In the aftermath of the 2008 Postville Raid, seeing the great need of immigrant families, split by deportation and mandates to remain as material witnesses at the Rubashkin trial, an interfaith coalition formed to help the stranded victims who had no jobs, no transportation, no sources of sustenance, and no assurance of their immigrant status. Mike Blevins, then in his role as a clergyman, agreed to head up an Interfaith Coalition to be based in a place called the Northeast Iowa Peace and Justice Center, 119 Winnebago St, Decorah. The concept was for all the churches to pull together to socialize with and sustain these immigrants. Mike secured a lease for $650/month, contingent on us clearing the snow by 10 a.m. whenever needed. We would then be able to sublease the 4 small offices along the hallway.
Mike also took charge of administrating the Center, hoping that it would evolve into a paid position with him as Executive Director. The rest of the work was to be accomplished by volunteers.
Mike created a weekly, printed brochure, had an artist make a logo; and promoted the Center as HUB, HOST, HELPER. Our mission was to educate about crucial social and environmental issues of the day and encourage the public to get involved locally and nationally in policymaking. We were a HUB for diverse groups, working independently but in harmony with our mission, a HOST for visiting dignitaries and speakers who could better inform us, and a HELPER for anyone dropping in off the street, looking for information or connections in the 5 county area.
Early on a board of directors formed, but very soon the chairperson, another retired minister, had to leave to address challenges at the free health clinic. Though Mike secured our Articles of Incorporation from the Secretary of State and had by-laws in place, he did not apply for nonprofit status. The board, consisting of motivated but inexperienced volunteers, did not know what to do. Mike took charge of the board meetings but no clear plans were set. As Mike encountered increasing financial, familial and personal problems and resigned in April about a year after the Center started, household goods collected for the immigrants, from beds to washing machines, piled up in the hallways and rental rooms. Donations came in but financial accounting was cursory and haphazard, so it was impossible to know what we had in the bank and what we needed to pay our bills each month. Somehow we stayed in the black.
In April of 2012, Mike resigned. He had no prospect of a paid position at the Center and had to deal with pressing issues. When he left, those of us who had been steady volunteers, had to devise a way either to continue in some way or to close the Center.
Those who had been working with Mike most consistently, Janet Alexander, Chris Kelly, Julie Fischer, and Ruth Palmer, decided to consult the community and all those who had been involved at the start. At that meeting, the community was unanimous in wanting the Center to continue and proposed a plan. We would say what the Center most needed to get organized and volunteers would step up to take on those jobs. We postulated that if we could establish a broader base, and each gave $10/ month, we could make expenses.
Janet Alexander committed to be the Board Chair. Chris Kelly promised to work on Development. Julie Fischer said she would fill Mike's role but preferred to be called Coordinator. Lee Zook, who had lots of experience on boards, said he would come in every week to help us prioritize what needed to be done. Luther Snow agreed to help us grasp how to run a nonprofit successfully. Matt Tapscott came on the board as Treasurer.
Right away we established an arms-length accounting system, whereby I would make receipts for all payments (rent and donations), Steve McCargar would do our bank deposits and keep the checkbooks in order, and our treasurer would keep track of balances.
It took us about two years of intense diligence to reconstruct the past financial transactions and achieve our 501(c)3 status which we did on our own without a lawyer. That was big because it then encouraged folks to make larger contributions which would be tax deductible. In the succeeding years, we received a few larger donations of$5,000 and $1000. We cooperated with First United Methodist Church and Kathy Mitchell for 2 years to do a Taco Buffet food booth for Nordic Fest, sharing the profits. All of our funds went to operating expenses, programs, and some savings. We did not have any salary/ benefit expenses until we hired Erin Ryan as office manager for 20 hrs/wk at $9.50/hr.
Erin stayed with us for about 3 years and really helped organize the office and communications, our weekly Update, and special projects. She got us onto Facebook regularly and tried to improve the website, though that would remain a challenge due to time constraints and poor software. Erin collaborated with the Oneota Coop to sponsor an annual "Empty Bowls" to raise funds for our 3 food security programs in Decorah: Decorah Community Food Pantry, Backpack Program, and Decorah Lutheran Church Food Pantry.
Throughout this period, 2012-2017, Julie Fischer worked with the Board to keep the doors open at regular hours, maintain the facility, incubate ideas, initiate and implement programs, and with the help of loyal PJCers, stage occasional smaller fundraisers. During these years Jim McIntosh came on the Board to assume accounting duties and created our first real budget. Amy Bouska, a board member from Cresco and avid environmentalist, carried on excellent accounting for 2 years after McIntosh and was very helpful in boosting our appreciation of board duties.
In 2015 we received a small grant from the Depot Outlet to change our lighting to LED bulbs and thereby decrease our energy bills. In 2017 we received from Depo another grant to buy a newer projector and amplifier which would help Immigration Working Group do better presentations in the community. So far we have not applied for any other grants. We have had some volunteers do research on potential grants, but no follow-through has occurred.
On Nov. 1, 2017, we hired our first paid Executive Director, Kai Hedstrom, Luther graduate with one year experience in AmeriCorps. Working 30 hrs/wk at $14/hr, Kai has been consistent in keeping an in-house presence, in representing NEIPJC to the public, and in upgrading our use of Facebook and the website, assisted by Storme Barr, our youngest and most tech-savvy board member. He has helped attract Luther students to intern at the office and has kept the public informed about our programs via the media. We now have a donation "button" on our website.
However, during his tenure, we became aware of the need for greater efforts in development to enable a more sustainable pay grade and benefits for the Executive Director's job. In July 2019 the Center raised about $3000 from a Nordic Fest Boot offering organic salads and com on the cob, the brainchild of Hannah Breckbill, Board President and organic farmer. The Board has been in agreement that we should continue this effort and expand it in the coming years, as we now have our own little hut to operate in as well.
In early 2019 we asked for greater community participation in our Annual Meeting in order to assess our continued place in the community and ask whether we needed to maintain our space/ utilities and the Director to manage it, our two major expenses. We offered an alternative: we might be able to do our work with only a digital presence. The assembled community supporters rejected the digital option strongly. Ruth Palmer of the Immigration Working Group wrote a detailed letter explaining the rationale for keeping our site. And so, at our Coming Board Retreat on March 23, 2019, we aim to do strategic planning to achieve our needs for marketing presence, (brand clarity), program focus, volunteer encouragement, and funding for budget security.