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Just one week after newly inaugurated President Donald Trump took office, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget sent out a memorandum that made headlines. 

M-25-13, released on Monday, Jan. 27th, with the subject head stating “Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs,” stated that it “requires Federal agencies to identify and review all Federal agencies to identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President’s policies and requirements.” 

According to a letter sent by Steve Lenahan, Executive Director of Clark County Homeless Coalition, this memorandum is “directing the heads of U.S. Executive Departments and Agencies to evaluate all federal financial assistance programs for a 90-day review is significantly impacting services for the homeless.” 

While the memorandum itself was rescinded on January 29th and several questions remain, Lenahan spoke about his immediate concerns and the reaction of the organization – one of many in Clark County – upon hearing the news. 

“[It was] to make sure that all programs were in compliance with the new executive orders that had been signed…This is my 34th year in nonprofit work, and I’ve never really witnessed such a chaotic and stressful day as I did on Tuesday,” he said. “It threatens our ability to house over 41 families, 15 individuals in shelter…as a small nonprofit, this can [have] devastating consequences not only for us but those we serve.” 

As stated in the letter, a freeze could affect not only housing but also mental health support, substance abuse treatment, disability services, and more that are important for assistant homeless populations, potentially leading to increased homelessness or other socioeconomic difficulties. 

“The crisis extends far beyond our organization [and] jeopardizes the most vulnerable members of our community,” he said. 

In the letter that was sent, Lenahan elaborated on how finances operate within CCHC. 

“All of our federal grants are cost reimbursable[,] meaning we don’t receive funds until we spend the money on rent, supplies, etc. and request reimbursement,” it said. “We received news of the federal freeze [Monday] morning and had until 1:00 to submit our expenses. Unfortunately, half of our funding comes straight from HUD, and their billing portal was down all day.” 

HUD is an acronym for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

CCHC also submits paperwork through the Kentucky Housing Federation, another funder. 

“[Submitted expenses by 1:00 p.m.] is a tremendous amount of work when you have six federal grants to submit,” he said. 

Since the initial memorandum was sent out, Lenahan has been in touch with other nonprofit leaders, including those who serve populations other than the homeless. 

“Because of this letter, a nonprofit that creates [environmentally friendly] communities and [environmentally friendly] buildings…their construction team just walked off the job because they were afraid they weren’t going to get reimbursed,” he said. “I know our staff were very upset about their ability to be paid. I’ve always tried to be a good steward of the funding, and we always have a rainy day fund. I felt confident that we could certainly go quite a while with our rainy day fund and still pay our employees, but the challenging part would be to pay the rent of the roughly 60 or so households that we pay rent for…it would just spin out of control.” 

Lenahan concluded the letter by stating that, amidst ongoing uncertainty, help for continued support is always appreciated. 

Those able and willing to donate are asked to visit CCHC at https://www,paypal.com/paypalme/clarkcohomeless or mail a check to their office at 275 West Lexington Avenue. 

“The main thing is to continue to support us and other nonprofits that are serving the community,” Lenahan said. “I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet…[there’s] confusion about what might happen next.”