For the first time in two years, city leaders have doled out
more than $100,000 in grants to local nonprofit groups without
griping about how the money is spent.
Gilroy – For the first time in two years, city leaders have doled out more than $100,000 in grants to local nonprofit groups without griping about how the money is spent.
With no debate and a few plaudits, city council Monday unanimously approved $132,000 in grants to 10 nonprofit groups. The funds will support a range of programs in the areas of employment, family services, food and shelter.
The biggest winner this year is perennial awardee St. Joseph’s Family Center, which received $35,000 to provide job training and placement for low-income residents, as well as $12,000 to provide rental assistance to poor families.
“This is a program for people who have barriers because of language, because of incarceration – for people who really have a lot of obstacles in the way of employment,” said David Cox, director of St. Joseph’s.
The smaller grant, he said, will allow St. Joseph’s to continue a housing program it adopted several years ago, when nonprofit Familias Pueden lost its federal funding and closed.
All groups that requested funding received money this year. While the amounts are not all large, the funds are critical for many groups seeking to pry matching funds from other government and private grantmakers.
In past years, the grant approval process has embroiled council members and nonprofit advocates in heated debates. This year, the approval process involved no discussion and lasted five minutes.
“As someone who’s sat up here for two years beating the table about these grants, I’d like to make a motion to approve these,” Councilman Russ Valiquette said.
Last year, he and former Councilman Bob Dillon lashed out at the Citizens Advisory Committee, the group that reviews grant applications for funding, over its decision to recommend a $29,412 grant for tenant-landlord counseling services. The councilmen also criticized a $5,000 grant to subsidize transportation costs for elderly and disabled people and a $4,320 grant for a video that helps disabled people secure housing appropriate to their needs.
This year’s list of recipients includes small grants for elderly/disabled transportation services ($4,000 to Outreach & Escort Inc.) and a housing video for disabled people ($5,000 to Silicon Valley Independent Living Center). But it does not include tens of thousands of dollars for Project Sentinel, the group that helps the city meet federal fair housing requirements. The nonprofit group will instead receive its funding from the Housing Trust, as part of a regional partnership to provide services to Gilroy and other South Bay Area cities, according to Marilyn Roaf, Gilroy’s housing and community development coordinator.
The grant monies, which the city doles out each year, come from a mixed pool of funds. The ratio varies by year, but the grants generally come from the city’s Housing Trust Fund and a community development block grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The grant recipients approved Monday will not receive their funding until July 1, the start of the city’s fiscal year.
Grants awarded
The city has given out $132,000 in grant money to 10 nonprofit groups. The 2006 recipients are:
Amount Group Use
– $5,000 Catholic Charities For daytime respite care for family caregivers
– $5,000 Catholic Charities For an ombudsman for long-term care facilities
– $5,410 Live Oak Adult Day Services For adult day care
– $7,674 MACSA For youth job training and placement
– $15,716 MACSA For summer camp for at-risk youth
– $4,000 Outreach & Escort Inc. To help transport disabled people
– $5,500 Rebekah Children’s Services For a risk prevention program for teenage mothers
– $5,700 Second Harvest Food Bank To provide groceries for elderly residents
– $35,000 St. Joseph’s Family Center For job training and placement for low-income neighborhoods
– $8,000 Community Solutions To provide shelter for victims of domestic violence
– $15,000 Emgy. Housing Consortium To provide shelter for homeless people
– $15,000 St. Joseph’s Family Center For emergency rental housing assistance
– $5,000 Silicon Valley To help disabled people find housing
Independent Living Center
