We are letting our county and its communities decline even as we find ways to support the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. We have money to spend fighting wars abroad but what exactly are we defending if we can not support the least among us? If we can not fund research, or education, or infrastructure, or social programs, what are we fighting for exactly? Why are we able to constantly find ways to support the rich but we can only cut support for the poor? Why can we find tax dollars to rescue the wealthy from their blunders but not a penny to help those oppressed by concentrated wealth? Where once we had a government of the people now we have a government partnership with wealth.
A letter from Douglas E. Edwards, Vice President of Coalition & Founder/President/CEO of
Mission of Love Charities, Inc.
To All Nonprofits in Prince George's County and those from other jurisdictions who are sympathetic to our cause:
Please attend this most important meeting ... It's too late to get on board after the fact, you need to stop what ever you are doing and join with us to send a clear message to the County Executive, that we will not allow his administration to kill the poor and blame the nonprofits for their death.
This is not to say that all nonprofits would fail, there are some that would simply cut staff, cut trips they generally take to conferences, cut printing and publications, e.t., but those of us who provide direct services like Mission of Love, and I'm certain that there are others, to cut us by 1/3 or $1.00 and we would be out of business. And, who knows, that just might be the plan, to drive some of us our of business that might serve as a thorn in their side, but reminding people that we do have poor people living in our affluent African American County.
Mr. Hamler talks about helping to secure federal funds ... even if that were true, that fact is that Mr. Hamler knows that the federal government announced its cutback long before the county announced theirs. So to make you believe that there are federal dollars available is disingenuous at best. Not only are we not going to be able to get grants from the feds, the feds have already moved to cut CDBG funding by billions with a "B", and our county officials knows that as well. I point this out specifically because they are not being honest with us in terms of where we can go for supplemental funding ... there are none there.
If these cuts goes through, or if we are retaliated against for fighting this proposed budget reduction, think of the number of poor people that will suffer. My organization alone provides services to between 10, 000 and 12,000 poor people annually. Again, think about the number of poor people that would suffer, some even turning to crime (and we know from recent statistics that it cost much more to imprison than to assist or to educate) to feed, clothe and keep a roof over the heads of their families.
To cut our budget by 1/3 or $1.00 would be a death sentence for Mission of Love Charities, a 20 year old African American owned and operated nonprofit.
