Continued dramatic federal funding cuts will mean a reduction in services provided by Delaware Humanities.
Last Thursday, the group was notified that extensive cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities ordered by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency mean funding to Delaware Humanities would be deeply affected. Michele Anstine is Delaware Humanities’ executive director.
“If the cuts hold, $900,000 a year that we depended on from the federal government won't be coming into our budget," she says.
While the organization has some reserve funding, a quarter-million dollars of grants offered by Delaware Humanities to local nonprofits will likely be terminated. Rebecca Olsen is the group’s senior programs manager.
“A grant for a project that aims to alleviate the costs of bringing experts in to teach K to 12 students about Delaware's local environment," Olsen said. "Preserving oral histories, made possible by a collaboration with the local 4H group. There's the project on the treatment of black nurses in the state of Delaware as part of an education initiative to better the nursing community in the state.”
Those cuts could reduce or end offerings like Delaware Humanities' Speakers’ Program and the Prime Time Family Reading program, one effort to help Delaware address its childhood literacy problem.
“That program models continued family bonding through literature," Olsen says. "It supports discussions focused on open-ended questions. It's really about fostering literacy skills and critical thinking, not just for children, but for families.”
Olsen says last fiscal year programs offered by Delaware Humanities reached over half a million Delawareans. She adds the group has some reserve funding to keep programs going, but if the cuts stay in force, their board will face difficult decisions.
These cuts are among the latest to hit home in the First State. Widely-publicized cuts to the Food Bank of Delaware prompted several food drives last week, while a fair housing advocacy organization also saw significant cuts to its federal grants.
Delaware Public Media has previously received Delaware Humanities funding and produces its People and Planet podcast.
