Many nonprofit organizations in the United States are small enterprises that seek to have an impact on the local community. Contributing editor David Pitts went to the offices of AYUDA, a small nonprofit in Washington, D.C., to see how and why it was founded and in what ways it has changed and evolved over the years.




Not everyone can tell you what AYUDA does, but many people on the streets of Adams Morgan, the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in Washington, D.C., know about the organization and its reputation for helping people.

AYUDA is located in the heart of Adams Morgan on a street bustling with sidewalk vendors selling almost everything from just about anywhere. The organization's name (the Spanish word for "help") is prominently displayed above the door of the somewhat rundown building in which its offices are housed. People can just walk in off the street to ask for help, and often do.

LOCAL ROOTS

"Our mission is to provide legal services in two distinct areas -- domestic-violence issues and immigration problems," says Yvonne Martinez-Vega, AYUDA's executive director. "We serve a varied foreign-born, non-English-speaking clientele, not just Latinos," who form a large part of the population in the immediate area. Clients come from countries as diverse as El Salvador and Poland, she adds.

But although AYUDA now serves a population broadly representative of the rich brew of nationalities in the area, its roots are in the local Latino community. The nonprofit organization was founded in 1971 as a shoestring operation to help mostly Latino immigrants with consumer and other problems that are typical of those many newcomers to the U.S. face -- such as landlord-tenant relations.

"When I joined AYUDA, it had a staff of only four people," says Martinez-Vega, who has been executive director since 1981 and whose background is in community organization. Now it has a paid staff of 19, eight of whom are full-time attorneys.

The paid staff is supplemented by about 15 to 20 volunteers each week. "We get about 250 to 350 volunteers passing through here each year, many of them law students from around the country," she adds. "We depend a lot on our volunteers; it's our lifeline."

Martinez-Vega is responsible to a board of directors which meets once each month and is the governing authority for AYUDA. It is a diverse body composed of representatives from the legal profession, the client community, financial donors and others. "I submit financial reports and other information monthly," she notes.

FUNDING

Asked how AYUDA is funded, Martinez-Vega says "about 65 percent of its $1 million budget comes from foundation grants. We also hold about four fundraisers a year," employing techniques varying from simple solicitations by letter to potential contributors, to the holding of receptions and special events to raise money. "We also charge nominal fees to our clients, but accept no government money," because that could create conflicts of interests in view of the mandate to do legal work, she notes.

The question of funding is important, says Martinez-Vega. She says it is "vital to have multiple sources and not to become over-reliant on one base for revenue. When we first started, almost all our funding came from United Way," a community institution that dispenses funds to a wide range of organizations in the Washington metropolitan area. "But that is a hazardous position for any small nonprofit to be in. If you rely on one donor, you could suffer a loss or reduction of funds very quickly and dramatically."

As far as outreach and publicity are concerned, Martinez-Vega says few resources are expended on advertising and public relations. "We are a small organization. We rely on the grapevine -- clients telling other clients about what we do," she says. "Being in the heart of the barrio also helps. It is hard to miss us."

VISIBILITY IN THE COMMUNITY

The hundreds of law-student volunteers that pass through AYUDA each year are a source not only of publicity about the organization, but also of support, she says. "In addition, we are accredited with the Board of Immigration Appeals. Referrals are made from there to organizations like ours," she adds.

Most important, "we maintain a profile in the community," Martinez-Vega says. "We give speeches to groups throughout the area, so they learn about what we do and to whom we provide services. We've provided training sessions for organizations as diverse as the metropolitan police academy and the American Medical Association about domestic violence issues. We've testified on Capitol Hill and locally. It's all about being active and visible in the community you serve."

The AYUDA office, located within walking distance of the community members it serves.

AYUDA's presence in the community "has definitely been a positive force," says James Coleman, a member of the Adams Morgan Advisory Neighborhood Commission, the area's official voice representing the views and interests of residents to both the local and federal government. "It seems to have a lot of support, based on my discussions with people. It's been here a long time and has strong roots in the neighborhood."

"AYUDA is an important player in this community with so many new immigrants needing legal services," says Joe Heiney-Gonzalez, director of the Latino Economic Development Corporation, another nonprofit providing services in the area. "We make many referrals to AYUDA routinely. Their work is well-known.

"Our organization and AYUDA are both members of the Council of Latino Agencies, a coalition of groups active in providing services to the community," Heiney-Gonzalez continues. "Building coalitions among nonprofits is important not only in terms of sharing resources, but also because many of the issues that individual organizations deal with are interconnected, and building an overall strategy for assisting the community can make the delivery of services more effective and efficient," he adds. AYUDA and the Latino Economic Development Corporation also have joined other coalitions in the area.

ASSESSING CHANGING NEEDS

Heiney-Gonzalez says his organization does accept funds from the local government. "We believe in a partnership with government to tackle community problems. But it is understandable that AYUDA should choose to decline government support because of its work in the legal area, which sometimes can involve government agencies." AYUDA's reliance on private revenue sources, however, "did not stop it from expanding over the last decade or so, as more new immigrants came into the area," he adds.

Not only the size of AYUDA, but also the scope of its mission have changed over the years, says Martinez-Vega. "You must periodically re-evaluate your mission, assessing the changing needs of clients, but also the evolving political, legal and, in our case, immigration climate," she adds.

"Changes in the immigration rules have led to an increasing number of cases concerned with that issue," she notes. "In moving from purely consumer-type issues when AYUDA was formed, to issues like domestic violence and immigration, we were responding to client needs. But we also tried to anticipate client needs by regularly evaluating the political and social situation in the community."

Asked what AYUDA's greatest success is, Martinez-Vega says "the fact that we have survived, that we have grown, that we have changed to meet people's needs." She also is proud of the training and experience that have been provided to the law students and other volunteers who have passed through AYUDA's doors. "They have helped spread our reputation beyond this community to the nation at large, and even internationally," she adds.

As for failures, Martinez-Vega says most of those are due to inadequate funding. "Our long-term goal is to get a larger facility so that we can service all the clients who need help."

"DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK"

Nurturing and maintaining a small nonprofit organization is not easy, adds Martinez-Vega and, for that reason, "persistence is the quality that you most need. You also must work at developing support from the community. You cannot be insular." She also stresses the importance "of a clear mission that is regularly evaluated."

Accountability also is significant, she says, not only internally, but also to the community and to the clients to whom services are provided. Asked what the best accountability mechanisms are, Martinez-Vega says "the effectiveness of your services. If you provide a quality service, people will come back and recommend you. That is why we have grown."

Most important, "don't be afraid to ask," she continues -- to ask for help from any organization or any individual that could be a likely source of support for your effort. "In some cultures, that is a difficult thing to do," she says. "But it is vital for the survival of any small, nonprofit organization."

Issues of Democracy
USIA Electronic Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, January 1998