuse funds or participate in a conspiracy to do so.  He has a reputation for honesty and it would surprise few who know him if he were ultimately acquitted.

FRANK WARE

Black developer Frank Ware has received public attention for his private development and nonprofit involvement with the Springfield Housing Authority, whose director and others are under federal investigation for potentially criminal acts.  Contrary to rumors that he is somehow connected to the criminal investigation of the Springfield Housing Authority management, no evidence has surfaced for that conclusion and there is no current justification for it.  One conclusion to draw about Frank Ware is that he is one of the hardest working guys you will ever meet, as evidenced by his clever and effective incursion into the nonprofit arena, while never missing a step in his private development work.  That may explain envy and jealousy toward him but it does not justify assassination of his character.  We should remember that this is America where a person is free to disagree with and use the courts to sue their own government without fear of reprisal.  It is a country where a person is innocent until proven guilty and where a person has an equal right to compete for income and wealth.  It is also a country where fundamental fairness is weaved into the core of our culture through our constitution and institutions and where properly proven facts govern. 

Accordingly, we should let the court decide if the credit union should be restored to its original management and whether Cornell Lewis is innocent or guilty and leave Frank Ware and others who have not been accused of any illegality alone to live their lives free of vicious rumor and innuendo that stain reputations without regard for due process.