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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.
Scott Elliott is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He writes about education, city and suburban issues, politics, business, workforce and consumer issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > December > 12 > Entry
Editorial: Urban League’s quick collapse is hurtful loss
The abrupt closing of the Dayton Urban League is a blow to myriad people who need a hand. It also has implications for race relations in the community.
The agency has long been the biggest nonprofit serving West Dayton and poor blacks in that neighborhood. It has had the trust of neighborhood and church leaders, which is important when helping people requires going into their home, asking personal questions and having difficult conversations.
Relationships and history matter when, for example, you’re trying to persuade people who may be suspicious of government or of outsiders that they’re too frail to live alone any longer or that they’re never going to get a job until they go back to school or that their children just have to get tutoring to catch up.
The Urban League is the third nonrofit associated with the black community that has all but collapsed in a year. The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were caught up in scandal, and now they’re both out of business at least as it relates to providing services.
Each of the agencies has brought problems on itself, ultimately losing the government contracts that were their lifeblood.
The IMA and SCLC weren’t doing what they committed to, and they’re under investigation by prosecutors. Though it wasn’t widely known, the Urban League has been financially faltering for a long time, leading, at minimum, to serious compromises in good management.
Specifically, the Urban League’s shutdown was precipitated because the agency hasn’t been keeping the documentation that was required under federal rules. That being no small matter, Dayton and Montgomery County pulled a big contract that they were overseeing. That loss of funding sent the League into a tailspin. (If paperwork documenting eligibility isn’t in order, the county and Dayton have to pay back federal grant money.)
As unacceptable as the Urban League’s failures and shortcuts are, history and the details of the financial crash should count when people are making judgments about whether the group can be saved.
It’s also important to know that some blacks think the fact that three black organizations have fallen in such a short period feels like a campaign against groups that are important to them — especially because the Urban League has a far better reputation than the Rev. Raleigh Trammell’s IMA and SCLC.
That emotional commitment and concern for the League shouldn’t be dismissed cavalierly.
Being a nonprofit in Montgomery County today is not an easy existence. In 2008, Montgomery County awarded $12.4 million in locally and federally funded social service contracts to area nonprofit agencies. Next year, that number will drop by almost 50 percent to $6.5 million. Meanwhile, corporations and individuals also haven’t been able to give as freely.
(Incidentally, Montgomery County’s decision to contract out to nonprofits for everything from job coaching to home-delivered meals to arranging for summer jobs for kids is why it hasn’t had to lay off big numbers of county workers the way some other places have. Major cutbacks are still happening even if they aren’t splashed in headlines. They’re just spread out among agencies that don’t individually have a high profile.)
The region will be the poorer if it doesn’t have an organization that is especially invested in and connected to the black community. Different nonprofits have different sensitivities and strengths. The goal for any assistance is always that it be effective, that money and time not be wasted. For many years, the region had an effective Urban League working with the minority community.
Some passionate people insist they want to save the non-profit. Those advocates definitely need help, but the focus can’t just be on a financial patch. The League’s problems go beyond just paying the bills.
The fact is, there’s also been a shortage of stewardship.
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