Combatting Burnout and Compassion Fatigue Thanks to the OneMPLS Fund

Watercourse Counseling Center, along with 29 other organizations, mostly small to medium-sized nonprofits that support children, youth, and families in need, or adults seeking living-wage career and business opportunities, received a grant from the Minneapolis Foundation’s OneMPLS Fund. 

The Minneapolis Foundation sought to enhance the capacity of local nonprofits so that they could better meet the evolving needs of diverse communities in Minneapolis and the inner-ring suburbs. The Minneapolis Foundation awarded $952,000 in grants from its OneMPLS fund and grant recipients used the funding for a variety of needs flowing from the pandemic. Some needs included, investments in technology, staffing to properly manage restricted state and federal funding or to adapt their programs, staff wellness and incentives to combat burnout, and planning and visioning resources to help nonprofit leaders ensure sustainable operations for the long haul. 

Thanks to the OneMPLS grant, Watercourse Counseling Center has been able to invest these funds in their staff by providing each clinical staff member with a wellness fund in order to combat the burnout and compassion fatigue experienced since the start of the pandemic as well as to provide specific support to BIPOC staff who have been disproportionately impacted by the racial reckoning and social unrest following the murder of George Floyd. Staff members have taken advantage of these funds to cover self-care expenses, including personal health care costs, yoga memberships and classes, massages, exercise equipment, and dance lessons. With this additional help, staff members have been able to access means of alleviating workplace and secondary traumatic stress and to enhance their capacity to best meet the needs of their clients. 

Read more from the Minneapolis Foundation here.