In September 2017, we told the story of Agnes Gund, the banking heiress who sold a Roy Lichtenstein masterpiece for $165 million and donated the proceeds to the Art for Justice Fund she founded. The purpose was to “do something about” the mass incarceration of minor drug offenders that filled American jails with 2.3 million people and distinguished the U.S. as the jailor of more of its citizens than any other country on earth.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services budget for 2018 is a healthy $1,131 Billion. To keep this astounding number in perspective, a trillion dollar plus budget for HHS is nothing new. In 2016 the total outlay for HHS was $1,103 Billion and in 2017 the number will come in close to $1,130 Billion.

The Health and Human Services budget is the backbone of our entire social services system. Here’s how this enormous amount of money will be spent:

The universe of social services is populated with heroes.

That’s the theme that emerged from our year-end review of blogs we posted in 2017. Every story we attempted to tell contained an individual or an organization that went above and beyond the norm in service to their constituents. 

The current administration in Washington is seeking to repeal the so-called Johnson Amendment in the cause of free speech. This is an issue of critical importance to all nonprofit organizations. While adhering to our long-standing position of not taking sides in the political debate, we would like to take this opportunity to call attention to the impending repeal of the Johnson Amendment.