Weeksville Struggles with Dwindling Funding

Weeksville Heritage Center is facing a shrinking budget just as it opens a brand new museum building, the New York Times reported. The historical nonprofit has an annual budget of $1 million, down from $1.6 million, as funding sources have dried up. It’s been forced to lay off half of its 13 staff members and change some of their schedules from full time to part time. And Weeksville’s longtime executive director, Pamela Green, left this summer to care for her aging mother in Mississippi.

WHC has tried to get city funding by joining the Cultural Institutions Group, a list of institutions that gets financial and technical assistance from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, but was unsuccessful. The chairman of the board said he hopes the incoming director will be able to boost funding. Weeksville hosted a ribbon cutting for the new 23,000-square-foot, $34,000,000 building just two weeks ago on December 11.

Weeksville Black History Site Hobbled by Dip in Donations [NY Times]
Weeksville Heritage Center Celebrates New Museum Building [Brownstoner]