[I am pasting an email I recieved from the WCRC, a Bay Area Trailblazer for more than a decade. This is the kind of news that rarely makes the front page, but that affects us all. The recession has hit the non-profit world harder than any other sector.  cb]

Dear Friends and Supporters of Women of Color Resource Center,

For 20 years, Women of Color Resource Center has been a strong and
sometimes singular voice on the most pressing issues facing women of
color. Our strength has been grounded in the experiences and
leadership of everyday women and people, like yourself who have
supported us and made our small but important organization possible.


Today it is with great difficulty and deep regret that we, the Board
of Women of Color Resource Center, reach out to you. We come to you,
our friends and supporters, for guidance, understanding and
assistance.

As some of you may have heard, WCRC has been confronting a financial
crisis since December that has brought us to the brink of collapse.
Like many organizations in this period, the organization has struggled
to raise revenues in this economically difficult climate. For us the
fundraising situation was made more difficult due to a leadership
transition from our founding director at the end of 2007. The
organization borrowed heavily throughout the past two years to make up
for the revenues we could not generate-- a strategy that we now see
increased our long term vulnerability.

In December, the organization’s finances reached a crisis level. With
$90,000 of debt, dwindling resources and escalating rent costs, the
board felt we had few options. We laid off the staff, shut down our
physical office and ceased all programming activities until we could
deal with the financial crisis and try to map a strategy for the
future.

We know that the news of the current state of the organization comes
at great disappointment, shock and devastation to many. This
organization has touched many lives over its 20 years of existence.
There are countless women and a few men – including many of you -- who
have poured their hearts, sweat and tears into building this
organization.

To you, the organization owes not only deep gratitude for your support
throughout the years, but also an explanation as to how this happened
and what, if anything, we could have done to prevent it.
Unfortunately we do not yet have all the answers to those questions at
this moment. Our main priority has been addressing the immediate
financial issues, particularly resolving our remaining debt.

However, we as an organization are committed to a full evaluation as
to how these circumstances evolved, how we handled them and how we
could have improved our fiscal responsibility. We look forward to
sharing the results of our analysis and engaging with the WCRC
community once we complete our assessment.

As far as the future of WCRC it is uncertain. We wish that we could
promise with certainty that there is a clear path to rebuilding. And
that WCRC will celebrate its 20th Anniversary and beyond.
Unfortunately, we cannot.

Nevertheless we want to express our commitment to explore all
available and potential avenues, if any, to reorganization.  We commit
to pursuing these possibilities in direct conversation with the WCRC
community to whom we are accountable beginning with resolving the
immediate financial situation in the most responsible manner possible
and rebuilding the trust with our supporters.

Some of you have reached out and asked the best way to support the
organization during this current period. We continue to need technical
and financial support to both address the immediate financial issues
and to have any chance at rebuilding. If you can offer either
financial assistance (no matter how great or small) or technical
assistance, such as basic bookkeeping, please contact us at
womenofcolorresourcecenter@gmail.com.

In this age of social networking we realize that truth and rumor or
misinformation are often co-mingled.  We pledge ourselves to an open
and honest dialogue about all that has happened.  We invite you to
contact us directly with your comments, questions and suggestions at
the email address above.

We would like to close by expressing our continued belief, as
individuals and as a board, in the mission of this organization. We
believe that it has made, and can make in the future, an invaluable
contribution to building a more just world for women and people of
color. We sincerely hope that you share this belief with us.

We hope that we have the fortune and opportunity to build on this
shared belief to continue the work and vision of WCRC, in whatever
form it may take.
Thank you for your time and support today and throughout the years.

WCRC Board of Directors

Caroline Acuña, Jung Hee Choi, elmira Nazombe, Genevieve
Negrón-Gonzales, Malaika Parker, Alex Vazquez, Mei-ying Williams

www.coloredgirls.org