pegkerr | New about Open Arms of Minnesota (Reply)

Open Arms of Minnesota fed me and my family for four and a half years as Rob was battling cancer. This is one of the organizations to which we gave the memorials raised at his funeral. I am absolutely heartsick at this news.

And furious.

To those of you who voted for Trump because you deluded yourselves that he was gonna help with the price of eggs? Well, Open Arms of Minnesota serves 12,000 meals weekly to 1,300+ people fighting life-threatening diseases. Less than three weeks into his administration, your hero has gutted it.

“Dear Open Arms Community, I am writing to our community today with a heavy heart. Due to significant federal and state funding issues, Open Arms is facing an unprecedented financial challenge that will impact the way we serve our community.

Our organization has been informed of a drastic cut to our Ryan White funding starting this April, amounting to more than $650,000 in reductions over the next year – due to a $20 million deficit in funding at the state level. Compounding this crisis is a federal funding situation that is like nothing we have ever seen. What began as a total funding freeze ordered by the Trump administration, disrupting essential and expected payments on our existing contracts, has now created fear and uncertainty for our future. One of our current federal grants that pays for local purchasing of ingredients for meals remains frozen today. Nonprofits like Open Arms who hold federal funding relationships are being told to prepare for the worst, as Washington continues to debate the future of federal grants like the ones we receive to provide meals to our elderly and our HIV-positive clients.

These financial obstacles have forced us to take difficult and immediate steps to reduce expenses and make sure we are best positioned for long-term stability.”