Looming federal cuts spark confusion and worries among Denver nonprofits
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The executive director for the mental health nonprofit Caring for Denver says slashed federal funding could lead to higher demand for its already-scarce grant dollars.
Why it matters: As local nonprofits scramble to determine how cuts will affect their ability to provide services, those that don't rely on federal dollars, like Caring for Denver, are trying to see how they can step in.
By the numbers: The nonprofit, which generates its grant money through local sales tax, provided $43.7 million in 103 grants to 98 organizations supporting mental health programs last year, documents show.
State of play: Colorado is home to 34,251 nonprofits contributing roughly $62 billion in total economic impact, including supporting 262,000 jobs, per a 2024 report from the Colorado Nonprofit Association.
- "We're already seeing the strain across the sector, but it's the Coloradans who depend on these services who stand to lose the most," Paul Lhevine, Colorado Nonprofit Association president & CEO, said in a statement.
Context: Cuts from the Department of Health and Human Services are worrying some Caring for Denver grantees, the nonprofit's executive director Lorez Meinhold says.
- "We're all trying to understand how we can best support, but we also cannot replace all the dollars that have been lost, or still may be lost," Meinhold tells us.
Caveat: Meinhold emphasizes Caring For Denver's money can only be used for programs supporting mental health and substance use treatments.
Zoom in: The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless last year received just over $300,000 from Caring For Denver to provide recovery and housing support for its Native American services program.
- Already, the Coalition this year lost federal money that paid for two staffers who helped families get housing and a FEMA grant that provided hotel and motel vouchers for homeless families, spokesperson Cathy Alderman tells us.
- Those were relatively low-cost line items — roughly $240,000 total — but still impactful, Alderman says.
Threat level: "What we are anticipating, and it's very worrisome, is the upcoming potential cuts to Medicaid and potential cuts to HUD," Alderman tells us.
- That could put some people's housing at risk, Alderman says, because it could mean losing money for direct rental payments. Losing Medicaid would be interrelated, she says: "If people don't have Medicaid coverage, they're less likely to pay for housing."
What's next: Nonprofits serving the local LGBTQ+ community are also bracing for blowback.
- Last month, the Trump administration canceled numerous grants connected to research on LGBTQ+ health and threatened to pull federal money from cities helping migrants like Denver.
- Meanwhile, the nonprofit behind the Denver Pride Parade saw its fundraising fall by two-thirds compared to last year, per Denverite.