Located in the Little Chapel in the heart of downtown, the Flint Street Fellowship has been providing groceries, household supplies and other assistance to people who live west of the Kings River for about 30 years. FSF has been a particularly valued resource during winter, when many live in homes that are expensive to heat. Despite challenges of the pandemic, FSF has managed to provide assistance on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
In the fall of 2013, FSF expanded services to provide backpacks each Friday filled with food for school children with an inadequate food supply at home. The program has grown from 30 packs a week to 90 in the current school year. After the retirement of long-time director Pat Kasner, the FSF started the Pat’s Angel Assistance Fund in the summer of 2019 to help people with utility, rent and transportation to medical appointments. FSF also has a free clothing program.
About a decade ago, two generous Hurricane Katrina refugees who had been helped by FSF left their life savings to FSF. Other gifts brought total assets to about $347,000 today. Over the years there has been some controversy about how much the FSF needs to keep in reserve and how much should be spent to help those in immediate need.
“The board of directors decided to invest a significant portion in endowment funds that would allow earnings to be used to meet their mission of not just providing food for those who would otherwise go without, but also helping with critical needs such as paying utility bills,” Ben Helmer, immediate past president of the board of directors, said. “The endowment also serves as a safety net if private or government donations decline for some reason.”
Endowments are generally money invested in certificates of deposits, the stock market or bonds.
Kent Turner, a real estate agent and treasurer for FSF, said the organization has about $347,000 in current assets, not including the building. About $141,000 has been invested in an endowment with the Carroll County Community Foundation. About $42,000 is in an account for the Back Our Kids program, and there are about $164,000 in other assets with Vanguard, an investment management company.
Turner said it is prudent to keep a reserve of two to three years of operating expenses, which he estimated at $70,000 per year for all programs.
“We thought it was best to have a nest egg,” Turner said. “There are a lot of things that could happen to the building such as having to spend money on repairs. We don’t think this is a lot of money to keep in reserve.”
The expenses are offset by donations as the FSF receives cash and/or donations of food from the Boy Scouts, Rotary and Elks, churches, individuals, and biker clubs.
According to councilofnonprofits.org, a commonly used reserve goal is 3-6 months’ expenses. “At the high end, reserves should not exceed the amount of two years’ budget,” the council states on its website.
The reserves at FSF have caused some donors and volunteers to leave the organization. One said, “They are not investment bankers. I don’t get the concept of not using the money to meet the needs of the community.”
Another former donor and volunteer spearheaded a large benefit raising more than $25,000 for Back Our Kids. The donor, who asked this reporter to write an article on the issue, cited “concerns about money management” as the primary reason for switching his support to another local food pantry, Cup of Love, which also has a food kitchen.
Suzie Bell, co-founder ECHO Clinic and the ECHO Village, said she was “gob smacked” when she was told what kind of reserves are being held by FSF.
“The purpose of a non-profit is to use what you have,” Bell said. “That money has been given in good faith to complete the mission to which you state you are doing. So, it is imperative we comply with that mission. Here we are desperately trying to find money for more housing at the ECHO Village, including building the Chris Epley home, which will have an upper floor for families in crisis. The fellowship could partner with us. It could have a kitchen and provide food.
“We’re stronger together. The ECHO Clinic and Village are examples of that. We have volunteers from all the churches. We need to remember as a small community we have an obligation to our brothers and sisters to make sure they are okay.”
Bell said while it is prudent to have money in reserve for unexpected expenses and repairs, there needs to be a healthy balance of fulfilling your mission’s purpose and being good stewards of the donations generously given. “I would hope Flint Street would be creative and more daring in their ways they can impact the community,” she said.
Helmer said this past year the food pantry has not received as much free meat as usual from the USDA, which also provides other commodities to the food pantry. He said that, as a result, the FSF has spent $1,000 to $1,500 per month to purchase meat for the food pantry. And Helmer says FSF has been unable to make all its usual discounted purchases from the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. Some of that has been blamed on supply chain disruptions linked to the pandemic.
Winter heating bills are increasing considerably this year because of higher prices for natural gas and electricity.
“We continue to assist people who have needs with energy bills through the Pat’s Angels Fund and by getting them connected with Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a federally funded assistance program for people needing help with utilities,” Helmer said. “Food pantry clients can pick up LIHEAP information at the food pantry.”
FSF requires people to first apply to LIHEAP, but some people—particularly those without a computer—find it difficult to fill out. Even people employed by nonprofits who have frequently helped process the applications say they are long and difficult.
In an email, Helmer wrote that rental assistance is being done through Pat’s Angel Fund and they also try to connect people with Arkansas Rental Assistance through the Department of Human Services.
“The application is arduous, but can be done online,” Helmer said. “However, there is a long wait-time for a decision and some landlords are not willing to cooperate. They hold all the cards under Arkansas law. We work with several locally who are willing to help their tenants get assistance. We have assisted four persons with rental assistance since late December. Generous donations from people in the area have helped a lot.”
Helmer said they are also in conversation with several groups to address the lack of low-income housing. And they are also looking at some emerging partnerships with other organizations with the view of perhaps purchasing a building to expand their services and even become a distribution point for food from the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, which Helmer said is very interested in partnering with the FSF.
Helmer said without the reserve, they might have had to shut down at a time when needs are increasing. One problem is that housing costs have increased, leaving more people spending a greater percent of their income on housing, leaving less money for food.
Helmer said currently all donations are distributed to those in need, and not added to endowment funds.
This information is a bit skewed. Flint Street does not have an endowment at the Carroll County Community Foundation as inferred here. This article should have explained that Flint Street has a Quasi-Fund at the Carroll County Community Foundation. That means that the funds are invested but not endowed. Those funds are accessible to Flint Street whenever they need them, in full. It was a brilliant decision by Flint Street to invest some funds with Carroll County community foundation. They have grown by nearly 40+%. All $141,000 is accessible to them right now. That’s the great thing about a Quasi-Fund for a nonprofit or an individual donor. Keep up the good work Flint Street!