BATON ROUGE - Several taxpayer-funded agencies are coping with a harsh reality, going from fully funded to nothing. It's a reality organizations around East Baton Rouge Parish are grappling with as the Metro Council prepares its next budget because COVID-19-era American Rescue Plan money depleted.

Meaning, the city-parish has to find another way to pay for projects.

Before Thursday evening’s meeting was postponed, organization leaders say they were creating signs and rallying supporters to head downtown to convince the Metro Council to fund them. The last-minute postponement meant the organizations now have time to plan a critical pitch.

Jonathan Grimes has worked for the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge for twenty years and recently took over running the organization. It’s a maker space for artists and a $6.7 million money maker for the capital region.

“[It’s] incredibly important to our creative ecosystem,” Grimes said.

Even with a view of City Hall from the art council’s rooftop patio, Grimes says he was blindsided when he looked at the proposed budget for the first time. According to decades of published council budgets, there has been a steady decline for non-profits like this one.

In 2016, the city-parish allocated $334,220; $250,000 last year; and this year, nothing.

"I mean that's a significant cut," Grimes said.

It’s a cut that is felt across the city-parish. WBRZ spoke with the leader of Iris Domestic Violence Shelter, Patti Freeman, and combed through hundreds of pages and more than a decade of city-parish budgets to see what's changed. In 2016, the organization received more than $253,180, and like the GBR Arts Council, it would be reduced to zero.

“We're a human services organization, serving people that we all don't want to read about in the newspaper tomorrow because the worst-case scenario happened,” Freeman said.

Metro Councilmember Anthony Kenney serves as chair for the budget committee and says he’s hopeful needs can be met.

"We have taken time over the past week to ensure we look at every option before the worst-case scenario may happen,” Kenney said.

Next Tuesday, organization leaders are scheduled to present their pitches to the metro council and lobby for more money.