WARNER ROBINS -- For 20 years, Warner Robins-based CASA of Houston County, Inc. applied for a city-issued Community Development Block Grant. Last year, it finally received $250 for training services.
“Two hundred and fifty dollars may not seem like a lot, but we needed it,” said Velicia Lowe, CASA executive director, as she adjusted her sweater to once again present her organization’s needs to a city committee.
About 15 Warner Robins nonprofit leaders pleaded their cases during a public hearing Tuesday morning to a committee that will help decide which will receive funds this year in the public services category of the CDBG program. Meanwhile, program director Sherri Windham said the city may not see a decline in its federal allotment for the first time in recent years.
“It makes planning a lot easier,” she said.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which primarily funds the CDBG program, recently estimated the amount at $434,000. The funds are combined with revenue from city-issued Single-Family Owner Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program loans to make up the program’s budget.
Federal funding has declined for the past few years, Windham said. However, the recent HUD estimate is promising, she said.
“I think what helped us out was (that) this year they used the 2010 Census,” Windham said. “They had been using the 2000 Census,” which showed about 18,000 fewer residents than the 2010 Census.
For the second year, organizations requesting funds in the public services category of the program were asked to attend a public hearing to describe their services, backgrounds and other application requirements to a committee.
A second public hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 7 at City Hall to review a draft of the CDBG distributions. Mayor and council must review and approve a final draft before it is sent to HUD by May 15.
Funds in the public services category are the most sought after of the eight categories within the program, Windham has said. Still, only 15 percent of the program funds are distributed in the competitive category. Other categories are public housing, clearance and demolition, and public facilities.
Fund reductions have become a reality organization leaders try to understand, several said.
“We’re not asking for an increase,” said Joe Bishop, of the Houston County Certified Literate Community Program, during his bid for $15,000. “We know the butter gets spread thinly on the bread.”
Other organizations that presented included True Light Transportation, the HODAC Gateway Cottage, Meals on Wheels and NAMI Central Georgia, Inc. A handful of organizations that applied for funds did not attend the public hearing, and are therefore disqualified from the grants, Windham said.
Organizations interested in funds during next year’s grant process should look out for an October informational session. Windham said public notices are put out before the meeting, and a mass e-mail is sent to any organization that has contacted her office at City Hall.
She said she is hoping funds will remain stable through next year.
Last year, several organizations’ funding was either cut in full or in part after a more than 11 percent decrease in HUD funds. For fiscal 2010, the program distributed about $500,000; for fiscal 2011, the funds decreased to just more than $417,000, according to Windham.
The cuts included a $500 deduction from the previous year’s $10,000 for the Family Counseling Center of Central Georgia, according to executive director Frank Mack. He said organizations are facing funding restraints from almost all sources, not just the CDBG program.
“We had to do a number of things to cut back, but -- despite that -- we still had a record number of people we served,” he said. “You would think $500 wasn’t a lot, but other grants have also been cut. It all comes together” to affect organizations’ overall budgets.
To contact writer Christina M. Wright, call 256-9685.
