OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Confusion over a freeze on federal aid grows this week, as non-profit organizations in Oshkosh continue community work while facing an uncertain future.
- On Monday the Trump Administration announced a freeze on federal aid, but it was paused by a federal district judge on Tuesday.
- On Wednesday, the Trump Administration rescinded the freeze memo, but White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on X, the freeze will “remain in full force.”
- Non-profit leaders in Oshkosh express concern and confusion over the potential freeze.
“It's a roller coaster, it is a roller coaster,” Gail Cornelius, regional director for World Relief Wisconsin, says.
World Relief Wisconsin offers support to immigrants and refugees coming into the Fox Valley and Chippewa Valley.
“Making sure people are connected and have housing, they have a food resource, clothing resource, that they’re enrolled in school,” Cornelius says. “We also focus heavily on employment.
A freeze in federal funding would have big impacts on World Relief Wisconsin.
“We are a federally supported program,” Cornelius says. “Much of what we do is financially supported through grants, including the direct assistance we provide for our neighbors.”
Cornelius says if the freeze is upheld, the Christian non-profit will turn to community partners and public donations to continue their work.
“We have a moral and ethical obligation to continue to serve our clients, regardless of our situation,” she says. “We respond to those in need that are in vulnerable situations… And so while that might not look like, solely serving a refugee resettlement program, for example, it does look like continuing to partner with the church, understanding where those vulnerabilities are in our own community.”
Cornelius says the community can support the organization through monetary donations, household item donations or volunteering.
Even organizations that don’t rely on federal grants were expressing concerns, including the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry.
“Here at OACP less than 1% of our funding comes from the federal government,” Ryan Rasmussen, executive director at OACP, says.
Rasmussen says while the freeze would not directly affect the pantry, its implications could have lasting effects on long-term operations and on the people the pantry serves.
“What’s going to happen to food sourcing, are there going to be challenges for us to be able to get food?” he says. “We also have a lot of questions about food share, whether or not food share benefits are going to be affected by this.”
The biggest concern right now, however, is the unknown.
“Things are still really unclear for us as we’re trying to sort through all the updates that are coming through,” Rasmussen says.
“The uncertainty is really the most challenging part, and again, I don't say that in a way that is selfish for us and for our staff,” Cornelius says. “Nobody has asked me ‘oh what does this mean for my job?’ Or ‘what does this mean for my paycheck?’ People ask ‘what does this mean for our clients? What does this mean for our families?”
While the future of federal aid is still up in the air, there could be a shift in where non-profits get their funding.
“I think those local non profits that might be losing federal funding are going to look to us for additional support,” Beth Oswald, CEO of Oshkosh Area United Way, says.
United Way is funded through public and private donations. They award grants and offer financial support to local non-profits.
Oswald says United Way and similar organizations, like the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, are preparing for a shift in non-profit structure.
“If we can all kind of sit down and talk about how everybody is being affected and what aspect and how we can all support each other, I think that’s going to help us come out much better,” Oswald says.
