Starkville Strong Director explains the shutdown impacts
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) ” – All of this is not going to make things any easier in an already tough realm to be in.” said Herrington, Founding Director of Starkville Strong.
For Brandi Herrington, the thought of the government shutting down is not sitting too well, knowing that all of this will make it harder for her organization to serve the community.
“We want everyone to know that it will be tougher, and we are all going to need to pitch in,” said Herrington.
Herrington is the Founding Director of Starkville Strong, a non-profit that provides support to residents through essential programming.
Herrington said Starkville Strong depends on 85% community donations and 15% federal funding to keep them going.
“Our workers are paid through federal funding, and that has been cut, so they are not being paid right now,” said Herrington. “With the government shut down, a lot of our clients will suffer from cuts, pausing their snap benefits, which will trickle down to us and make what we do a little bit tougher.”
She said, if the shutdown persists, it could lead to fewer people donating, putting a bigger strain on Starkville Strong.
“It is all connected, when someone can get to work,” said Herrington. “Get their paycheck and get the funds they need to make ends meet, then they are more likely to be stable or make progress in our stability programs.
With these whammies coming through, it is just going to make things harder for them.” said Brandi Herrington, Founding Director of Starkville Strong.
According to congress.gov, more than two million people are employed by the federal government. The shutdown is directly affecting about 750,000 of them.
Herrington said, this could lead to those employees in the local area coming to them
“We actually had that happen during the last shut down, and we have already heard from several of them that since they are not getting paid.” said Herrington. “They will need some help putting food on the table and that is one of the easiest ways to fill the gap.”
If you would like to donate to Starkville Strong, you can go to their website at www.starkvillestrong.org
