By Lisa Orloff
According to The Nonprofit Times, fewer than 20 of the original 303 non-profit community-based organizations that were organized shortly after the Sept. 11 catastrophe are still offering services today. Six years after the attacks, with 9/11-related philanthropy waning, many such groups will have to close their doors without direct government funding.
This would be bad news for the 410,000 professional and civilian volunteer responders, Lower Manhattan residents, students, commercial workers, and others that the World Trade Center Health Registry estimates have been exposed to environmental hazards and psychological trauma from the 9/11 terrorist attacks – the long-term health effects of which are just beginning to be uncovered. Since 2001, community-based groups that were formed after 9/11 have continuously served a cross section of these people, many of whom encounter official and cultural barriers to receiving health and wellness services through other channels.
World Cares Center, a community-based organization I founded six years ago with other New York City community volunteers, provides an example of what is at stake. Despite the absence of government funding, our “September Space” program has become an integral part of the 9/11 recovery structure. September Space has both supported the work of larger institutions like Project Liberty (the FEMA-funded program for 9/11 recovery) and directly served thousands of individuals affected by 9/11, in two Manhattan community centers. Of World Cares Center’s two community centers, the Lower Manhattan center has been the main hub for its September Space services. Through this program, World Cares Center has also established deep connections with the rest of the 9/11 community, working with grassroots leaders to aggregate services, and providing physical space, outreach services and administrative support to 17 other community-based initiatives. Now, the Lower Manhattan center is faced with closing as funds become scarce. This would leave thousands of people in the community without a crucial resource in their own neighborhood, and force a crisis for those 17 other grassroots organizations that depend on the center for their own survival.
Mayor Bloomberg’s plan focuses on supporting three “Centers of Excellence,” which run successful medical monitoring and treatment programs specializing in 9/11 care. But the financial and planning needs of community-based groups — which have been supporting the Centers of Excellence for years through outreach efforts — have largely been ignored. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she supports reopening the federal Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund. But compensated people will still need community-based resources for services; the Centers of Excellence themselves admit that they can never reach or treat everyone.
A few New York Congressional leaders realize the need for community groups’ involvement in Lower Manhattan’s recovery. Congressmembers Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler and Vito Fossella have introduced bills that call for the inclusion of community-based groups in the coordination of 9/11 recovery efforts. But these pieces of legislation are hardly being fast-tracked.
The 9/11 community groups have proven through long-term service that they are both important sources of direct care and critical to the success of larger, well-funded initiatives. The sustainability of community-based organizations can be ensured by including them in the planning process and directly allocating funds rather than forcing them to patch together dwindling philanthropic and private grants. These measures will help ensure a complete picture of health for all 9/11-affected individuals and will help secure the long-term recovery of our Lower Manhattan communities.
Lisa Orloff is the founder and executive director of World Cares Center.
