They feed the hungry. They help with childcare. They counsel those struggling with depression or addiction. And Connecticut's nonprofits say making ends meet is becoming more and more difficult.
They are among many service providers in the state hoping they will get more money in this short legislative session as lawmakers adjust the budget.
The Connecticut Community Nonprofit Alliance wants $180 million more in funding for their critical missions of nonprofits across the state.
NBC Connecticut's Mike Hydeck spoke with Connecticut Foodshare CEO Jason Jakubowski. The company provides millions of meals to the state every year.
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Mike Hydeck: Good to see you. First up, a lot of the nonprofits are saying, look, we've been flat funded for a long time, it's time to ante up considering the state is doing such a good job financially. First of all, is that true? And do you agree with that assessment?
Jason Jakubowski: Yes, absolutely. We certainly agree with that. I mean, I think what you see right now is a situation in which state government has been doing well. We got seven straight years of surpluses, both OPM and OFA are projecting surpluses into the next couple of years. You heard the comptroller just say that we're in better fiscal footing than we have been probably any time in his life or my lifetime. We also have to acknowledge, though, that people are really in need right now. And I will say that we have about 500 pantries across the state. We have 113 mobile sites. Every single town in Connecticut, our lines, the lines that we're seeing at our mobile trucks, the lines that we're seeing in our pantries, are as long now as they were during the pandemic.
Mike Hydeck: Is that based on inflation, do you think? Because the price of food is still significantly more expensive, even though gas and other things have come down.
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Jason Jakubowski: I think it's a couple of things. I think definitely inflation in general is a is a big piece of it. Grocery prices specifically are definitely a piece of it. I think what we saw was, during the pandemic, you had all of these different government programs like pandemic era SNAP benefits, you had unemployment benefits, moratoriums on student loan payments, etc.
Mike Hydeck: So those benefits were enhanced.
Jason Jakubowski: They were enhanced. They went away. So all those enhancements went away, and now you've got families struggling to figure out what they're doing. They're still employed. Unemployment is low, which is weird. Usually when unemployment is high, or numbers go up. Unemployment is low, people have jobs. They just can't find a way to make ends meet. And it's it's tough in a state like Connecticut.
Mike Hydeck: So how much does Connecticut Foodshare, it's a big operation, multi-million dollar operation, how much do you rely on state funding? Is it a big part of your funding or a small part?
Jason Jakubowski: It's not as big as we'd like it to be. For the last several years, we get about $850,000 from the state and that helps us specifically buy food as a part of the Connecticut Nutrition Assistance Program. This year, we're asking for $10 million. If you were to ask me straight up, what do we need? We need $10 million. I don't need it for salaries. I don't need it for trucks. I don't need it for storage. I need it for food.
Mike Hydeck: So you and I were talking off camera before this started. And you said neighboring states are significantly more when it comes to how much the state contributes to food programs. Give me an idea.
Jason Jakubowski: Yeah, absolutely. So in terms of straight up food purchase, the State of Massachusetts about $30 million, the State of New York about $35. New Jersey takes the cake $85 million, their state spends. Again, that's not on the food bank, that's on specifically on food purchases, through the food bank to the different pantries. So we're hoping we're hoping to get a little closer to that.
Mike Hydeck: So should there be a different way to fund non-profits instead of waiting on grants and having this back and forth every time there's a budget?
Jason Jakubowski: Yeah, I mean, look, non-profits are always going to be behind the eight ball. I mean, anytime you're dealing with organizations that are either wholly dependent upon government funding or donations, you're going to have a situation in which there's some volatility. I think one of the things where a lot of non-profits are experiencing is that donations are down for the first time since the pandemic as well. People just don't have the money to be able to donate. So during good times, it's easy for government to sit there and say, well, you know, people will come, yes. If you build it, they will come. We're in a situation now where everybody at all different income levels are finding it hard to make ends meet, quite frankly.
Mike Hydeck: So the biggest need moving forward in this budget year for the state, if you could have your druthers, what would you?
Jason Jakubowski: Well, obviously, I'm completely biased, but obviously and I know there's a lot of different priorities out there. But obviously, support for non-profits is key. Like you said, more than $180 million dollars is the proposal from the Connecticut Non-profit Alliance. A lot of these non-profits had been kept flat funded for 15 years. The legislature and the governor provided more funding over the last two years. And that was very much appreciated. But there's still so much more that's needed to make up for those years of flat funding.
Mike Hydeck: To that end, the Connecticut Mirror said that non-profits received $110 million extra in 2020. Two-hundred twenty five million, I think, in 2023. So that sounds like a lot of money to people who don't really do budgets every day for non-profits. But you're saying that spread across the non-profits, it's not.
Jason Jakubowski: Well yeah, spread across all the different non-profits across all 169 towns. Plus, you got to figure there's about 118,000 employees that are employed by non-profits. The hardest thing for us as an employer is when we're not able to pay somebody. We don't want people to need our services, and we're trying to pay a good wage out there for people. I know other non-profits struggle the same way. For us, we've got an obligation to people to be able to give them a wage that will allow them to provide for their families here in the state of Connecticut.
Mike Hydeck: It's gonna be an interesting session. We have to leave it there. Jason, thanks so much for joining us, Connecticut Foodshare CEO.
