Faith-Based and Community Services
Last Updated: April 8, 2025
Discretionary grants to faith-based food, shelter, and addiction ministries reduced or cut.
Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships closed.
Small religious nonprofits no longer prioritized in grant structures.
Technical assistance programs for faith-based grantees eliminated.
Grants being cut or changed
Faith-based initiatives and community service programs funded through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are seeing dramatic cuts in 2025. Many discretionary grants supporting faith-based nonprofits that provide food, shelter, addiction recovery, family stabilization, and international aid have been reduced or discontinued. Programs previously targeting partnerships with churches, mosques, synagogues, and community centers have lost line-item funding in the 2026 proposed federal budget.
Eliminations or restructuring
The White House Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships has been dissolved. Federal agencies are moving toward more general competitive grant structures that no longer prioritize or track participation of faith-based providers. Technical assistance programs that supported smaller religious nonprofits in accessing federal funds have also been discontinued. Some remaining grants have shifted to larger national nonprofits or state-administered block grants, leaving smaller, localized organizations out of reach.
On hold or court challenges
Several national coalitions of faith-based organizations are petitioning Congress and exploring legal avenues to challenge the dismantling of designated funding streams. There are also questions about whether faith-based organizations were disproportionately affected during grant reallocation processes, which could trigger civil rights claims.
Timeline
The restructuring began in early 2025 and has accelerated through the spring. Many grants were not renewed or were cut mid-cycle, leaving organizations without promised support. Full programmatic changes are expected to be codified in the FY2026 federal budget cycle starting in October 2025.
State-level impact
Kentucky and Tennessee faith-based addiction recovery and shelter ministries report lost federal partnerships that sustained rural services. North Carolina and South Carolina food ministries have downsized meal programs due to cuts. In Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, many small churches and faith coalitions have suspended mentoring, education, and crisis aid programs that were federally supported. Across all seven focus states, smaller community-based religious groups are struggling to sustain outreach and services without replacement funding.
Sources
White House Archives. (2025, February 12). Closure of Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/partnerships/news/2025-closure
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2025, March 10). Update on community services and discretionary grant funding. https://www.hhs.gov/news/funding-update-faith-2025
NPR. (2025, March 28). Faith-based nonprofits lose access to federal support. https://www.npr.org/2025/03/28/faith-groups-funding-cuts
Associated Press. (2025, April 5). Legal scrutiny mounts over treatment of faith-based grant recipients. https://apnews.com/article/faith-nonprofit-grants-2025
