I’ve been a member of a small progressive church here in Brooklyn for nearly two decades. The church is a squat old building with a giant LGBTQIA flag waving in the front and many other signs of virtue affixed to the wrought iron gates. We try to be as welcoming to anyone who comes thru the doors as we can be, and we offer food and other services to our neighbors in need.
It is perhaps for this reason that every once in a while — despite us having clear signs rejecting it — anonymous people will drop bags and boxes of their old used crap onto our stoop.
The best I can figure, they are telling themselves a story like, “I am a good person. My things were once good. The church does good things. They will figure out what is in the box and put my old crap to good use.”
The fact of the matter is we can’t and we don’t go through that stuff. We toss it. We don’t have the capacity to sort through it. We are almost entirely volunteer run, anonymous person!
So what does this have to do with winding down organizations? Well, a key pillar of the work I do (and encourage) with organizations is defining a legacy and sharing it publicly. What did you do? How did you do it with? What did you learn? What are the seeds for those to come?
I also encourage them to find stewards for the work and work products they have lovingly created. There are likely people who want to support the mission to move forward in their absence, so spending time telling that story, neatly organizing those assets, and identifying those stewards could well be worth it. Leaving a mixed-up box of stuff behind to be tossed just ain’t right. But, hey, that’s just me.
Here are the links:
Since 2009, Arts Alive has promoted and offered grants to local artists, while also organizing events such as Keene ArtWalk, a free summer festival that partners artists with area businesses to display their work.
The organization sustained an initial financial blow last year when an expected grant from National Endowment for the Arts was withdrawn. Insult was added to injury this year when the government informed them that their perceived DEI work rendered them ineligible for yet another grant. The group’s board is now scrambling to rehome their programs and set a final date of operations.
Despite cries from native leaders and scholars across the nation, a federal archive holding thousands of documents spanning over two centuries of Indigenous life may soon be closed,
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) materials stored at the National Archives in Chicago can be crucial when it comes to assessing tribal enrollment rolls, accessing documentation of Indian trust funds and even uncovering information about the Federal Indian Boarding School era. The archive contains maps, photos, court records, first-hand testimonies, Indigenous language materials, genealogies and more.
The government is also threatening to shutter archives in Seattle and San Francisco.
“What happens to an artist’s work, archives, and ideas when they are gone? Who makes the decisions that drive who and what gets to be remembered? What stories and perspectives are at risk of being lost in times of accelerated cultural erasure?“
In this report, which reflects the explorations from their 2025 Creating Future Memory convening, representatives the Joan Mitchell Foundation shares interesting new ideas for legacy stewardship.
A blistering investigation into operations at San Francisco nonprofit housing organization Homerise have resulted in revelations of tenant abuse and financial impropriety. Upon discovery, the city subsequently pulled its contracts, ultimately resulting in the organization’s collapse.
The wind down means that 1,500 residents across 17 different complexes will need to be quickly moved to new providers. According to reports, this is the largest and fastest shutdown of a housing provider in the area, and threatens to turn many vulnerable people back into the streets.
The organization’s board says they are now looking for a CEO to oversee the dissolution (job anyone?). Meanwhile, San Francisco is in the process of overhauling how it works with private homeless service providers.
After nearly 40 years, The League of Friends of Scarborough Hospital has announced it will cease operations. Over many decades, the group has provided supplementary items to patients staying in the hospital, including practical things the NHS didn’t provide like mugs, kettles, TVs, radios, headphones, cooling fans and “a massive amount of furniture” to ensure more comfortable stays. However, the substantial income lost after their charity shop closed meant they were unable to carry on.
As they check out of the hospital, the Friends note that the NHS’s own charity can now offer similar support.
“I’m getting old,” was the reason University of Nebraska at Lincoln law professor Kevin Ruser gave for leaving his role as founder and head of the university’s immigration law clinic. Since 1998, the clinic has helped budding lawyers gain hands-on experience, while generating a pipeline of local immigration attorneys in the state of Nebraska, which struggles to attract out-of-state talent.
The decision is coming at a time when the university — like many across the country! — is struggling with a financial shortfall. While the fate of the clinic isn’t sealed, it will remain shut for the foreseeable future. For now, Ruser and his students have ensured their clients can find help with other practitioners and nonprofits around Nebraska.
Yours in the end,
Camille
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