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Indiana House of Representatives announced its partnership with HVAF for the 2025 legislative session to encourage donations for Hoosier veterans in need. Pictured are (from left) Tommy Martin, U.S. Marine Corps veteran; Emmy Hildebrand, HVAF of Indiana CEO; House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne; and House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers.

By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Citizen
February 3, 2025

Emmy Hildebrand, CEO of Helping Veterans and Families of Indiana, received the notification of the federal funding freeze on the morning of Jan. 28, after she left the Indiana legislature, where House leaders had recognized the nonprofit and hosted a donation drive for its benefit.

The email dropped into her inbox at 11 a.m., highlighting the impact on nonprofits that serve veterans, and the fallout quickly followed. Hildebrand described the remainder of the day as “pretty chaotic with lots of conflicting guidance,” as she and her staff, like other nonprofits and governmental entities across the country, tried to figure out the scope of the freeze and mitigate the harm that could come from losing federal dollars even temporarily.

“I appreciate being fiscally responsible, but I think you have to approach it kind of with a scalpel mind-set and not a hatchet,” Hildebrand said. “And I think the actions we’ve seen so far are they’re too sweeping and they’re too generic to really solve the issue without putting a lot of vulnerable people at risk.”

Hildebrand and other nonprofit leaders may get some relief this week. A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia was scheduled to rule by 5 p.m. Monday on a motion for a temporary restraining order to block the funding freeze. Also, a federal judge in Rhode Island also formally blocked the funding freeze for nearly two dozen states last week.

The D.C. District Court had ordered an administrative stay on Jan. 28, a day after the Office of Management and Budget issued its memo directing federal agencies to “temporarily pause” financial assistance and conduct a “comprehensive analysis” of the governmental and charitable agencies receiving the money. Noting the stay in this case is blocking an action of the executive branch, that court limited the duration just to give the opposing parties enough time to file their briefs and participate in a hearing.

Led by the National Council of Nonprofits, which has more than 30,000 organizational members in North America, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit show the wide impact of the funding freeze. The other entities bringing the lawsuit are the American Public Health Association, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on health; Main Street Alliance, a national network of small businesses; and SAGE, dedicated to helping lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults.

Aspen Clemmons, CEO of Prosperity Indiana, said the funding freeze and resulting confusion is putting many nonprofits at risk. She said the agencies and programs that are being impacted by the pause range from Head Start programs, domestic violence shelters, and housing initiatives to resources that handle mortgage subsidies, educational projects and disability services.

“A lot of nonprofits are not flush with enough cash to be able to float three months of services without those reimbursement payments coming in,” Clemmons said. “I think we would see the shuttering of a ton of critical neighborhood-level services that help keep communities strong.”

Hildebrand estimated HVAF, which is based in Indianapolis and serves homeless veterans, could continue operating for three months if the spigot of federal dollars is closed.

Bill Moreau, publisher of The Indiana Citizen, is a member of the HVAF board of directors.

Like many nonprofit programs, HVAF relies on federal monies for reimbursement of services already provided to their communities.

HVAF uses federal dollars to support about 90% of the funding for its transitional housing program and rental assistance service, according to Hildebrand. The transitional housing unit has 103 beds available, which are typically used by homeless veterans for up to ten months. Also, as part of the transitional program, the veterans receive help finding employment and getting connected to medical care, including mental health support. The rental assistance is used to aid veterans in finding a permanent place to live and then covering the monthly housing payments and utility bills for a period of time while they become self-sufficient.

Although the federal Department of Veterans Affairs did issue guidance indicating that the freeze exempted funding going to programs helping homeless veterans, Hildebrand is still leery. She said she is remaining cautious because of the uncertainty and upheaval of the past week created by the memo being issued and then rescinded, which was followed by the White House saying the freeze was still in effect.

“We’re talking about obligated funding that we have a contract in place for that pays us back for things we have already done to keep veterans from sleeping on our streets,” Hildebrand said. “So I wish there was a little more understanding about the funding.”

Funding freeze pending before the courts

In addition to National Council of Nonprofits et al. v. Office of Management and Budget, the case filed in the D.C. District Court, another case challenging the hold on federal dollars was filed in Rhode Island District Court by Democratic attorneys general from 22 states. On Friday, the federal judge in Rhode Island handed down a temporary restraining order thawing the freeze on funding in those 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Indiana is not a plaintiff in the attorneys’ general’s case – State of New York et al. v. Donald Trump et al. – but Illinois and Wisconsin, which along with the Hoosier State comprise the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, have joined that legal challenge.

The OMB memo required federal agencies to stop disbursements of financial assistance and review the recipients in order to ensure the programs and services comply with executive orders signed by President Donald Trump. Specifically, the OMB targeted “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI woke gender ideology and the green new deal.”

At Prosperity Indiana’s 2025 Statehouse Day on Thursday, Clemmons said some of the nonprofit leaders and staff members who had registered were unable to attend the event because they were scrambling to find other support to compensate for the loss of federal monies. She noted that the freeze could extend beyond the clients helped and ripple to the employees who earn their living by working for the nonprofits and to the restaurants, retailers and businesses that those employees patronize.

“I think most folks’ interpretation of the Constitution is that Congress holds the purse strings and makes appropriation decisions,” Clemmons said. “So this is an unprecedented memo coming out of the Office of Management and Budget through the White House.”

Hildebrand cited to statistics that illustrate the depth of homelessness among those who served in the U.S. military. Data shows that one out of every 10 individuals experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis is a veteran. Also, not only are veterans much more likely to be homeless than nonveterans, women veterans are two to three times more likely to be without a permanent residence than any other adult in the U.S., she said.

HVAF’s programs are successful according to different metrics, Hildebrand said. In the transitional housing program, at least 80% of the veterans have moved on to permanent housing, while the nonprofit’s rental assistance support is helping to keep veterans from becoming homeless again.

Hildebrand said the support from the Indiana House last week “was a really special moment for us.” In October, the HVAF suffered a catastrophic fire at its shelter in downtown Indianapolis, which displaced 48 veterans. Now, the nonprofit is having to navigate the unprecedented funding freeze and manage the concerns of its veterans and staff.

“We are doing our best to reassure everybody that we are in a strong position and we’re doing all the right things,” Hildebrand said.

Dwight Adams, an editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He is a former content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and worked as a planner for other newspapers, including the Louisville Courier Journal.

The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.

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