Natrona County nonprofits weather uncertainty about federal support

CASPER, Wyo. — Many nonprofit organizations in Natrona County and Wyoming are closely watching the Congressional budgeting process and legal fights over sweeping cuts and executive actions from the White House during the first month of the second Donald Trump presidential administration.

“What we’re hearing from nonprofits is that they’re incredibly concerned,” said Beth Worthen, executive director of the Natrona Collective Health Trust.

Worthen said leaders of many organizations it supports were thrown into a state of disarray by the memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget last month ordering a temporary freeze on distribution of federal funds and grants, including those already appropriated through Congress.

The memo by acting OMB director Matthew J. Vaeth stated that “the use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.” The temporary pause was presented as a means to isolate and identify any such initiatives.

It was rescinded within days, but not before the National Council of Nonprofits, American Public Health Association and Main Street Alliance brought suit in federal court, where the judge has temporarily blocked the action.

Though the NCHT is a private foundation, it works closely with dozens of local nonprofits and awards general operating grants to those it identifies as having the broadest impact on the health of Natrona County residents.

The foundation redefined its mission three years ago to support organizations that focus on issues around poverty, abuse, neglect, lack of healthcare access and other socioeconomic factors, saying that those issues are the root causes of poor health outcomes, including behavioral and mental health issues.

The 13 recipients in the fall grant cycle included the Casper Housing Authority, Children’s Advocacy Project and Community Action Partnership, with the trust identifying those organizations’ focus on early childhood development and mitigation of adverse childhood experiences — known as ACES in the public advocacy sphere. 

Worthen said she is now advising nonprofit leaders to explicitly define the impacts their agencies have on the community and communicate those impacts directly to Wyoming’s Congressional delegation. 

Worthen said that the $141 million given to nonprofits by private foundations in 2022 is a “drop in the bucket” compared to what those agencies receive through federal funding.

Some nonprofit leaders say that the initial freeze led to unprecedented crashes in the system used to access funds and fulfill time-sensitive billing obligations.

Coupled with sweeping layoffs of federal workers by the White House’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, it’s also been difficult to contact live people to help with those matters, Worthen said.

Kelly Wessels, executive director of the Community Action Partnership of Natrona County, said her agency is lean and well-established, so it has been able to weather the shakeups thus far. CAP of Natrona County is the local arm of a federal initiative created in 1964 to combat poverty and homelessness.

“If you’re a smaller entity, it’s bad for you,” Wessels told Oil City News this week. “Other smaller nonprofits were put behind.”

Wessels said she’s also watching the actions at the federal level and waiting for more information.

“We’re going to do business like every other day until something changes,” Wessels said.

Worthen said organizations like Enroll Wyoming, the state nonprofit funded through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, are closely watching the current Congressional budgeting process for cuts to the federal agency. Enroll Wyoming reported that 46,000 Wyoming residents signed up for new healthcare through the open enrollment process in 2024.

“Not having federal funds for those servicing the most vulnerable residents is cause for concern,” Worthen said.