Doing more with less: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latino-serving community-based organizations

Community-based organizations (CBOs) played a key role in providing health and safety net support to low-income Latino communities during the COVID-19 pandemic; yet we know little about how organizations navigated challenges during this time. Understanding how CBOs navigate challenging periods is critical to ensuring a robust safety net for Latino and other underserved populations. We examined the factors that allowed CBOs to address Latino communities' needs and the potential long-term impact of the pandemic on the sustainability of their health programs. Using a case study approach, we conducted in-depth interviews with directors, program managers, frontline staff, and community health workers from three CBOs serving Latinos in California. Interviews were analyzed in their original language (English or Spanish) to identify three key themes. Bilingual, bicultural CBO staff were key resources in providing tailored interventions to Latino communities. The pandemic led to an infusion of new funding that allowed CBOs to expand staff capacity and engage in health promotion initiatives for the first time. However, despite the new infusion of resources, the ongoing lack of flexibility from funders, challenges to providing pay to community health workers, and financial burdens of grants left CBOs in precarious circumstances. This examination of how CBOs adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic provides insights into how organizations navigate crises and other major changes in health needs and the funding landscape and identifies the resources needed to maintain the sustainability of the organizations that provide critical safety net services to Latino and other underserved populations.