The Disaster Preparedness and Response Program of the Human Services Council of New York City, an umbrella group of local nonprofit organizations that handled disaster coordination in the aftermath of September 11, closed this month after the state declined to renew its financing, reports The New York Times.

One of several disaster programs affected by this year’s budget cuts, the council program was first paid for by money from the State Office of Homeland Security, then by the State Department of Health, which gave the group $380,000 in a contract that ended in 2007.

“It was a limited-time contract,” said Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman for the State Division of the Budget. “It was not intended to be an ongoing funding stream. They completed the work they were contracted to do.”

But the council contends that there is still a lot of work to be done. “You can’t just set something up in 2005 and have it be relevant in 2009,” said Nancy Wackstein, board chair of the Human Services Council. “There has to be ongoing maintenance.”

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