Waypoint Wins BIA's NH Award Advantage

Waypoint was bestowed the Business and Industry Association’s 2020 New Hampshire Advantage Award, which celebrates businesses, organizations or projects that enhance the Granite State’s special character and quality of life in meaningful ways. The award was presented at the BIA’s annual celebration in October.

The agency was recognized not only for the scope and magnitude of its services, which provide a lifeline across the life span, but also for its pioneering spirit in meeting the needs of each new generation over the past 172 years.

Waypoint exemplifies our country’s long-standing tradition of providing private sector approaches to public problems.

“It’s an honor and privilege and also a responsibility,” says Borja Alvarez de Toledo, Waypoint president and CEO, of leading the agency. “Waypoint was really conceived to evolve and change to meet the needs of what we perceive as gaps in the system.”

Waypoint’s success in helping underserved and under-represented families in three different centuries is driven by staying connected, Alvarez de Toledo said.

“We provide services in the home and community. Our advocacy and partnership with the state and fellow providers, as well as with the people we serve, keeps us well informed about the changing needs of families.”

COVID-19 made it more difficult to provide in-home visits. Elderly clients had elevated risk for serious illness and death from COVID, and Waypoint suddenly needed personal protective equipment.

“In most cases, we were really the only people in their lives to provide activities of daily living to allow them to remain independent,” Alvarez de Toledo said. “We did a lot of advocacy for being a group that needed PPE.”

Waypoint is the state’s largest provider of services for unhoused youth and its outreach was also curbed.

“We found more youth were unhoused because of the pandemic,” he said. “We had more difficulties reaching out to them. Most don’t have a data plan and rely on public spaces. We were able to purchase phones and plans to continue to serve those youth.”

Waypoint’s pivots included getting state approval to offer telehealth and remote services. “That was really positive and something that has stayed,” Alvarez de Toledo said.

New Hampshire’s worker shortage has created challenges and opportunities. Waypoint is focused on staff retention, promoting from within and keeping employees satisfied and engaged. It now incorporates remote work and flexible schedules. Both, Alvarez de Toledo said, are here to stay.

“It’s made us a better organization,” he said.

But inflation is taking its toll.

“Our contracts’ rates of reimbursement don’t change because of inflation,” he said. “We have to make up the difference if we want to raise compensation for our staff and that’s really challenging. Social work is critically important in lives and communities, and the work is really complex. We believe social workers, like teachers, deserve fair wages.”

Waypoint’s funding includes local, state and federal contracts, United Way support, special events, foundation grants and philanthropy. Fundraising is ever more important. Alvarez de Toledo said $2.18 million, or 14% of Waypoint’s budget, was fundraised in 2020. “It’s a little scary,” he said.

Rising costs and funding struggles made Waypoint, like many nonprofits, more entrepreneurial. The annual SleepOut exemplifies this. The 2022 event, held in hybrid fashion, raised over $320,000 to tackle youth homelessness. Eight SleepOuts have collectively raised more than $2.1 million, which has allowed Waypoint to expand services to unhoused youth (see articles on new Youth Resource Centers and Overnight Emergency Shelter).

Expansion comes at a cost, though, as government contracts don’t cover the cost of Waypoint’s services. “As we grow, we need to increase our fundraising,” he said.

Alvarez de Toledo maintains that reactive programs are far more expensive than proactive ones. New Hampshire, he said, historically has not appropriately funded prevention, but more government leaders now understand the need to invest in prevention to reduce reliance on services.

“It’s really exciting to see the pendulum shifting from reactive to proactive,” he said, ”but it takes convincing a lot of people.”

BIA’s annual dinner drew over 700 business and political leaders from around New Hampshire. The ceremony was presented by Eversource and the Advantage award was sponsored by Bank of America.