Signs of financial trouble at Waynesboro United Way surfaced months ago
The first signs the United Way of Staunton, Augusta County & Waynesboro was in financial trouble came this past summer, according to Blue Ridge Legal Services Executive Director John Whitfield.
"We got an email from the executive director,'' Whitfield told The News Virginian.
That June email from the local United Way's then-President and CEO Kristi Williams explained that because of a funding shortfall, the regular grant coming to the Whitfield's nonprofit legal aid organization would be late.
Williams' email elaborated that the local branch of the United Way had experienced a 45% drop in workplace donations and had lost a major grant of its own. Her email said Whitfield could still expect the $28,000 check.
It never showed.
Whitfield said the last check his agency ever received from the United Way came in the spring.
Now, the United Way is closing.
Its board of directors announced last week that it would be shuttering the local affiliate of United Way Worldwide, an international network of more than 1,800 local chapters that was at one time the largest nonprofit group in the U.S. The board cited increasing costs and declining revenues in its announcement.
Whitfield said there were other signs the nonprofit organization was failing, including a recent email announcing the departure of Williams.
He described the news as "unnerving."
For Whitfield and other organizations who once received United Way grant money, the loss is a major blow to their own financials.
"We use the money to pay salaries for staff,'' Whitfield said.
Blue Ridge Legal Services helps low-income clients with civil attorneys at its four offices covering a territory stretching from Winchester to Roanoke.
Whitfield said losing the funding "is more difficult in the middle of a fiscal year."
Valley Supportive Housing is a two-decade-old nonprofit group which provides 68 apartments in Staunton to tenants with supplemental Social Security income or Social Security disability income. The tenants from Waynesboro, Staunton, and Augusta County also have diagnosed mental health issues.
"Our tenants come to us out of homelessness,'' Executive Director Lou Siegel told The News Virginian.
Siegel said the United Way grants his organization received over the past five years were part of the 25% of the organization's annual funding not covered by rents.
"We have to figure out a way to make it up, either by cutting expenses or additional sources of income,'' Siegel said. "It hurts. We had definitely planned on it relative to our budget."
Siegel said he, like Whitfield, had seen the emails first saying grant payments would be late, then announcing Williams' resignation and later informing community members the local United Way would be closing.
"I'm sorry to see it happen,'' Siegel said.
According to information on the United Way of Staunton, Augusta County & Waynesboro website, organizations receiving annual grants from the organization had to demonstrate an impact on the residents of the three communities. Applications were to be received by mid-September, and applicants were notified about receiving a grant by the end of November. Prior to grants being awarded, site visits to the applicants were scheduled.
The most recent IRS Form 990 filed by the local United Way available on the internet said that in 2022, the agency awarded 12 grants totaling a little more than $172,000.
In addition to the grants, the local United Way also supported the G2Grow preschool program, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program and the annual Stuff the Bus school supply program. That support also will be coming to an end, leaving all of those programs in jeopardy.
While the local United Way is closing, it will maintain email until a plan and timetable for that closure are determined.
Bob Stuart (540) 932-3562
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