Every day across Utah, nonprofits do work that too often goes unseen — feeding the hungry, sheltering the vulnerable and helping families find their footing when everything around them is uncertain.
In towns and neighborhoods across our state, nonprofits run food programs that provide hot meals, groceries and a sense of dignity to those facing hunger. They serve families stretched thin, seniors living alone and parents doing everything they can to keep food on the table. “Meals at our shelter are about more than nutrition,” one member of Utah Nonprofits Association shared. “They’re a reminder that everyone deserves to be cared for, no matter where they’re coming from. A meal can’t solve homelessness — but it can help restore strength, dignity, and the will to keep going.”
Elsewhere, community organizations are stepping up to provide shelter — not just a place to sleep, but support systems that help our most vulnerable regain their purpose. From temporary housing to job coaching and childcare, these programs help people move forward. As a former shelter resident put it, “The open doors that they have are keeping so many young people alive and giving them the opportunity to reach their full potential.”
These quiet acts of service — offered without fanfare — are rooted in a long tradition of Americans caring for their neighbors. Feeding the hungry. Offering shelter. Lifting those who have stumbled. Not because anyone asked them to, but because it’s the right thing to do.
And yet, today, many of these nonprofits are under attack. Not because they have failed to serve their missions, but because they have succeeded in serving those who are too often forgotten.
Across the country, programs that provide food assistance and housing have been eliminated, defunded or had their funding frozen. Local nonprofits, rooted in values of service and stewardship, are being forced to cut hours, lay off staff and turn people away. But it doesn’t stop there. Increasingly, communities of faith are also being scrutinized, questioned or sidelined — not for any wrongdoing, but for simply carrying out their mission to serve.
Whether it’s a church-run pantry or a faith-based shelter, organizations guided by moral conviction are finding themselves caught in the political crossfire. Their quiet, consistent work — feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, lifting up the broken — is now seen by some not as a public good, but as something to be investigated, regulated or removed.
This is not just short-sighted — it undermines the very fabric of community life.
Utahns, who lead the nation in charitable giving and volunteerism, should be outraged. We know what it means to step in, to lift up to give freely. When nonprofits are threatened, it’s not just the organizations that suffer — it’s the people they serve, and the values we all hold dear.
Let’s be clear: nonprofits aren’t political machines. They don’t exist to win arguments or seek power. They exist to serve. To feed the child whose cupboards are bare. To help a father find work. To support a family that needs a hand up to get back on their feet.
They do this work with deep humility and transparency, filing public reports, disclosing details of their leadership and sharing their outcomes. They earn trust by living it. To cast them as unaccountable or agenda-driven is not just false — it’s unfair and dangerous.
To our elected officials: nonprofits are doing the work your constituents depend on. Supporting them should not be political — it should be common sense.
And to every Utahn who believes in service, personal responsibility and strong families: Nonprofits have your back. It’s time we have theirs.
When you stand up for nonprofits, you stand up for the parents working two jobs to keep food on the table. For seniors trying to stretch fixed incomes. For children who sleep better knowing they’ll eat tomorrow.
Nonprofits aren’t perfect—but they are principled. They reflect the best of our values: hard work, humility, and neighbors helping neighbors.
There was a time when we honored those who stepped up to help others, those who gave their time, their resources and sometimes the shirts off their backs to relieve suffering and make families and communities more resilient. That time shouldn’t be over.