The Never-Ending (Funding) Story.

So, as most of you know, I have this job at a non-profit where most of what I do is considered "abstinence education." For the sake of political correctness and non-controversiality (is that word?), we typically call it "positive youth development," largely because, yes, we teach abstinence education, but more than that, we teach kids about making good choices, fostering healthy relationships, and avoiding risky behavior like drugs, alcohol, and yes, sex. It's a good job and I've learned a lot in the last year and a half that I've been there. I work mostly in middle schools, primarily with 8th graders, which is not my favorite age group for sure, but they've challenged me and taught me a lot (namely because I literally work with thousands of them each year). Off the top of my head I can give you more statistics than you've ever wanted to know about teen media usage, STDs/STIs, teen pregnancy, pornography, and the population of Canada (33 million, in case you weren't listening during the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics), among other things. My co-workers are entertaining and fun and passionate about what they do. Many of them have become good friends.

All that being said, it has recently come to our attention that we're about to lose our funding. We are funded largely by federal grants, 2 in particular. We knew that one would likely be running out this coming fall due to President Obama's stated opposition to abstinence-based education. We also knew it was a possibility that we might lose the other one, but we thought it unlikely since it comes from a separate funding stream, one that doesn't have to be voted on by Congress each year like the other one because it is a research grant through a specific office. However, with Mr. Obama's new budget, he has cut all funding for education having to do with abstinence, so we are also losing that grant, which was the larger of the two. As you can guess, this means the amount we're losing goes into the millions. (For the record, this is not a political statement for or against President Obama, it's just fact.) This means that, unless my friend Steve, our development director, can magically come up with over a million dollars by September (through grants, donations, etc.), up to 20 of us could be affected by that. (Read: laid off.)

So, yep, that includes me. Luckily for me, I'm not one of the seven newbies hired this fall, so if seniority means anything, I think I fall smack dab in the middle, around number 10ish (although I have no idea if that means anything at all). We've been specifically told we don't need to go looking for new horizons just yet (but let's be honest...if you got an e-mail that said all that, wouldn't you be a little nervous? Let's just say there are lots of possibilities flitting around in my little head). The truth is, the work we do is good and important work (believe me, you wish your children would be hearing the kinds of things I say to these kiddos when they hit 8th grade), and it will be a shame if they can't find a way to keep doing it. Our director has specifically said they won't accept or try for a grant that asks our organization to go against our principles (let's just say we've been told the money currently going toward our grants and others like them will be "reallocated" to other "pregnancy resource agencies" who will then, in turn, award grants to organizations to do pregnancy prevention work...which doesn't necessarily fall in line with the values of our organization, if you get my drift), so it's nice to know she's unwilling to bend in that way. And she is quite good at finding funding and figuring out ways to keep the organization afloat. Nevertheless...

Anyway, if ya'll could keep this whole situation in your prayers, that would be super fantastic. And if you have any great ideas for me, should I find myself without a job come September, my ears are open. :)