Reductions in the federal workforce and federal funding recalls have caused uncertainty for some Alaska organizations that work with the U.S. government. One of those organizations is Working Against Violence for Everyone (WAVE), a nonprofit that works to reduce domestic violence in Petersburg.
Executive Director Rikki McKay started working at the nonprofit in May after she lost her job in public health this spring when the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rescinded billions of dollars in health grants nationwide.
“Wildly enough, coming to a nonprofit felt a little more stable, because at least we have other sources of funding, right? There are options,” said McKay.
WAVE is primarily funded by grants from the federal government and the state. They also sometimes share grant funding with other nonprofits in the region that are doing similar work. Though other organizations in Petersburg have seen federal funds rescinded or frozen, WAVE has not lost federal funding directly.
However, McKay said the nonprofit has fewer federal resources that are important to the nonprofit’s work. She said some online information and federal trainings have partially or entirely disappeared.
“A lot of the resources that we would use to … onboard ourselves to this process, they’re not available,” she said.
McKay noted reductions in the federal workforce have led to slower response times and longer delays, causing work inefficiencies for WAVE’s staff of four people.
“We end up chasing those things instead of doing the actual work of providing services to people in the community of Petersburg,” said McKay. “I think it has a really outsized impact on rural, small programs like the ones that we have in Southeast.”
Despite uncertain federal support, McKay said that WAVE will continue to provide for community members.
“The priority has always been ensuring that people in Petersburg get the services that they need, and we will continue to focus on that,” she said.
McKay said that protecting families, women and children will always be important, regardless of the political climate.
