by Krystal Paco

Guam - Sequestration has been a hot topic for months and many government agencies have been bracing for the cuts. But the island's non-profit groups are also going to be hard hit as they rely heavily on federal grants to provide critical services to the community. Non-profit groups islandwide will be expected to do more with less once sequestration takes effect on their Fiscal Year 2014 federal grants.

For Salvation Army Captain Mike Lutcher anticipates the cut will be around $15,000. "The grant that we're having helps people with their rental assistance or their utilities like electricity, water - if we're paying that for them we may have to take what amount we're being cut and that will be less people that we service," she said.

But with the need for such services rising, Lutcher says there's some tough decisions that need to be made. "Do we cut in our services to people that we help, or is it going to be cutting a position a full time to part time position or hours down that's a decision that hasn't been made but knowing that a decision soon has to be made?" he questioned.

Guma Mami executive director Bernie Grajek says it's hard for Guma Mami to speculate how much in cuts the organization will feel as a result of sequestration largely due to the fact that the non-profit is a sub-grantee for larger grants. She said, "At this point in time, we aren't going to be able to at least on Guma Mami's side. I know that locally we have been asked to cut our budget and our budget has been cut locally."

Guma Mami provides supportive services for adults with developmental disabilities and serious mental illnesses; some of their services, like group homes, require 24-hour care. Sarah Thomas-Nededog with Payu-Ta told KUAM News, "We can expect and we should embrace as a community that there are going to be severe cuts especially to healthcare and standard social services supports that those are going to be reduced at some level."

But looking ahead, non-profits are putting up their defenses. As Thomas-Nededog reports, a recent non-profit congress adopted resolutions for non-profits to generate revenue. Such strategies for sustainability include supporting regional tax credits and other incentives for contributions to nonprofits that are recognized by the government and non-profits meeting with the local government and private sector to contract or outsource divisions that non-profits could do.

Sequestration in the meantime is also affecting the Guam National Wildlife Refuge at Ritidian. Starting May 1the visitor center will be closed Monday through Friday and will be by appointment only. Access to the refuge's self guided nature trails, beach, picnic and fishing spots will remain open.