Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

henderson:

Panel finishes work on low-income grant money

Volunteer committee sends plan for grant money to City Council for approval

Six Henderson volunteers recently completed the long and unenviable task of deciding where to distribute the city's limited federal funding for low-income assistance programs.

Each year, the city receives the money in the form of Community Development Block Grants, which come with the caveat that they be used for housing and other programs that serve low-income residents and infrastructure development in low-income areas of town.

To review the dozens of applications the city receives and decide where the money will be put to the best use, the City Council has appointed the CDBG Program Advisory Committee, composed of citizen volunteers who donate countless hours each year sorting through the applications, hearing face-to-face proposals and touring the operations of applicants.

Wednesday, the committee finalized its recommendations, which will go to the City Council in April.

Each year, the city receives far more requests than it can meet with the money, but in a recession, the difference between the need and the ability is more painfully obvious than ever.

"There wasn't anybody that didn't come to us with the best of intentions in their heart and in their head," committee Chairman Manny Gomez said. "But the reality is that some of these projects overlap and we just can't afford to fund them all."

For the upcoming budget year, which begins July 1, the city expects to receive almost $1.3 million in CDBG grants. But the committee received triple that amount in requests — $3.9 million — and was faced with the difficult challenge of deciding which requests to fund in full, which to fund in part and which groups to turn away empty handed.

"You try to be mindful that you're dealing with people. … You try to do the most you can for as many people as you can with what you have," Gomez said.

The committee only had $168,000 to give to be spent on programs for low-income people as opposed to housing projects. That compared with $922,000 in requests.

Members began by selecting their priorities — the programs that had the best track record of doing the most with what they were given. Those included HopeLink (formerly known as HACA) for its homeless prevention program, Giving Life Ministries for its food bank and the SAFE House domestic violence shelter.

Other programs selected included the Blind Center of Nevada, the Boys & Girls Club of Henderson and the Living Grace Home, which shelters pregnant teens.

The lion's share of the grants were for construction and housing projects. Most of those funds went to the city for affordable housing and infrastructure improvements in the north Water Street area, but the committee also gave $100,000 to Opportunity Village for the expansion of its Henderson Campus and $5,000 to the Christmas in April home repair program.

The construction/housing awards totaled a little more than $1.1 million — nearly $1.9 million short of the total requests the city received.

Gomez said it was difficult to turn anyone away, but he is grateful that so many programs exist.

"All these programs are run by people that I call believers," he said. "There are some believers left in the world, and it's a good thing that there are."

The committee's recommendations must be approved by the City Council, but Gomez said the council traditionally respects the recommendations and adopts them without changes.

"I think that's why the committee takes what we do so seriously," he said. "I'm proud to be doing this. These are good people and they genuinely care about this community."

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or [email protected].

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