Closing Remarks #21

Ooooweee! We're only a week in to the new imperial reign here in the US, and I am already seeing an absolute avalanche of closure announcements and threats to civil society organizations not only domestically but internationally. When it rains, it floods.

Doing this newsletter was already never gonna be an exercise of trying to jot down every closure I heard about, but, rather, filtering through for organizational sunsets and shutterings --- both large and small --- that told a story about the various impacts of a support service leaving a community. The hope is that by exploring how those vacuums appear in our world, we can create better practices to address them and ultimately do less harm. To that end, the majority of the work is skimming, doing a little (and sometimes too much) research to see what is most interesting, slapping this thing together the best I can, and sending it over to you.

As we head into the onslaught of a three-ring circus combined with a ten car pile-up, I think it's best that we all try to train looking but not staring -- focusing on just a few areas that really matter to us and then filtering out the stuff that isn't gonna make the cut. You are not bad or uncaring if you choose not to react to every single tremor in this absolute volcano of a political landscape. As the great Erma Bombeck once said, “Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.”

I understand how upset, fearful, and frankly annoyed so many people are that this year feels like "all over again". However, in reality, this year is different and we are different, and that might make all the difference this time around.

Here are this week's links:

1) Trump alludes to closing disaster response agency
To anyone following along in their pocket copy of Project 2025, President Trump's proposal to fold the Federal Emergency Management Agency should come as no surprise. However, in the midst of historic fires in our nation's largest state, it is undoubtedly causing panic.

2) International autism charity downsizing
Autism Speaks announced that it will cease operations in Canada at the end of January. The U.S.-based organization, which advocates for people with autism and their families, stressed that it was not a financial decision and that they would continue to find ways to support autism efforts across the border.

3) Danish startup accelerator sunsets

After 25 years of seeding the Danish tech startup scene, the Venture Cup’s board has decided to shut down the organisation. The group will hold its final awards show in March and end all operations in April.

4) Church closure seeds new community care efforts
When Immanuel Baptist Church in North Carolina stopped welcoming parishioners after more than a century of service, the building was sold and the proceeds were then distributed to more than 75 charitable organizations. Over $1 million was given to a host of local nonprofit groups, including Community Crossroads Center, The Salvation Army, Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, the Center for Domestic Violence Prevention and Carolina Pregnancy Center.

5) Rural health center's shuttering leaves patients without care
Coast Community Health Center, south of Coos Bay in Oregon, announced that it will shut down entirely this winter. While no explanation was provided, reports note that the board mentioned being in a "downward spiral" last year after the departure of their longtime CEO. The closure will leave many in the community with no place to turn for free and low cost physical and mental health services.

6) UK motor scooter service charity displaced

The Market Harborough branch of ShopMobility, a national organization that provides motor scooters for hire to people with reduced mobility, was forced to close after their landlord, the Leicestershire County Council, put the community center up for sale. No other suitable facilities were available in the area, and the group could not afford to purchase their building.

Women and Children First is based in the UK and operates in countries throughout Africa, as well as in South Asia and Latin America. It was founded 25 years ago to support improved childbirth outcomes and expanded to address many other health issues affecting mothers and children on the continent. Their dissolution was precipitated by financial concerns, according to reports.

8) A valuable legal perspective on US "nonprofit killer" bill

"While widely seen as a threat to civil society, HR 9495 actually gives nonprofits more power to fight back than the existing law. Treasury’s power to effectively close a nonprofit by a simple declaration remains a dangerous reality. The agency still isn’t required to disclose or provide recourse or due process."

In this great article, Professor Daryll K Jones shares why the proposed bill -- while bad in many ways -- may offer more due process than the existing policy.

Closing Remarks is brought to you by The Wind Down, a consultancy for exploring, building, designing, and delivering better endings for mission-driven projects and organizations, and also raising closure consciousness.