DES MOINES, Iowa- Non-profit organizations in Iowa are moving forward “cautiously optimistic” after a roller coaster ride over the past few days.

“I just… I was at a loss,” said Kimberly Grandstaff. “I couldn’t believe that this would happen.”

Grandstaff is the Corporate Financial Officer for the Institute for Community Alliances (ICA) based in Des Moines. She said when she logged in online to withdraw government-issued funds around 6 a.m. on Tuesday, they were unavailable.

That was 11 hours before a deadline that had been provided by President Donald Trump’s budget office in a memo the afternoon prior. The Office of Management and Budget announced the sudden and temporary freeze of spending on Federal loans and grants on Monday stating that it would take effect at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Administration officials said the pause was necessary to review whether spending aligned with President Trump’s executive orders on issues like climate change and diversity and equity and inclusion programs, according to the Associated Press.

According to Grandstaff, their funds were earmarked for the payroll, rent, and other bills that help to keep the non-profit running. The realization that the funds had been frozen preemptively prompted an emergency, all-hands meeting with its nearly 150 employees across the U.S.

“It was probably one of the worst meetings of my life,” she told WHO-13’s Katie Kaplan. “You never want to tell people that they might lose their job. And that’s pretty much what we were kind of trying to warn, that if we don’t get this money, and if we don’t get access, we’re going to have to start laying off pretty much for all of our workforce.”

The organization relies on federal funds for about 85 percent of its operating budget,
and they assist nearly every county in Iowa, as well as other states across the nation,
with data and planning on how to help those struggling with homelessness, she said.

The frozen funds could have also stopped some of their partner agencies from being able to provide rental assistance to clients as soon as February 1.

“I was really worried about the work that my team is doing, about the work that all of the agencies that we work with are doing, because we know that federal funding is is one of the key pieces to addressing homelessness in Iowa,” said Courtney Guntly, the director of Iowa Balance of State Continuum of Care.

After an emergency hearing on Tuesday, a federal judge delayed the freeze roughly a week. Then on Wednesday, just as quickly as it was issued, the memo was rescinded by the Trump Administration.

While the funding for ICA was eventually accessed, it gave local leaders a proverbial case of whiplash. Guntly described the situation as “discouraging” and said it left her skeptical of what might unfold in the future.

“I mean, cautiously optimistic… not sure where things go from here,” she said when asked about the future. “I think, you know, there’s a Tweet from the press secretary that indicates that maybe this isn’t over, but for now, it seems like we can move forward and proceed.”

“I think it certainly gives all of us who receive federal funding a little bit of hesitancy and concern about just how well will our work continue,” she said.

The funds that were temporarily frozen were granted in fiscal year 2023 and had been signed into law by Congress. Given that they were frozen without notice once already, these non-profit leaders said they had lost confidence in the process.

In the coming weeks, Grandstaff and Guntly said they would now be focused on a new task- figuring out how to secure more non-federal funding moving forward.