Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64HR/HIRING A nother area where discrimination threats come into play is through hiring and human resource issues. Naturally, faith- based organizations want to be able to hire people who agree with and support their basic beliefs, but missions worry about being exposed to discrimi- nation lawsuits based on religious beliefs. Mark worries about “losing our ability to hire only people that agree with our Statement of Faith (marriage, sexual practices, salvation, God, etc.). So many areas make missions vulnerable to discrimination accusations. Along with SOGI, missions could also be brought to court for issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act and problems surrounding whether or not service dogs should be allowed in the mission. These are “not new issues but are probably going to increase in nature and scope,” Roy says. FINANCES C hanges in financial laws deeply concern nonprofits, as AGRM members have known for several years. Raising the mini- mum wage, eliminating tax-exempt status, reducing the tax deduction for charitable giving, and taxing nonprofit income could all have massive impacts on rescue missions and other nonprofits. “If Congress/IRS ever decides to recoup the taxable income revenue it has ceded to benevolent Americans through charitable contributions, it will seriously cripple all nonprofits,” says Denny. “Should Congress move in that direction, cash- strapped local municipalities might follow suit and rescind the property tax exclusion—a death knell to not-for-profit entities like missions and churches with large campuses.” LaCount Anderson, director of Union Mission of Roanoke Rapids in North Carolina, wonders 22 WWW.AGRM.ORG JULY/AUGUST 2016 Along with SOGI, missions could also be brought to court for issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act and problems surrounding whether or not service dogs should be allowed in the mission. SEXUAL ORIENTATION/ GENDER ISSUES 80% FINANCIAL ISSUES 44% RELIGIOUS LIBERTY/FREEDOM OF RELIGION 40% Weighing Heavily In an informal poll of rescue mission CEOs about legal issues that missions are already facing or issues that appear to be imminent, these were the areas of greatest concern: (CEOs could list multiple topics)