In late April 2020, city officials approached the Volunteers of America nonprofit’s Greater New York chapter to ask for help with a major undertaking: Convert a midtown hotel into a transitional housing facility for homeless New Yorkers during the pandemic.
But, thanks to an onerous and complicated billing process, the city did not pay a dime for their services until six months later in November, according to VOA-NY’s CEO Myung Lee. The nonprofit took out lines of credit to cover their expenses in the meantime.
Huge problem for direct service providers like Settlement Houses / meals on wheels. A lot of their fundraising is about liquidity/ working capital for making paycheck and buying supplies. City reimbursement should be on a regular monthly schedule.