Insights from Gatepath were featured in a recent San Mateo Daily Journal article entitled “Nonprofits struggle with growing rents,” which brings to light one of the biggest challenges facing Bay Area based nonprofits – increasingly high operating costs.

Providing services to thousands of children, youth, and adults with developmental disabilities and their families at eight locations in seven cities in San Mateo County for 98 years, we have had to be innovative in how we operate our facilities and deliver services. Needless to say, the competition for space is intense and facilities costs and rents are extremely high, making it challenging for nonprofits to support the needs of the community.

Two of our locations are Learning Links Preschools that offer a unique inclusive curriculum to support early childhood education in children of all abilities, including those with special needs. A recent study by the San Mateo County Child Care Partnership Council points out that there are not enough preschools in the Bay Area to serve the estimated 7,967 preschoolers in need of child care. And while we aim to expand our inclusive preschools to meet demand, the current economic climate makes expanding the number of children we can serve very difficult.

To address the challenges of high rents in the Bay Area and the high cost of living for our staff, we have made major adjustments and focused on innovative solutions to maintain our quality of service.

Collaborating with other nonprofits to share space, investing in systems and technology such as video conferencing, and allowing employees to work flexibly to cut down on commute time are just a few of the business infrastructure adjustments we have implemented that allow us to continue to thrive.

In 2019, we are committed to seeking additional mutually-beneficial partnerships with others in our community, further educating our state and local leaders about the economic pressures facing our organization amid growing demand for our services and continuing to explore innovative ways to provide inclusive early childhood preschool education to more children.

Read the full article by San Mateo Daily Journal staff writer Anna Schuessler and learn more about the shifts being made by Gatepath and other nonprofits to allow us to continue providing valuable services to members of our communities: https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/nonprofits-struggle-with-growing-rents/article_0de535f8-0b16-11e9-a78f-739017609c2c.html