Recession's Effect

The Great Recession, as it has become known, officially began in December 2007 and lasted 18 months. For many nonprofits, the financial meltdown came with dire consequences as many governmental agencies, especially state ones, cut back on spending and private and corporate donors tightened purse strings. Others, especially those dealing with core poverty needs, such as food and shelter, saw increases in donations as some donors shifted their giving to basic needs.

Here's how some Lowcountry charities fared:

Tri-County Project Care

This nonprofit was financially upside-down when it headed into the recession that began in December 2007. Things haven't improved much since.

Project Care, which helps uninsured, working adults get access to health care, was in the red each year since 2007, with expenses outpacing revenues by as much as $360,000 in 2009. The program took in $120,551 that year and spent $479,907. That forced the program to dip into reserves to get by, records show.

Casey Fitts, a Charleston surgeon who founded the program in 2002, said his group has been working to develop a sustainable business model. But the need in the community is great and there is less and less grant money to go around. "That is not a good cycle to be in," he said.

The program served some 2,000 people eight years ago, but is now able to help less than 100, Fitts said. Project Care is looking to trim as much as $50,000 from salaries to survive. Fitts, who works part-time at the program, expects most of that will come out of his $60,000 annual compensation. "The main thing now is to stay a viable organization," he said.

Charleston Orphan House (Carolina Youth Development Center)

The Great Recession forced the Charleston Orphan House, with a 220-year history, to rethink the way it does things.

Steep cutbacks in governmental social and medical aid payments forced the agency, which reaches some 600 children a year, to dip into its reserves and reach out to alternative funding from foundations and other donors, Executive Director Barbara Kelley Duncan said.

Still, the center was forced to lay off eight people from administrative positions. Despite the recession, the center's board approved giving Duncan raises in 2008 and 2009 that lifted her compensation 12 percent above the $105,063 she received in the first full year before the recession began.

The board did that, not only because she had taken on greater responsibilities, but "because I didn't get raises for five years. ... I was just really busy and not really thinking about it" all those years, she said.

Duncan said the recession forced the center to rethink its operations. "We'll be making decisions on how the organization looks in the future. ... We don't have the answers today. ... We do know we've been around 200 years."

Charleston Breast Center

The recession and a medical study killed this non-profit.

Former Board Chairwoman Mary Lou Barter said "we struggled mightily over the recession." The financial pressures from the recession, along with a widely publicized medical study indicating that women didn't need as many mammograms as previously thought, undercut the breast center. That study provided many financially struggling women an excuse to put off mammograms, Barter said.

The center tried to line up another medical center to work with but the deal fell through, Barter said. Late last year the center ceased operation as a nonprofit and was taken over as a for-profit division of the East Cooper Medical Center, which also took rights to the name.

Family Services

This multi-faceted nonprofit boomed during the recession, taking on more tasks to help people do everything from managing finances to managing anger. Revenues almost doubled from about $2.4 million before the recession to $4.5 million.

During the recession the agency took on more consumer credit counseling, especially foreclosure mitigation counseling, Chief Executive Officer David Geer said.

The agency's housing and finance counseling operations saw the number of people served jump from just under 3,000 before the recession to more than 7,200 last year.

The agency received grants to do that and to expand other programs. That necessitated an increase of 15 employees, most for foreclosure mitigation.

As to the 16 percent increase in compensation he received from the agency's directors, Geer said, "I appreciate that."

Star Gospel Mission

Funding for the Star Gospel Mission, a Charleston nonprofit that distributes grocery gift cards and offers rent and utility assistance, remained relatively steady during the recession, Treasurer Bill Moody said. The group's funding was down $301,713, or five 5 percent, between 2007 and 2009, according to IRS filings.

"It's not been all doom and gloom," Moody said.

Instead of fundraising campaigns, the mission's board relies on word-of-mouth and networking with potential donors to solicit money, he said. It also receives contributions from churches and foundations, including The Post and Courier's Good Cheer Fund.

"Through the recession, generous people have helped us help the downtrodden," Moody said. "It's been very rewarding."

Charleston Habitat for Humanity

Charleston Habitat for Humanity's revenues dropped off between 2007 and 2009, from about $943,000 to about $622,000, according to IRS filings.

Jeremy Browning, the group's executive director, said fundraising became more difficult and "making ends meet was a real challenge" as the group lost two employees. Instead of building houses, Charleston Habitat for Humanity's workers have focused on home repairs.

"We can do more repairs with the same money because they cost one-fifth the cost of a new house," he said. Plus, the recession meant fewer families qualified for homes, but they still could qualify for home repairs, he said.

Trident Literary Association Inc.

Trident Literary Association, which offers reading and GED preparation classes for about 2,000 adults annually, has been on "a steady, even keel," Executive Director Eileen Chepenik said.

From 2007 to 2009, its total revenues rose 15 percent, to about $848,000, according to its financial filings.

Chepenik said the Trident Literacy Association had a "big drop in revenue" in early 2009, forcing her to consider closing the organization's downtown branch. But a Post and Courier article about its plight prompted donations of more than $200,000 in two days, allowing the Meeting Street branch to remain open, she said.

Over the past three years the group has added staff -- it now has 21 paid employees and about 300 volunteers -- at its six main sites and 20 satellite branches.

It has, however, eliminated some of its less-used programs and sites. It no longer offers English as a Second Language downtown and has closed one of its Summerville branches, Chepenik said.

Orphan Aid Society (Jenkins Institute for Children)

The Orphan Aid Society, which runs a 32-bed girls' orphanage in North Charleston, has seen its revenue drop by about a quarter since the beginning of the recession, according to filings.

That means the group is "becoming very creative with fundraisers," said Executive Director Johanna Martin-Carrington.

As the state has cut its funding gradually since 2006, the Orphan Aid Society has reduced its staff from 17 to 11, she said.

Martin-Carrington said the reduction hasn't severely impacted care at the facility.

Metanoia Inc.

Metanoia, a North Charleston community development group, has seen its total revenue grow by a quarter to about $682,000 over the past three years, according to IRS filings.

The group, which started operations about nine years ago, intentionally sought funding from a diverse array of sources, CEO William Stanfield said.

When foundations and state and local governments reduced their contributions, Metanoia leaned on donations from individuals and churches. In 2010 the group received 15 percent more money from individual contributors than in 2009, he said.

As a result, Metanoia has not cut back its programming. Even during the recession, it received a grant to expand by building a food bank, Stanfield said.

Sea Island Habitat for Humanity

Financial statements show that Sea Island Habitat for Humanity struggled at the height of the recession, seeing its monetary donations and grant income plummet by a third to just under $2 million in the year after the recession began. The charity, that builds houses for the poor, is now seeing that turnaround, but is still not fully recovered.

As a result, the charity cut back by about half from the approximately 25 houses it previously built each year, Executive Director Greg Thomas said.

To stretch dollars Sea Island turned to repairing houses. The organization has worked with about 25 homeowners to make critical repairs. "If we fix a roof, we save a house," Thomas said.

Crisis Ministries

Crisis Ministries saw its revenues jump by 29 percent, to $3.4 million, between 2007 and 2009. But the organization took a cautious approach to spending to ensure it could meet the growing needs of the homeless at its Charleston shelter, officials said.

Director Stacy Denaux said salaries at the shelter remained flat for more than a year with a wage freeze in place. Last year, key positions received a modest raise -- between 3 and 5 percent -- based on performance. No cost of living raises were given, she said.

Denaux, who gets $95,854 in annual compensation, took a 5 percent pay cut in 2008 to help the agency weather the downturn. She said she and her board decided it would be best to spend conservatively on salaries to make sure programs didn't take a hit. "There are certain things we can cut and other things you just can't," she said.

Carolina Homeless Veterans

Director Martha Alston was unavailable or comment. Her son, Michael Alston, who describes himself as her "right hand man" in the operation, said the recession hit the small nonprofit hard.

"It's been a struggle. ... We're barely surviving," he said.

At any one time, Carolina Homeless Veterans houses 26 vets, and 50 to 65 over the course a year. It can keep vets for up to 24 months, but tries to find them permanent housing sooner.

Pro Bono Legal Services, Inc.

For the past five years until the end of December, Charleston's Pro Bono Legal Services operated using money from a one-time federal grant of $900,000. The group now operates using reserve funds, Executive Director Marvin Feingold said.

"We are very active in fundraising at the moment," he said. "We're scrambling. It's going to be very challenging."

The group handles about 600 cases a year in-house and has referred about 350 cases to private attorneys over the past five years, Feingold said.