D.C. nonprofits face breaking point amid job cuts and shutdown
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D.C.-area nonprofits are seeing more demand for local help at a time when resources are squeezed by federal funding cuts.
Why it matters: There's already an increased need among locals who are employed but struggling to make ends meet in a high-cost area experiencing inflation, local nonprofit leaders tell Axios.
- But then add in the laid-off feds and contractors struggling to find jobs. And now, the shutdown's furloughed workers.
Threat level: "We believe [the need for help is] going to be exacerbated in such a way that the region literally cannot handle," United Way of the National Capital Area CEO Rosie Allen-Herring tells Axios.
- The group is seeing fewer donations due to the area's economic downturn, says Allen-Herring.
- "Many of those federal workers were United Way donors, and now they find themselves becoming United Way clients," Allen-Herring says, seeking help with their mortgages or getting groceries.
- The United Way has also seen higher demand for their workforce training and financial education programs since the DOGE cuts began — demand the group expects to increase with the furloughs and deferred resignations kicking in.
Zoom in: The Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) has given out 5 million more meals this fiscal year than expected due to increased need.
- CAFB typically relies on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for about a third of the food it gives out — but its USDA supplies were slashed in half earlier this year amid government spending cuts, CEO Radha Muthiah tells Axios.
Between the lines: That means CAFB is currently doing triage to discern which groups are most at risk and in need of help, Muthiah says.
- And the situation will likely be further impacted by cuts to SNAP benefits.
- "There is no way the emergency food assistance network can completely address the gap that has been created here through federal policy shifts and other effects," Muthiah says. "Plain and simple."
By the numbers: Food insecurity is at "extremely high levels" across the DMV, affecting over one in three people, according to CAFB's 2025 Hunger Report.
- 41% of households that had experienced either a direct or indirect federal layoff were food-insecure as of May. That's higher than the at-large DMV rate of 36%.
- And of those affected 41%, over two-thirds were in the "very low food security" category — the most severe.
Meanwhile, over 230,000 DMV families will lose some or all of their SNAP benefits due to cuts via President Trump's "big beautiful bill," the Urban Institute found.
Reality check: Much of this angst is anticipatory, as nonprofit leaders wait to feel the ripple effects of additional federal cuts currently being carried out.
- CAFB's biggest fundraising period takes place now through the end of the year, but the group is preparing to see fewer donations, says Muthiah.
The bottom line: That's why local nonprofit leaders are sounding the alarm and calling for help now.
- "Everyone can care, and it doesn't have to be some large benefactor," says Allen-Herring. "Every little bit counts."