More families are turning to local nonprofits for help since the oil and gas market downturn began affecting energy corporations and residents of The Woodlands and job losses have increased.
As a result of the energy industry slump, families who may have previously been donors to Interfaith of The Woodlands are now in need of the nonprofit’s services, President and CEO Missy Herndon said.
“We have more families coming in than normal this time of year,” Herndon said. “Since January, [we have seen] anywhere from an additional 20-40 families every month, which plays out to an additional 300 service contacts per month.”
Anne Neeson, vice president of donor relations for United Way of Greater Houston and a native Houstonian, has witnessed many ups and downs in the oil and gas industry.
“In good times and bad, you see the need rise, but you also see people rise to the occasion to help,” Neeson said. “That’s what’s really heartwarming about this city—people want to help.”
Diversified donors
Having a diverse group of corporate donors has helped alleviate recent caution from energy sector donors, Herndon said. Looking ahead to the Celebration of Excellence Gala in October, Interfaith is actively seeking sponsors in the community since energy sponsors that would typically participate are hesitant to sign on this year.
“We really work with our community partners in all industries to work with us in any way that they’re able to,” Herndon said. “Sometimes, that is absolutely funding—because we all need funding in order to keep the programs going—but it’s also through volunteers and food drives, school supply drives, and book drives and things like that. When those in-kind donations come in, those are things that we don’t have to go and purchase, so that’s very helpful.”
About 60 percent of United Way of Greater Houston annual revenue comes from energy companies, Neeson said. Not including Montgomery County efforts, the nonprofit raised $77 million during its last fiscal year.
“We were down 5 percent overall, which we feel like is really good given what was going on in the industry,” Neeson said.
Beyond energy companies, United Way will typically receive donations from other sources, such as health care organizations, law firms and service organizations. One of the nonprofit’s biggest contributors is H-E-B, Neeson said.
“If you look at the companies in our community, there are 16 companies in this whole region that contribute over $1 million or more when you look at what their employees give and what the company gives,” Neeson said. “That’s companies like CB&I, ExxonMobil, Anadarko, Spectra Energy, Memorial Hermann, H-E-B … it’s a really robust list of companies.”
Last year, United Way of Greater Houston saw an 8 percent increase in donations from health care organizations, Neeson said.
“We are constantly looking at how to attract new donors and keep existing donors,” she said. “We’ve seen people continue to give even when they might be uncertain of their personal situation.”
New ways of helping
Although Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has not been immune to the current downturn, The Woodlands-based oil and gas company recognizes the importance of supporting local nonprofits that have been a fixture in The Woodlands for more than a decade, according to Stephanie Moreland, senior public affairs representative for Anadarko.
“We, like most in our industry, have been impacted by the current down cycle in oil and natural gas prices, which began in late 2014,” Moreland said. “As a result, we reduced our capital investments by almost 50 percent from last year, and unfortunately, our social investments were also reduced year-over-year.”
In place of monetary contributions, however, Anadarko employees have remained supportive of local nonprofits through volunteer work and other fundraising efforts, Moreland said. The corporation’s employees recently completed building their 16th Habitat for Humanity home.
“Through the downturn in our industry, we still raised a company record $2.8 million for United Way of Greater Houston from employee donations and the corporate match,” she said. “Our employees have remained committed to contributing to the community by raising money for and volunteering at organizations, such as the Montgomery County Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity Montgomery County [and] Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas.”
In Montgomery County alone, United Way was able to raise $5.2 million during its fiscal year 2015-16 campaign, Neeson said. Of that amount, $3.6 million came directly from Montgomery County contributors. The remaining $1.6 million was from people living in Montgomery County who work in Houston and specified their employee contributions go back into their local community.
United Way of Greater Houston receives about 1 million calls from people in need annually, Neeson said.
“There is more of a need, and we’ll see that probably more in calendar year 2016 than we did in 2015 because it’s just starting,” Neeson said. “A lot of it relates to job skills and basic needs and being able to connect services when, maybe, people haven’t needed those services.”
When clients come to Interfaith, Herndon said the nonprofit’s goal is to help people stay in their homes for the next 30 days, giving families time to find another source of income.
“We have seen an increase in services requested,” Herndon said. “What we do—on the social services side of Interfaith—is assist families in need, and that’s the families that are in short-term crisis. That could be the loss of a job or a major expense that takes away money that they normally would use for their rent or mortgage.”
Despite the current downturn, Herndon said she feels blessed to serve in The Woodlands community.
“People are so supportive, and they come and help in any way that they’re able to,” she said.
