Meeting the Moment for 19,000 Children and Families

The Deschutes Children’s Foundation, through its four campuses in Bend, Redmond and La Pine, house a total of 23 partner organizations that serve over 19,000 children and families each year. As part of our Women’s Issue focuses on meeting the moment, and how local nonprofits are feeling the effects of changes at the federal level, the Source Weekly checked in with Executive Director Cassi MacQueen. Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Source Weekly: Share a bit about what the Deschutes Children’s Foundation does and its impacts on local families.

Cassi MacQueen: Deschutes Children’s Foundation provides space and support to 23 nonprofit partners and is dedicated to creating a supportive environment where nonprofits can excel in assisting children and families.

We are deeply committed to reducing childhood poverty, supporting youth education and advancing youth advocacy through our innovative collaborative model. By providing affordable and stable office, clinic and classroom space to nonprofit organizations dedicated to children’s welfare in Deschutes County, we directly contribute to mitigating the impacts on vulnerable families. This support empowers our partner organizations to allocate more resources to their vital programs, and our collaborative approach fosters an environment where these nonprofits can effectively advocate for the needs of children and families. Through collective efforts and strategic partnerships, we strengthen community resources and services that address poverty related challenges.

DCF also removes the financial burden of operating costs associated with the upkeep, security and maintenance of the campus spaces our nonprofit partners utilize. To our knowledge, there are no other nonprofit service centers in the region or state offering this unique model of reduced rate office and classroom space and no-cost facility management.

Rental rates that nonprofits would traditionally incur are drastically reduced under the DCF model which, when combined with facilities maintenance cost savings, translates to $1.25 million in funds saved annually.

SW: How is the organization funded? What percentage of support comes from federal grants and other federal sources?

CM: DCF is primarily funded through fundraising and grants at the local level. Our small but mighty team raises money through special events, Central Oregon Gives and direct relationships with local businesses and donors. However, we received a Community Development Block Grant last year to provide critical capital improvement projects at our campus in Redmond. DCF received an email on Jan. 28 sharing that these funds were frozen, complete with a memo from the Office of Management and Budget. We were shocked as this is a reimbursement-based federal grant that requires an incredible amount of work through the application and monitoring processes. We’ve since been notified that these funds are available, but I’m still concerned they could be taken away at any moment, leaving DCF financially responsible for the project.

SW: What have been the impacts so far on pauses in federal grants and funding? Is your organization seeing a delay, even while federal judges have placed pauses on funding freezes?

CM: The unprecedented spending freeze had a massive effect on our local nonprofits. Numerous DCF partner organizations found that their access to federal drawdown funds was frozen the morning of Jan. 28, although the policy suspending federal grants and funding wasn’t supposed to take effect until 5pm Eastern time.

With little or no notice, the funding had already been cut off for many partners, as well as for some Deschutes Children’s Foundation funds. This includes key funding to our community through Housing and Urban Development, Health Resources and Services Administration, Runaway and Homeless Youth and more.

Nonprofit partners are breathing a sigh of relief as the executive order has been rescinded, but many, including DCF, are still concerned about what lies ahead. Our nonprofits rely on this funding to do incredible work right here in Central Oregon, which means the community relies on these programs as well. With the uncertainty of funding, especially reimbursement-based government funding, nonprofits are unsure of how to proceed and what may come in future orders. I am specifically concerned about starting construction projects where our organization must spend the money up front. It would be detrimental if those funds weren’t reimbursed due to a future executive order.

SW: How is the local community affected when funding that was promised does not come through?

CM: We have heard from partners that the people they serve are confused and scared about what is coming. People are reaching out about whether services are continuing and sharing fear about accessing resources and benefits across Central Oregon. This creates an even greater barrier for folks with limited resources and impacts nonprofits’ limited capacity.

In the absence of these critical resources for programs, which the community’s most vulnerable local children and families depend on in times of crisis, DCF’s partner programs have limited reserves they can fall back on. Children and families are still in dire need of food, housing, safety, medical care and services. If our community does not step up in a major way, services that many need, from homeless teens and newborn babies to victims of domestic violence and families already on the razor’s edge, will see cuts.

SW: Are there things that you are hopeful about right now?

CM: The reality is that nonprofits and the people that work in them are incredibly resilient. Most of us dedicated to changing the lives of others have seen incredibly hard times and have a unique skill set to overcome staggering odds. We will get through this.

That being said, I always remember that while resiliency feels like a hopeful and positive word, it doesn’t feel good when you’re asked to be resilient again and again. DCF will continue being an advocate for our partners. We are committed now more than ever to ensure that our local nonprofits serving children and families can thrive in these challenging times.

SW: Seeing funding or grants that were expected suddenly not happen is one thing, but what does the future look like long-term, when perhaps certain types of funds are not allocated at all? Who wins and who loses in that type of scenario?

CM: The future looks quite uncertain and very concerning for nonprofits and the people who need them most. DCF has many partners that are expecting significant cuts to funding and are awaiting news about how various federal grants are changing or potentially going away all together. This removes the ability to plan strategically or even ask for additional funding from other sources. It only takes away from the vital work that nonprofits are doing all while the need of our community grows. Unfortunately, everyone loses in these situations, and the reality is that there is not enough state or local funding to backfill massive cuts at the federal level. As a local nexus for organizations on the front lines, DCF knows one thing for sure: Regardless of how funding to desperately needed services changes, the need itself does not change.

SW: What concerns you most about recent shakeups in funding at the federal level?

CM: I am concerned about the impact these shakeups have on nonprofit professionals that already have incredibly tough jobs. I have spoken to fellow executive directors that have spent countless hours planning and replanning for various scenarios, and DCF has spent many hours advocating for the needs of nonprofit partners at the state and national level. This is all additional work to the very full plates that nonprofit professionals juggle every day. We all know that increased stress and senseless changes can very well lead to burnout. I am personally doing everything that I can to support my team and our nonprofit partners to ensure that we stay strong for a community that needs us now more than ever.

This article appears in The Source Weekly February 27, 2025.