The Trevor Project, a national organization for suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ youth, announced Friday that it will make “transformations” that include layoffs and restructuring. Staffers are particularly concerned about the timing of the announcement, just days before the inauguration of the second Trump administration.
James Black, who took over as CEO of the nonprofit last July, said the organization, which employs about 600 people, was in the midst of a “perfect storm.” . A surge in crisis calls and messages from LGBTQ youth, and an increasingly hostile political climate toward LGBTQ rights and society. Decrease in individual donations.
The California-based Trevor Project, like many LGBTQ advocacy groups, expects the next four years to be difficult. President-elect Donald Trump pivoted to anti-transgender rhetoric during his campaign, targeting the community by restricting transition-related care for minors and banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports. He promised to enact a number of policies.
Publicly available project financial reports paint a mixed picture. In its last reported fiscal year, which ended in July 2023, the nonprofit reported $87 million in revenue and $105 million in expenses, compared to $67 million in revenue and $6,000 in the previous fiscal year. Increased from $1 million in expenses.
When asked about the 57% year-over-year jump in expenses, which has outpaced the nonprofit’s revenue growth, Black cited several reasons. An investment in TrevorSpace, an online community for research, advocacy, public education, and LGBTQ youth. Increased salaries for direct services and crisis intervention staff. He started a crisis service for LGBTQ youth in Mexico, which required hiring new staff.
But Black added that the headline numbers in the nonprofit’s latest financial report don’t tell the whole story. Apart from one large government grant that can only be used to fund projects related to the government’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, all other fundraising categories are “below budgeted revenues.” ”, continues to decline (financial reports for the fiscal year ending July 2024 have not yet been published).
“To ensure we are consistently meeting the needs of our community, it is imperative that we adapt accordingly,” Black wrote in a letter shared on the organization’s website Friday. “This requires a number of solutions that enhance our services within limited resources.”
The organization, founded in 1998, plans to eliminate some existing roles and create new ones. It is not yet clear how many roles will be cut or how many will be added, but the net result will be a reduction in total staff numbers. Black said the reorganization will focus on shifting resources to the project’s 24/7 crisis line, adding more staff to provide direct support to LGBTQ youth in crisis.
Mr. Black, who uses the pronouns they, she and he, said changes in the coming administration will be “difficult but necessary.”
“Now is the time to strengthen the front lines and ensure our youth know we hear them and see them,” they told NBC News. “For me, the fact that there are more everyday interactors, frontline people supporting young people, versus the fact that we don’t have the resources, is a sign of evolution. I think so.”
More than 500,000 emergency calls and messages were received through The Trevor Project’s crisis hotline during the 2022-23 fiscal year, and more than 3,700 crisis counselors supported LGBTQ youth, according to the annual report.
The Trevor Project union, which the nonprofit voluntarily recognized in 2023, was taken by surprise by news of the layoffs and restructuring, said Luis Benitez Burgos, president of the Telecommunications Workers Union of America, which represents the project’s members. It is said that he was stabbed. Benitez-Burgos, one of two CWA officials who attended the meeting, said the nonprofit’s management team announced the change during a Tuesday meeting that included Trevor Project union members. was not present.
Benítez-Burgos said employees were informed of the change the same day, but management did not share when the layoffs would occur or how many positions would be affected, so ” “Our union was unprepared to handle the onslaught of stress and anxiety.” , it’s frustrating,” he said. “As I said to Trevor (management), this should have been handled differently.”
Black said this type of news is difficult to accept no matter how it is shared.
“The timing of this change is difficult for all of us, and I recognize that,” Black said in an interview. “But the reality is that we need to start this now. We have notified the union as soon as we are able to share an appropriate level of detail.”
One Trevor Project employee, Mr. D. Salisbury, who is the on-call supervisor for the organization’s crisis call and whose name is not capitalized, said the job of crisis staff has become increasingly difficult these days. News of the transfer “doesn’t improve the situation at all,” he said. Easier. ”
Rather, management has an “ongoing interest in making members of the force suffer and bear the brunt of the hardships regarding the financial crisis, partly due to the influence of the incoming Trump administration, but partly due to the influence of the incoming Trump administration. It also has to do with the mismanagement of the financial crisis,” Salisbury said. Funding for our organization. ”
Black has denied any mismanagement of funds and said the organization invests strategically in programs that address suicide among LGBTQ youth, including crisis services in Mexico.
“These investments will positively impact many aspects of the lives of LGBTQ+ youth,” Black said. “To fund these investments, we relied heavily on small, large donations, which is not sustainable in the current funding environment.”
Mr Salisbury expressed disappointment with the way the changes were announced and feared it would make the organization’s operations even more difficult during an already difficult time.
“We hope that they will make this choice now as a way to rebuild trust as we go into these negotiations regarding these layoffs,” Salisbury said.
