Survey: Hawaii nonprofits are reeling from cuts

Dwindling income has taken a toll on nonprofit groups in Hawaii, forcing nearly six in 10 to lay off staff and more than a third to eliminate services to the needy, according to results of a November survey released Tuesday, Dec. 8 by the Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations and PHOCUSED (Protecting Hawaii's Ohana, Children, Under Served, Elderly and Disabled), reported the Honolulu Advertiser on Dec. 9.

The cuts in revenue have come as poverty rates, food stamp applications, unemployment and demand on the Hawaii Foodbank are skyrocketing. As bad as things have gotten, nobody really knows how much worse they will become because no one seems to have a handle on the total amount of cuts to Hawaii's network of social service organizations, said Alex Santiago, executive director of PHOCUSED.

Hawaii has an estimated 5,000 charities, according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, and they're losing money from a variety of sources: cuts in state funding and declines in both individual pledges and large donations from foundations.

PHOCUSED will use the survey results (click here to download) to help build its case for more state money and plans to lobby lawmakers heavily in the coming session, hold rallies at the state Capitol and encourage clients to testify about the impact of budget cuts on their lives, Santiago said.