MADISON, Wis. — Despite the Trump administration rescinding an order to pause federal grants, many are still anxious about the future of funding.
That pause would have had a direct impact on many nonprofit organizations throughout Wisconsin.
On Wednesday, Shannon Barry, executive director of Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS) said her team held emergency meetings as they worried that the federal funding DAIS receives would disappear.
“Yesterday was full of uncertainty not just for our own funding, but thinking about other organizations with whom we collaborate to provide that safety net for victims of intimate partner violence,” said Barry.
DAIS receives 47% of its funding from federal grants. In 2023 that amounted to $1,891,116.
Barry said without funding from the federal government, DAIS would still be able to survive but it would not be easy.
“The uncertainty of not knowing what reimbursements we might get, how long it was going to last, what contingency planning did we have to do to weather some sort of gap in funding,” said Barry.
Barry said that DIAS is already looking at options if in the future they do not get federal funding.
“We know that this executive order was rescinded but we are still operating from a place of the possibility of another executive order coming down the pipeline,” said Barry.
Moving forward she said DAIS is going to try and be as efficient as possible with the money they do have and maintain its reserves while looking at its fundraising strategies.
“Asking the community to support these vital services if those government dollars disappear,” said Barry.
Madison’s population has been rapidly growing over the years and with that the number of people struggling with domestic violence in Dane County has been on the rise, according to officials.
According to the Domestic Violence Hotline, over 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the U.S. have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
“Not only are those numbers increasing as the Dane County population has increased but also people are reporting a lot more severity within those relationships,” said Barry.
Barry said domestic violence is a nonpartisan issue and she hopes going forward nonprofit organizations like DAIS receive more funding, not less.