Black nonprofits and service organizations find creative ways to survive Covid-19

By Rhonda Crowder

Even in the best of times, black nonprofit and service organizations face a unique set of challenges from secure funding to attracting new members. Add Covid-19 to the mix and the work becomes more daunting. 

We looked at three such area organizations — the United Black Fund, The Pan-Hellenic Council of Greater Cleveland and The National Council of Negro Women-Cuyahoga Section — to gain a sense of how such organizations, which play a vital community role, are coping in this pandemic.

United Black Fund

“Since March, we’ve been trying to remain fluid,” said Cecil Lipscomb, executive director of United Black Fund (UBF). Lipscomb said they are taking a conservative approach to how they manage and operate. Almost immediately, they took to working remotely and embracing a virtual meeting regimen. 

“At each turn, each day could be devastating news or great news. At the end of each day, things can change,” he said.

United Black Fund, the only Black federated human service organization in the state of Ohio, assists over 80 organizations annually and has distributed more than $12 million in grants. 

Cecil Lipscomb,
UBF executive director

According to Lipscomb, many of the organizations UBF serves were quiescent in the pandemic’s early days. They paused, he said, trying to figure it all out. But as conditions became more critical, it wasn’t long before UBF started getting urgent requests for support. Food shortages, children with depression and schools in need of technology were some of the most pressing issues. 

“UBF responded by providing means but by no way could we cover all the requests internally,” he said. “We were able to help through direct funds or partnerships with larger agencies.” 

For example, The Khnemu Foundation needed personal protection equipment to provide to it Glenville community. UBF helped them secure N95 masks from United Way and the Verizon Foundation. 

UBF also continued to work with the African American Association of Cultural Garden, providing direct consultation. 

“People are going to need outdoor spaces of healing. This can be a place we can gather,” said Lipscomb.

Additionally, UBF hosted a training in partnership with the Cleveland Leadership Center to train over 400 executives in Puerto Rico regarding fund development. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, the original plan had been to travel to Puerto Rico. However, the presenters were forced to pivot, converting the training materials to Spanish, using interpreters and FEMA representatives to deliver the service, and providing the training online.

And, in partnership with Mad Works, UBF supported the expansion of both enrollment and curriculum to enrich a summer program they previously sponsored in Richmond Heights Local Schools, teaching coding and graphic design over the summer to 75 children.

In addition to accelerating its responses to grantees, UBF has also begun to reconsider some of its strategic imperatives. The pandemic disruption and the social unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd this summer by police in Minneapolis created a sense of urgency for UBF to build its capacity. Lipscomb acknowledged UBF had not been sufficiently aggressive in the past in terms of providing financial support, in response time, and in scaling the organization.

“Our reach could be more,” he said. “We started thinking about how we can do more, to run to the fire as opposed to away from it.”

UBF has begun hosting a series of workshops via Zoom, titled Summit Ujima, to encourage non-profit leaders to think about how to catalyze collective work and responsibility.   

They recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Black Economic and Wellness Coalition, to better align for a concerted effort and organize in response to problems. 

“We want to identify solutions and be proactive,” said Lipscomb. “We want to do things like invest and support in unique ways, being more intentional.”

They also worked with the Cleveland Black Equity and Humanity Fund [CBEHF], a donor-advised fund housed at the Cleveland Foundation.

CBEHF is the direct outgrowth of the Soul of Philanthropy – CLE, a year-long local citizen-initiated effort that worked to illuminate and expand the history, definition, and role of philanthropy in the black community. The members of the Soul Of Philanthropy – CLE’s executive committee continue to serve as the leadership of now CBEHF.  

“We wanted to continue to uplift black philanthropy and create a fund that would attract resources to deal with issues of inequity and create advancement and growth in the black community,” said Lipscomb. “Economics is going to be extremely important going forward.”

Surprisingly, Lipscomb continued, UBF saw an increase in funding, in particular from non-traditional, community folk such as Tim and Latrice Tramble as well as Michelle S. Felder and members of the Black Women Work CLE Facebook Group. 

UBF’s staff does much of its work remotely these days. Lipscomb said his days have started earlier and end later than before. UBF staff members have grown closer, as some have lost family members to Covid-19. The staff is reading together, as well. Begin Again, by Dr. Eddie Glaude, is their current text. 

Lipscomb shared with The Real Deal Press that this year’s annual UBF meeting, to be held next month, will have some unique aspects, inspired in part by the societal changes induced by the pandemic.  “It will be dynamic, with lots of design”, he said.

National Pan-Hellenic Council of Greater Cleveland

The National Pan-Hellenic Council is a collaborative umbrella organization comprising nine historically Black Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities.

The organizations — Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Delta Sigma Theta, Phi Beta Sigma, Zeta Phi Beta, Sigma Gamma Rho, and Iota Phi Theta — are oftentimes collectively referred to as the "Divine Nine”.

The twelve local member chapters of these organizations each has their own community initiatives  in addition to working together.

L-R) Essence Bates (FinancialSecretary), Vikki Pruitte-Sorrells (1st Vice-president), Mark Sorrells (President),
Brian Webster (2nd Vice-president), and  Ashley Thomas (Correspondence Secretary)

Kappa Alpha Psi member Mark R. Sorrells became president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Greater Cleveland in January after serving the four previous years as 2nd Vice President. He said the “Cleveland Pan-Hell” and the local Divine Nine organizations are adapting to the climate.

“There have been a lot of changes,” said Sorrells. “We [Cleveland Pan-Hell] knew right away that at least our meetings would be different.”

Sorrells said The Cleveland Pan-Hell immediately started to meet via Zoom. “We thought it was going to be short. We were in denial. We still planned to do our social events,” he said.

They had scheduled a bowling party and a reunion picnic for the Spring, both of which had to be cancelled. However, the pandemic has not impacted their bottom line. 

“It didn’t hurt us financially,” he said. “We’re not shelling out money for expenses. Our expenses actually decreased.”

According to Sorrells, a lot of the Greek organizations hosted virtual regional conferences, including both Delta Sigma Theta and Alpha Kappa Alpha sororities. The AKA regional had been scheduled for Cleveland.  

“Covid made us rethink things,” said Sorrells, explaining how Cleveland Pan-Hell began to do more social action-oriented events. 

“We thought it was going to be short. We were in denial. We still planned to do our social events,” Sorrells said.

They held a virtual Day of Prayer, where all members of The Divine Nine were invited to  come together to pray about different things. They also held a Census 2020 event at Fatima Family Center and conducted Covid-19 testing.

“We’re still doing things,” Sorrells said. “We’re planning another Day of Prayer.”

Sorrells said that each of the Greek organizations had its own voting initiatives for this year'. “I don’t know what group didn’t have one.”

The Cleveland Pan-Hell usually hosts a Christmas Party at the Alpha Estates. This year, they’ll simply distribute meals and baskets. “We’re active, but active in a different way.”

They have an “adopted highway” program, supports the local HBCU College Fair, MLK Day speeches for youth as well. They’ve also hosted fun activities such as Black Jeopardy, something Sorrells is looking to revamp virtually.

Overall, The Pan-Hellenic Council of Greater Cleveland is still adjusting. It will soon be in fundraising mode, in anticipation of its 50th anniversary celebration in 2022. 

One of the biggest hurdles of the pandemic for Greek organizations, Sorrells said, is getting new members. “Covid presents a challenge to bringing in new members into Divine Nine organizations.”

Sorrells believes society’s current climate highlights the need for more collective action. “We need to come together and learn to put things in place to meet the needs of our community.”

National Council of Negro Women - Cuyahoga Section

The National Council of Negro Women is a non-profit organization founded in 1935 by the legendary Mary McCloud Bethune, with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African American women, their families, and communities. 

Kemberlee H. Jones became president of NCNW’s Cuyahoga Section almost three months ago, in the midst of the pandemic. She says six prior years of service as an officer of the organization made it a smooth transition. 

The NCNW Cuyahoga Section, which has about 100 members, is fifty-four years old. There is a Cleveland Section as well.

“It has been challenging yet creative,” said Jones of the work during this pandemic. Her Section started meeting on Zoom. The way they delivered services has changed as well.

Every Friday for the last thirty years, they fed the men at the City Mission. Unable to continue doing that under Covid-19, they mailed a check to the Food Bank. They also donated items to Laura’s Home, Frontline Services, and Bessie’s Place — all organizations they supported prior to the onset of the pandemic. 

Every June for the last twenty years, the chapter has held a resource/health fair at the Zelma George Recreation Center at Luke Easter Park on the city’s southeast side.

“I don’t think it will look the same, but we still want to do something,” said Jones. 

Since the onset of the pandemic, they have hosted a town hall to encourage Census2020 participation on Facebook. 

“Our work is still going on, just in a virtual environment,” said Jones. “The work can’t stop. Our members are adjusting. We’ve done quite a bit. I'm very proud.”

Citing the increase in reported child abuse and domestic violence is up, one thing another this she wanted to do was revitalize the chapter’s child abuse and domestic violence committee. 

“That’s an area we need to be strong in,” said Jones. 

Jones  said her Section has a good relationship with other local sections and affiliates such as the Greek organizations, in terms of staying engaged and providing support.

She wants people to know their mission is to lead, advocate for, and empower African American women, their families and communities through research, advocacy and national and community based services and programs on issues of health, education and economics empowerment in the United States and in Africa. They are welcoming new members.

“I think all professional women should be a member of National Council of Negro Women,” she said.  

• • •• • •

Civics, Political Theater, Music all on tap this evening

With the sun out and a wintry blast on the way this weekend, Clevelanders should probably make a point of getting out this Hump Day. And there is no shortage of choices, whether you want to wear either your civic hat or your favorite foot tappers.

Rev. Dr. Stephen Rowan,
pastor of Bethany Baptist Church and
chairman of the Cleveland Foundation,
is UBF keynote speaker.

For starters, there are the annual meetings of the United Black Fund and the Phillis Wheatley Association we wrote about here. 

Then today we received word of an important discussion taking place tonight from 6-8PM at John Adams HS, where Cleveland councilman Zack Reed is hosting a follow up session on the search for solutions for violence. Speakers include Cleveland Chief of Police Calvin Williams, Deputy Chief Deon McCauley and county sheriff Clifford Pinkney. Students from Adams and Warrensville Hts. HS will also participate.

Reed continues to be looked at askance for his past troubles and his thirst for publicity, but few of his peers work as hard to engage constituents and city residents in the civic space. Reed appreciates that chronic violence is a public health issue. We are glad that he keeps beating that drum.

-->

Finally, if you care for unpredictable theater, you might want to attend the regularly scheduled meeting of the East Cleveland City Council, starting at 6:30pm. In the wake of yesterday’s vote recalling both Mayor Gary Norton and Council President Thomas Wheeler, who knows who will show or what will happen. It seems to us they are both entitled to stay in place until the Board of Elections certifies the results later this month, but some folks are sure to want them to have vacated the premises by last midnight. East Cleveland City Hall, 14340 Euclid Ave.

After all that civic engagement, treat yourself to cool music and hot beverages at Coffee Phix, 4485 Mayfield Road, where you can enjoy the reggae vibes of Carlos Jones. You might be used to him as a member of I-Tal and First Light, or as the leader of Carlos Jones & the P.L.U.S Band, but tonight he will be doing his solo acoustic thing.

Coffee Phix is a place you should know about. Stop in and let owner Jackie Larkins know you heard about her spot from The Real Deal! Jones plays from 7:30p-9p. Coffee Phix is at 4485 Mayfield, just east of Green. Free parking in the rear.

Looking Back, Forward & Around

Our astute regular readers, whom we appreciate beyond our capacity to state, are likely aware that we like to keep our eyes on leadership in Northeast Ohio’s black community, and that from time to time we experiment with formats to help us do a better job of reporting.

Today’s post is one of those experiments, a first in what we excitedly expect to be a major transformation of how we deliver news and opinion. We’ll have more to say about that as we move into the New Year. But for today, we are offering a quick look at some of what happened around here last week, and a head’s up for what’s on tap this week.

Looking back

We noted in a prior post the Cleveland NAACP’s town hall meeting that was to offer an innovative feature. As we understood it, a clinical psychologist was to address the important topic of the psychological impact the election of Donald Trump as our 45^th president might be having on our community. Properly used, psychology is a most valuable lens for understanding human behavior at both individual and group levels. Its importance is too little understood in society, especially by those Americans who just want “the facts” and dismiss any analysis of the “mumbo jumbo” that actually holds the keys to understanding why people do the things they do. Those who don’t pay attention to psychology on both the micro and macro levels have no chance to understand either the President-elect or the people who voted for him or against Hillary Clinton.

So, as Fareed Zakaria would say, that’s our take, now let’s get started.

I showed up late for the NAACP town hall event after attending a recruitment reception downtown for the National Urban Fellows program. NUF is a wonderful under the radar program that supports and equips public service professionals. The program is geared to people more or less between 5-12 years into their careers who believe that government or civic service is their passion and who are ready to commit to an intense 15 month experience that will place them with a top-rank organizational internship while they earn a master’s degree in public administration from Baruch College at City University of New York. Cleveland is a favorite NUF site, given the committed institutional support from The Cleveland Foundation, the Neighborhood Leadership Institute among other organizations, and a strong alumni network of champions, including such folk such as Natoya Walker Minor and Darnell Brown of the Jackson administration, and Sylvia Perez, who will be moving from the Cleveland Foundation to a top position at United Way early next year. If you or someone you know might be a candidate for this program, you or they should immediately reach out to Miguel Garcia, NUF’s president and CEO to explore joining NUF’s 2018 class, which will convene next summer.

NAACP town hall

When I left the NUF reception I headed over to St. James AME Church to see what I hoped might be a positive discussion on healthy community responses in the wake of the election. Board president Michael Nelson had invited clinical psychologist Natalie M. Whitlow to speak to address questions and concerns about community mental health in the wake of Trump’s victory. This was a useful idea since the Trump campaign has heightened insecurities in many communities, especially communities of color and other groups less generally favored by mainstream America. When black people, for instance, weren’t being ignored or targeted we were being ridiculed or used as props in the Trump campaign.

As I entered the hall in the basement of St. James, several things struck me at once. The attendance was much higher than for any NAACP gathering I had attended in years.  Perhaps 200 people were there, including a number of whites. I thought of this as a positive. Civil rights is not the responsibility only of black and brown people.

The overriding sensation I picked up on when entering the room was one of tension. One of the challenges of public meetings is their tendency to become platforms for the expression of raw emotions. Open wounds are on display, and it can be hard even for skilled facilitators to maintain order. This is especially true in the black community.

It’s a difficult thing for many outsiders to appreciate how devastating America’s racial caste system has been on millions of human beings. The United States has never honestly embraced its fundamentally unfair treatment of its black citizens, continually finds ways to perpetuate that unfairness, and in fact blames the victims of that mistreatment, so a town hall meeting called to discuss the resulting discomfort is almost sure to tilt towards bringing out those who are most wounded. More heat than light gets generated and even a late arrival could feel that disorder immediately upon entering the room.

Despite the challenges, continuing to provide a forum to address important issues is a role that the local NAACP should be encouraged to continue. Mike Nelson said later in the week that the branch would be making some changes aimed at minimizing the disruption caused by the unruly few.

Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus

A couple of nights later I found myself in the tiny village of Newburgh Heights, where just over 2,000 of the county’s roughly 1.1 million residents live closely packed into a community sitting just south of Cleveland. Newburgh’s mayor is a self-declared progressive who is quite proud that his burg provides extended family leave for all its public employees. Last Thursday, its village hall was home to a gathering of the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, a group of citizen activists formed in the wake of the presidential campaign, and initially assembled by a core of Bernie Sanders followers.

The meeting was planned as a sort of TEDx seminar, with a series of speakers each having 15 minutes to address a critical public issue. A Lakewood teacher talked impressively about the conservative assault on public education; despite his apparent sympathy for our current president, he called Obama most anti-public education president in American history, a label the president will likely deserve until at least day for 47 of the incoming administration.

Tish O'Dell, Community
Environmental Legal Defense Fund

Tish O’Dell of Broadview Heights, representing the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, decried the increasing corporatization of America and warned the Dakota Pipeline conflict would soon find its counterpart in Ohio. There were also speakers who addressed the fight to increase Cleveland’s minimum wage to $15/hour; restoring the federal Glass Steagall Act [New Deal legislation that kept bankers focused on banking and prevented their dalliance in the kinds of speculative finance that caused the 2008 mortgage meltdown]; and climate change.

CuyCo Progressive Caucus
meeting, Dec. 1, 2016

But truth to tell, what drew me to the Newburgh boondocks that night was the fact that one of the speakers was a representative of Black Lives Matter, Cleveland. As I waited for his turn, my curiosity was heightened as I surveyed the audience: it was 90% white, its members phenotypically and sartorially indistinguishable from a Trump campaign rally audience.

Kareem Hinton
Black Lives Matter, Cleveland

The BLM representative was Kareem Henton. I didn’t know him but I had seen him at a number of social justice events over the past year. Speaking in a low-key, direct, logical, non-threatening manner, Henton said BLM was not connected to partisan politics or politicians or anybody’s old guard and that they did not feel obliged to play by the long-established rules of political engagement that marginalized their concerns. He said that BLM Cleveland would focus in 2017 on seeking small victories, specifically citing Cleveland city council races.

Henton undoubtedly surprised many in the audience when he said, “We are not of the mindset that all Trump voters are racist.” He said he thought that for many of them concerns about personal finance had submerged all other issues, and driven them to vote for Trump.

More surprising to this observer than that observation was the response of his listeners. They wanted to know, “how can we best support you?” and “how can we be your allies?”

Henton encouraged caucus members to be visible in their support, stressing that visible white support grossly reduced the ability of BLM critics to marginalize their protests and initiatives.

“One of the most important things a person can do is show up. All are welcome.” Your presence “defies the image” that BLM is a racist one-issue fringe group and “gives us legitimacy” because “we can’t be relegated.” And in this modern age, he urged people to follow BLM Cleveland on Facebook.

• • •

Looking forward

Two local nonprofits with notable pedigrees are holding their annual meetings this week, unfortunately at the same time. This Thursday at 5:30p, the United Black Fund will meet in the new Veale Center on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. UBF provides funds to nearly one hundred area nonprofits each year. Founded in 1981, it was an outgrowth of Blacks Organized for Social Service [B.O.S.S.], an effort founded by George White, who later became the presiding judge of US District Court for Northern Ohio; attorney and quiet philanthropist Roosevelt Cox; and the Rev. Thomas Chapman of Avon Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant.

Rev. Dr. Stephen Rowan, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church and chairman of the Cleveland Foundation, will be the keynote speaker.

• • •

Starting just 30 minutes earlier is the annual meeting of the Phillis Wheatley Association, established by the remarkable Jane Edna Hunter in 1911 as the Home for Colored Working Girls.  Phillis Wheatley was once the center of civic and cultural life for aspiring black Clevelanders. Hundreds of Greater Clevelanders have attended its Camp Mueller, which at one time occupied more than 200 pristine acres in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

PWA’s meeting will take place at its landmark Midtown headquarters, located at 4450 Cedar Ave.

Faith and Finance Also Noteworthy

Also on tap this week is the Christian Business League’s quarterly Faith and Finance Breakfast. This Friday’s program will feature Darrell McNair, CEO of MVP Plastics. McNair is the public-spirited businessman who recently purchased the headquarters building of the Urban League of Greater Cleveland and leased it back to them, thereby greatly easing the financial burden the building had become for the League.

The breakfast costs $15, runs from 7:30am to 8:59am, and will take place at Mt. Zion Congregational Church, 10723 Magnolia Dr. in University Circle.

 Also Noteworthy

 The City of East Cleveland could serve as poster child for our observation above regarding the devasting consequences of America's racial caste system. Once again, the insolvent city is spending money to recall its political leadership. Mayor Gary Norton is the target this time. We'll post the results here; they should be available by no later than 9pm tonight.

-->

-->