Putting faith in hope and charity

The State funds many of the charities and nonprofit bodies that help vulnerable people. So what happens to the organisations – and their clients – when the State is broke?

It employs more than 100,000 people in almost 12,000 organisations managing a collective income of almost €6 billion a year. It delivers vital public services as diverse as cancer care, housing, youth guidance and suicide prevention, meeting the standards of both the public and private sectors – and, arguably, it does it more flexibly and more cheaply.

But over the past four years most of the Republic’s voluntary and other nonprofit organisations, of which 8,000 are registered charities, have seen significant falls in their income and increased demand for their services. Many have been forced to close; others have survived by innovating, cutting costs and even expanding their services.

The voluntary and nonprofit sector is often dismissed as the Cinderella of the public services, yet it fulfils a crucial role. Although more State funding would be welcome, economically battered Ireland must explore structural and strategic solutions to the crisis in the sector. It needs a plan, but there’s more than one view about what that plan should be.

“I would say there is a lack of respect and value for the sector,” says Joyce Loughnan, the chief executive of the homelessness charity Focus Ireland. John Dunne, the head of the Carers Association, says the sector does the same on-the-ground work as the public sector, in a “lean and hungry way as opposed to being plump and sated”.

They argue that the nonprofit sector has unique benefits, that the people involved think differently, putting the people who use their services at the centre of what they do and having a positive social impact beyond what they do.

The sector should be pulled closer to the heart of everything the public sector is about, says Deirdre Garvey, the chief executive of the Wheel, an umbrella organisation for about 900 charities. Instead, says Garvey, the sector is being undermined by cuts “because other places are no-go: income taxes, Croke Park, corporation tax and social-welfare rates”.

Others argue that nonprofit groups have more value outside the system, where they are freer to criticise Government policy and to play a social-activism role. But some of the organisations that depend largely on Government funding also fear being silenced if they argue too forcefully.

Loughnan regards the terminology that surrounds nonprofits as damaging. “People say the sector is ‘ad hoc’, mainly ‘voluntary’ and reliant on ‘goodwill’. It implies inconsistency and unreliability, when the vast majority of people with us are professional, fully qualified and paid. We provide essential services. The terminology allows the State to fund a lot of what we do in an ad-hoc, unreliable way when I would argue services like finding accommodation and feeding people should be 100 per cent funded by the State. These are essential services. ”

Funding cut

As well as offering an outreach service to people sleeping rough, Focus Ireland offers advice to people who are at risk of homelessness and who need to find short- and medium-term housing. It also offers research and advocacy in six counties. To run it costs €18 million a year, of which 60 per cent is provided by the State, 30 per cent is donated and 10 per cent comes from clients through rent and paying for food. Its State funding has been cut by 25 per cent over the past four years.

Since Pieta House was established by Joan Freeman, a psychologist, in 2006, it has helped more than 4,000 people at risk of suicide or self-harm. “Of course we are a charity, but we are a very professional organisation. We should be viewed as a public service.” It costs €2.5 million a year to run, of which €150,000 comes from the HSE. “The rest of it is miraculous,” says Freeman. “Almost all is donated, particularly [by those] who have lost people to suicide.”

The Carers Association, which provides home care, respite services, training, advice and advocacy to family carers, costs €5.3 million to run, of which it receives €3.3 million in State funding.

Speedpak, a social enterprise that offers employment and training to people distanced from the workforce, has a turnover of €1 million, of which 60 per cent is statutory employment-scheme funding.

A community-development project in the disadvantaged area of Kilbarrack, in north Dublin, which provides an after-school club, a creche, community arts, a women’s health project and over-60s clubs, costs €190,000 a year to run, of which €144,000 comes from subventions for the after-school club and the creche.

“These are absolutely vital public services,” says Garvey. She says there is a dearth of detailed information about what they all do and how they see their role, and this makes it very difficult to devise policy to support the sector.

“There are no adequate definitions for the different types of nonprofit organisations. The legal term ‘charity’ goes back to 1604. As long as you are established to serve education, poverty relief [or] religious purposes, and you exist for public benefit, you can set up as a charity, with charitable status from Revenue.”

The Charities Act 2009, which was to regulate and define nonprofit organisations and establish a Charities Regulation Authority, has been all but shelved until resources allow its full commencement.

The Wheel says that 67 per cent of nonprofit organisations have existed for less than 25 years, and 24 per cent for less than 10 years. Garvey says the increase in the number of organisations began when the Catholic Church began to reduce its provision of public services. “The State has accepted them as the providers, in contrast to the situation in, say, the UK, where there is a functioning welfare system. The State here funds nonprofit organisations to about 60-75 per cent.” This, she says, implies their acceptance as a key part of the welfare system.

The fact that their main donor, the State, is bankrupt, has been very difficult, she says, but she believes those surviving are “making the most of a good crisis” in a way the State is not. Although most have cut wage and supply costs and have become more savvy in their fundraising, there have also been innovative moves to merge charities, such as one impending between the Carers Association and Caring for Carers, and collaborations to eliminate duplication, such as that between Focus Ireland and Dublin Simon, which now organise the capital’s nightly soup run together.

Dunne, of the Carers Association, is particularly forthright about this, saying his staff have had wage cuts and changed working patterns, moving quickly to respond to falling income. “If the HSE could adapt and innovate as quickly as we have, the whole public sector might be in better shape.”

Loughnan comments on the huge changes and pay cuts her fully unionised staff have made “while they sit and watch the HSE get increment after increment after increment”. “They are very committed to what they do, very professional, but you don’t want to abuse that,” she says.

This hugely valuable commitment, says Garvey, is underused by Government policymakers and by wider society.

Loughnan also believes the nonstatutory nature of nonprofit groups such as Focus Ireland gives them credibility that State agencies cannot have and that should be nurtured. “The voluntary sector is more readily received, more responded to by individuals who have levels of distrust for the welfare system or education system.”

Some believe nonprofits should remain as far outside the system as they can afford, in order to be able to voice criticism of it.

Kilbarrack Community Development Project handed back almost €200,000 a year of State funding so that it could retain its independent voice. Under pressure to merge with a larger body, the Northside Partnership, in 2008, and lose its independence, the project opted to go it alone.

It still operates, albeit on a smaller scale, and is managed by Cathleen O’Neill, a local woman. Its after-school facility and creche are funded by Pobal, which manages Government funding for the not-for-profit sector, but its over-65s club, women’s health project and community-development work are all run “on a wing and a prayer” through fundraising and donations. O’Neill, a veteran anti-poverty campaigner, involves the project in political lobbying such as the anti-austerity campaigns.

“We’ve lost a lot of money, yes, but we do things differently. Wages have been halved, and we get our food now for the lunches and meals from the Dublin Food Bank. We used to just buy it in the shops. We’ve lost no services, and we have retained our voice, which is critical for a working-class area.”

There is a huge diversity within the sector, says Garvey. She believes there should be a national strategy for the voluntary sector, arising from a national conversation about what kind of society we want. The current crisis should have been, and still could be, the catalyst for that conversation, she says. “The sector is a vast, underused resource.” The nonprofit sector thinks differently, she says, from the for-profit sector, which keeps its eye on the bottom line, and even from the public sector, which is too concerned, argues Dunne, with “working conditions and wages”.

The common-good values that underpin the sector spill into wider society, says Garvey. She believes, for example, that when State agencies are tendering for services the process should include a “social dividend” clause that is as important a consideration as costs and standards.

“But we need a plan. There is a plan for the banks, a plan for the troika but no plan for our society and its social infrastructure. Remember the numbers: 100,000 employees, 500,000 volunteers and an income of €5.75 billion. It’s huge. It’s potential is bigger. Ireland needs to decide what kind of society we want, and we need to bring public support around putting the nonprofit public services right at the heart of our public service.”

NEW LIFE: I have never, never, had so much support. Not even my family

“Edward”, who is 34, says he has never been supported to the degree that Focus Ireland has helped him during the past year. He moved from being homeless to living in unsuitable accommodation on the outskirts of Cork, in which he was very depressed, and now lives in Focus Ireland’s supported housing in the city.

“I had been living in Kenmare before that, in an unhealthy relationship, drinking a lot and getting arrested several times. One morning about two years ago I just woke up and had to get away. So I got a bus to Cork and had nowhere to stay.”

He got a place in a hostel, where he stayed for several months before being allocated an apartment, far from the city centre and shops, where he felt “very isolated” and had a neighbour who drank heavily and was violent. He witnessed a bad road crash that, he says, left him traumatised, and last year he attempted to take his own life.

“My outreach worker got me some application forms, and I filled them in and got this apartment I’m in now from Focus. I was very happy to get that. Ever since then Focus Ireland has given me so much support. I have never, never had so much support from anyone. Not even my family. They’ve supported me managing my money, my bills, and even in getting on to a course about getting back into work.

“I do have friends, but I don’t go out much. I’m dealing with a lot of anxieties and seeing a counsellor still. If it wasn’t for Focus there’s no way I’d be where I am now. It’s a good place, better.”

Focus Ireland: The numbers

Staff309

Long-term volunteers69

Projects45 different projects, services and housing developments

Beneficaries7,500 people, up from 6,500 in 2010.

Cost to run€18 million a year

Fundraising€5 million

Public-fundingcut 25% since 2008

SAFETY AND SERVICES: It's ours. I don't know what we'd do without it

Angela Gray and Denise Reid both have children in the after-school programme at Kilbarrack Community Centre, in north Dublin. More than 60 local children arrive every afternoon to do their homework, eat a hot lunch and take part in activities.

"The kids love it, and I love knowing they are safe, getting their homework done and loving the time here," says Angela, mother of Emma, who is 12, Sophie, who is eight, and four-year-old Hanna. "Emma has really come out of her shell here."

"The [staff] are great, really down to earth," says Denise, mother of Niamh, who is 11, and Josh, who is eight. "I grew up with the girls working here in Kilbarrack, so they're very familiar to us. They treat the kids like we would."

The two mothers like the social awareness their children gain at the project. They are encouraged to learn about what's happening in their community, the impact of Government policies on their lives and their families.

Both say the scheme is at the heart of their working-class community. "It's ours. I feel very comfortable here," says Denise. "I don't know what we'd do without it; don't know what our kids would do."

The parents pay €15 per week per child, but if they cannot pay on occasion, their child is not turned away.

Kilbarrack CDP: The numbers

Staff12

Volunteers10

Running costs€190,000 a year

State supportReceives €124,000 from Pobal for its after-school project and creche, plus €20,000 for its school-completion programme, a cut of €50,000 since 2008

CARING FOR CARERS: It's a 24/7 job and it's not easy

Harriet Conlon , who is 57, felt as if she was “stranded on an island” before she encountered the Carers Association.

“I felt totally alone. I have been caring for my mum, Jenny, for 10 years. She’s 86 and she has dementia, diabetes, is incontinent, immobile and can do almost nothing for herself except eat. She can lift a fork. It’s a 24/7 job, and it’s not easy.”

They live in Rathnew, in Co Wicklow. Conlon cared for her father until he died, earlier this year. She has siblings, but they are busy with their own families or have health issues. “I was walking through Bray one day when I saw the Carers Association. I thought they provided carers. I went in and I was so delighted they were there to help me as a carer – delighted to find someone who cared about me.”

With the association she has trained to Fetac level 5 learning about health and safety for carers, as well as about disabilities and dementia. “The monthly meeting with other carers is therapy for me, keeps me sane.” The association “give us a bigger voice with Government. They care for me, guide me,” she says.

“I get the carer’s allowance of €204 a week . I have sacrificed a lot, but I chose this. I don’t want Mum in a nursing home. I do feel I’ve missed out on a place in the workplace. I’ve lost friends who’ve given up trying to see me. I haven’t had a holiday in nine years, and sometimes it’s only the Carers Association that seems to notice.”

Carers Association: The numbers

Staff44 full-time, 340 part-time

Volunteers Databaseof 10,000 people

Turnover€5.3 million a year

State support€3.3 million in 2011

Cut since 200818%

Fundraising€320,000 per year

POSITION IN A PARTNERSHIP: This is a business - and a social service to the state

Denise Doyle, who is 53, had only a Leaving Cert and had been out of work for two years when, in February, she got a position as a receptionist with SpeedPak, a packaging and manufacturing firm in Coolock, north Dublin.

The enterprise is a business, part-funded by Pobal and by the Northside Partnership, as well as being a registered charity.

Founded in 1995, it provides employment as well as Fetac training for people finding it hard to get into the labour market. They are employed for up to three years, by when they will have experience, qualifications and a full CV.

“This is a commercial business with real customers, real costs and real deadlines,” says its chief executive, John Murphy. “And it’s a social service to the State.”

Murphy says the group has suffered “significant cuts” to its training and materials grant.

Doyle had been made redundant from a call centre where she had worked for 10 years. She had done two Fás courses and had applied for numerous jobs, without getting a reply. “Here I have learned IT skills, electronic invoicing and payments, and now I’m being taken on into sales . . . I feel so much more confident,” she says.

Speedpak: The numbers

Staff53

VolunteersUp to 10 volunteers at any time.

Turnover€1 million a year

State support60 per cent of turnover comes via statutory employment schemes

UPS AND DOWNS: The changing face of Irish charities

57% of Irish nonprofit organisations have experienced a decrease in income in the past three years

63.5% of Irish nonprofit organisations have seen an increase in the number of people using their services in the past three years

34% of charities have reported both a decrease in income and an increase in beneficiaries in the past three years

16.8% of charities have cut working hours in the past 12 months

36.8% of charities have frozen pay in the past 12 months

25.5% of charities have reduced pay in the past 12 months

Salaries are the biggest expense for most charities. For more than a quarter of them, 60-80 per cent of their total spending is on salaries, and almost 10 per cent spend more than 90 per cent. Deirdre Garvey of the Wheel says this reflects the fact that the services are delivered by skilled people.

Two thirds of charities have tried to reduce spending on staff. More than a third had frozen pay in the year before the survey; a quarter had reduced pay; 16.8 per cent had reduced hours.

There has also been a move towards increased volunteering – but this has also led to challenges around volunteer recruitment, training and support.