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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Wilder Foundation slashing jobs, programs

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posted by Bob at Wednesday, October 14, 2009

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Anonymous Pioneer Press said...

Wilder Foundation slashing jobs, programs
By Dave Orrick
Pioneer Press
Updated: 10/14/2009 06:19:57 PM CDT


Some 260 employees, hundreds of tenants and scores of families learned today that the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation would no longer be providing services to them.

Wracked by rising costs and falling revenues, the century-old St. Paul charitable institution announced today that it was slashing jobs and programs and retrenching its services in order to keep itself viable for the future and its motto: "Here for good."

"The reality is we're overspending our endowment, and that has to be adjusted," said Tom Kingston, the foundation's president of 20 years.

The $5.4 million in cuts amounts to a 35 percent reduction in the social-service nonprofit's annual budget, and an identical drop in its draw from its endowment.

Programs slated to be eliminated or drastically changed include children's residential treatment centers, in-home health and homemaker services, jobs programs for prison inmates and affordable housing.

Most of the foundation's programs — ranging from Meals on Wheels to senior dental clinics to its early childhood development programs — will be unaffected. The agency's research arm also will be unaffected. Some 390 full- and part-time employees will remain throughout Wilder's multi-armed organization.

While financial records and annual reports don't show a dismal financial picture for the prominent charity, government funding for some service areas have fallen steadily, and within the last 15 months or so, its endowment has plummeted some 17 percent, to $185 million.

Foundation officials said its spending was unsustainable, and the original orders of the Wilder family mandate the foundation stay financially viable forever.
Kingston described the cuts as "defining a new strategic direction" and emphasized that a number of the cuts can be absorbed by other agencies in the area's safety net.

But not all.

Among the cuts are the closures of three of the east metro's residential treatment centers for troubled children and teens: Bush Memorial Children's Center, Holcomb House and Spencer House. Families and case workers were notified today that the centers would take no new admissions and would look to move the residents to other facilities.

The foundation is taking $400,000 of money saved from the closures to embark on an ambitious effort, along with Ramsey County and perhaps others, to create a new, less costly model for treating such youth, who generally require more attention than foster parents can provide.

Until the residents can be placed in other living arrangements, they'll stay, Kingston said. "No one's being put out on the street or anything," he said.

Similarly, no one will be evicted from the 1,100 affordable housing units in 12 buildings currently owned or managed by Wilder that it is now shedding.

Wilder is looking to sell or transfer title of six buildings it owns: Wilder Square Hi-Rise, American House, Wilder Apartments at Snelling, and Humboldt Apartments, which comprises three properties.

The foundation also will pull out of its role in managing six other buildings: Redeemers Arms, Elders Lodge, St. Phillip's Gardens, Jackson Street Village and Concordia Arms.

"Eventually, we'll be out of the real estate housing business," Kingston said.

Other cuts include eliminating Wilder's Home Health Agency, which provides care to 600 older people at any given time, as well as its Housekeeping and Homemaker Services, which offers chores, such as doing laundry and vacuuming, for seniors.

In the case of affordable housing and other service areas, Wilder officials won't end their involvement until other agencies can be lined up to take Wilder's place. In some cases, Wilder's employers might keep their jobs through the new agencies, Kingston said.

11:08 PM  

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