City manager releases nonprofit funding recommendations
Published 10:57 pm Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Half the organizations that applied for funding from city coffers will be receiving money, if council members accept the city manager’s recommendations.
In a memo to City Council, City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn recommended that 15 of 30 organizations be awarded money from a pot of $225,000 that was approved in the fiscal year 2009-2010 budget process. The process, which differed from past years, was part of “appropriate streamlining” of past city practices, Cuffee-Glenn wrote.
The organizations requested a total of $729,000, meaning the requested amount had to be cut by nearly two thirds. Amounts awarded ranged from $1,000 up to $38,000.
Several organizations, including The Genieve Shelter, ForKids, the Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project, Western Tidewater Free Clinic, the CHKD child abuse program and the Suffolk Literacy Council, were the victims of the reduced funding, receiving no money from the pot, according to the memo.
However, the Genieve Shelter, ForKids, the Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project and the Western Tidewater Free Clinic are receiving money from other resources, including Community Development Block Grants and HOME Investment Partnership Grant funds, according to city officials.
A city committee comprising the city manager, the chief of staff, the budget director, the director of parks and recreation, and the director of social services used criteria such as proof of nonprofit status, nature of service, local funding ratio, matching funds, board membership and financial management to determine the recommendations, according to a memo to the City Council. Leaders from each requesting organization were invited to meetings to present their funding requests to the committee.
The process differed from past years, when the funding recommendations were included as a part of the city’s overall budget. This time, however, the $225,000 pot was allocated within the budget process, and the funding amounts were determined later.
Suffolk Festivals, whose board includes the city manager and the director of parks and recreation, will receive $38,000 out of a $50,000 request. It was the largest dollar amount recommended, but other organizations received a larger percentage of their requested amount.
Those that received 100 percent of the requested amount were the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia ($15,000); South Hampton Roads Resource Conservation and Development Council ($3,000); Substance Abuse and Youth Council ($1,000); Suffolk Clean Community Commission ($15,000); Suffolk Nansemond Historical Society ($10,000); and Virginia Legal Aid Society ($4,326).
Many of the organizations that were turned down for funding — including the Tim Reid Scholarship Fund, Youth of America and Suffolk Literacy Council — did not address how they met the funding criteria, according to the memo.
Funding recommendations are as follows:
Black Expo
Requested: $6,500
Recommended: $0
CHKD Child Abuse program
Requested: $15,000
Recommended: $0
Children’s Center
Requested: $37,925
Recommended: $27,925
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Requested: $76,586
Recommended: $0
Endependence Center
Requested: $30,000
Recommended: $11,850
Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia
Requested: $15,000
Recommended: $15,000
For Kids (Center for Hope & New Beginnings)
Requested: $40,000
Recommended: $0 ($25,000 CDBG)
Genieve Shelter
Requested: $25,000
Recommended: $0 ($25,000 CDBG)
Hampton Roads Sports Commission
Requested: $9,552
Recommended: $0
Paul D. Camp Community College
Requested: $10,000
Recommended: $0
Peanut Soil and Water Conservation District
Requested: $20,000
Recommended: $10,000
Providential Credit Care Management
Requested: $5,000
Recommended: $0
Riddick’s Folly
Requested: $62,125
Recommended: $35,725
Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia
Requested: $58,583
Recommended: $19,674
Sister Cities Commission
Requested: $15,000
Recommended: $5,000
South Hampton Roads Resource Conservation and Development Council
Requested: $3,000
Recommended: $3,000
STOP Organization
Requested: $10,433
Recommended: $0 ($98,317 HOME funds)
Square One
Requested: $10,520
Recommended: $0
Substance Abuse and Youth Council
Requested: $1,000
Recommended: $1,000
Suffolk Clean Community Commission
Requested: $15,000
Recommended: $15,000
Suffolk Festivals
Requested: $50,000
Recommended: $38,000
Suffolk Fine Arts Commission
Requested: $13,950
Recommended: $8,500
Suffolk Literacy Council
Requested: No amount given
Recommended: $0
Suffolk Nansemond Historical Society
Requested: $10,000
Recommended: $10,000
Tidewater Builders Association
Requested: $60,000
Recommended: $20,000
Tim Reid Scholarship Fund
Requested: $15,000
Recommended: $0
Virginia Legal Aid Society
Requested: $4,326
Recommended: $4,326
Western Tidewater Free Clinic
Requested: $100,000
Recommended: $0 ($60,000 CDBG)
Youth of America
Requested: $9,500
Recommended: $0
Downtown Athletic Association
Requested: $18,875
Recommended: $0