Conner Wolfe
“With Maryland having a $4 billion plus budget surplus, no Marylander should be in need. Nonprofits should not be struggling to keep their doors open.” Says Maryland Nonprofits President & CEO Heather Iliff. On January 19, 2021, 300 nonprofits and nonprofit leaders submitted a letter to Maryland executive and legislative leaders calling for $1 billion of Maryland’s $4+ billion budget surplus be used to “Put People First” and partner with the nonprofit sector.
At a press conference in Baltimore today, Heather Iliff, Executive Director of Maryland Nonprofits, announced that over 200 nonprofit organizations and leaders are joining to call on the state to devote at least $1 billion of the $4 billion projected budget surplus to services for families and communities affected by the Covid pandemic and its economic effects.
The Maryland Nonprofits Board of Directors elected six new members at its October 29, 2021 meeting. Joining the board for three year terms beginning January 1, 2022 are Chloe Bernardi, LCSW, LCSW-C, President & CEO of Hearts & Homes for Youth, Dirk A. Butler, President and COO of the Center for Policing Equity, The Honorable David Harrington, President of the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, Will Pass, Chief Financial & Operating Officer at Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc., Dana Vickers Shelley, Executive Director of ACLU Maryland and Duane Yoder, President of Garrett County Community Action.
Maryland Nonprofits exists to serve the nonprofit community. On this Giving Tuesday, we are taking a moment to reflect on the infinite reasons we are grateful that nonprofits in Maryland do what they do and are here for it, every day.
Maryland Nonprofits has prepared a letter on how the state’s surplus should be allocated to the diverse communities we serve and in partnership with the nonprofit sector. Maryland Nonprofits advocates that this targeted relief include extending services and benefits that address the human service needs of individual Marylanders, families and communities that have been most burdened by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences, in addition to direct cash stimulus payments.
