Murray • The Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake had hoped to get $5,000 through the city to help victims of domestic violence who can’t afford to pay up to $250 an hour for a lawyer’s help.
Big Brother Big Sisters of Utah wanted $7,500 to assist more children in Murray. The English Skills Learning Center asked for $2,500 to support language instruction for immigrants.
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Holladay block grants
The City Council unanimously allocated $46,746 in Community Development Block Grants.
ASSIST » $10,000
Council of Governments » $3,060
The Haven » $5,000
City of Holladay administrative costs » $3,000
City of Holladay studies and housing » $18,686
Big Brothers Big Sisters » $500
English Learning Skills Center » $500
Eye Care for Kids » $500
Kostopulos Dream Foundation » $500
Legal Aid domestic violence program » $500
Rape Recovery Center » $500
The Road Home winter shelter » $3,000
South Valley Sanctuary » $500
YWCA women’s shelter » $500
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But the three were among the agencies that received no funding this year from the Murray Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program because of an increased number of applications. The City Council on March 29 approved $259,700 in allocations, about one-third of the total funding requests of $769,711.
City staff members recommended funding fewer organizations at a higher level, rather than allocating a small portion of the available money to all eligible projects. In addition, they suggested focusing on programs that were located in Murray or that served basic life necessities such as housing, food or medical care.
Of the total, $220,745 was allocated for "hard" costs, or bricks and mortar projects, and $38,955 for "soft" costs, or social-service programs. Some applicants received only partial funding.
Disappointed applicants who spoke at the March 29 council meeting thanked the city for its past support and acknowledged the tough decisions that had to be made. They also expressed concern about the needs of the low-income people they serve.
"We really have to look at kids and their needs or we’ll have more and more problems," Pam Sanders, president and CEO of Big Brother Big Sisters of Utah, said.
Angela Price, Murray’s CDBG coordinator, said each of the organizations provides "important and critical" services. She said that in coming to their difficult decision on who to recommend for funding, city staffers considered whether a group could get grants from other sources and if its services were duplicated by another organization.
The grant amounts are provisional. If a proposal pending before Congress to cut fiscal 2012 block grants by 62 percent is approved, the Murray allocations would be reduced proportionally.
The groups that received funding for social services are Community Action Program, Neighborhood Food Center, $5,000; Community Health Centers, $1,885; House of Hope, $840; Midvale Family Health Clinic, $1,730; Neighborhood House, $5,000; Odyssey House of Utah, $5,000; Rape Recovery Center, $2,500; South Valley Sanctuary, $4,000; The Family Support Center, $2,000; The Road Home, $2,000; Utah Food Bank, senior food boxes, $5,000; and YWCA Women in Jeopardy, $4,000.
Funding for building repairs, improvement projects and other hard costs went to ASSIST, $35,000; Community Development Corporation of Utah, $11,500; NeighborWorks Salt Lake, $1,016; Boys and Girls Club of South Valley, $55,862; Columbus Community Center, $10,500; Family Support Center, $1,225; Murray Heritage Center, $50,000; House of Hope, $5,325; Murray Greenhouse Foundation, $7,500; Murray Program Delivery, $22,500; Council of Governments, $4,063; South Valley Sanctuary, $3,000; Valley Mental Health, $9,500; and Volunteers of America, $3,754.
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