WILMINGTON — The Wilmington City Council issued an informal approval of staff’s restructuring of how it distributes funds to nonprofits at council’s agenda review meeting Monday.
READ MORE: Wilmington council grapples with revenue deficit, capital projects in budget meeting
Rachel Schuler, director of Housing and Neighborhood Services, presented four changes to the human services grant program, which distributed more $600,000 to more than 30 local groups in its last cycle.
The main change is dividing awards into two categories, with a third of the program’s budget going toward one or two “transformative” projects and the remaining funds being distributed in smaller amounts in the traditional way. Schuler pointed to the New Hanover Community Endowment’s “grants rainbow” system and United Way’s impact grant system as examples of agencies using a more targeted approach.
“We have seen so many organizations doing so many great things in our community, but we have not really been able to invest in one particular area yet,” Schuler said.
Mayor Bill Saffo pointed to affordable housing as the “thing we continue to hear here” and Schuler noted youth violence was a big topic a few years ago.
The other components of the change would allow the city council more latitude to advance its goals, like affordable housing.
The program statement would be streamlined to eliminate references to specific purposes, now informing: “The Human Services Grant Program provides grants to non-profit agencies which provide direct services to assist the City of Wilmington in carrying out its strategic plan.”
Council will also have more opportunities to provide input on the grants by updating the criteria to give weight to current council priorities, provide additional information in council summary reports prior to the first budget work session, and include council representation in the grant review process.
Council member Salette Andrews was particularly in favor of council review being part of her suggested budget retreat before the first work session, aimed at getting council priorities for the entire budget in order.
Not only will the new strategy allow for grants with a larger impact, it also addresses the growing requests within the program.
Currently, the city awards each agency between $10,000 and $50,000, with a $75,000 maximum, but faced a $965,913 funding gap this year. The city has received more requests with each two-year cycle, from 34 applications in FY22 to 46 this fiscal year. Though funding for the program has grown — its money is generated from a percentage of budget growth each year — it hasn’t increased enough to address escalated needs, resulting in smaller awarded amounts.
Remaining unchanged will be the populations served by the program, including youth, seniors, people with disabilities, abuse survivors, formerly incarcerated individuals and those unemployed or underemployed.
Council didn’t express any hesitations with the changes Monday, though the mayor requested Schuler provide more information on the overall funding local nonprofits receive. This would account for local, state and federal contributions, along with any other grant streams. Saffo also requested a breakdown of how much money is flowing into each type of nonprofit.
“Seems like we’re spending a heck of a lot of money on human services in a very small county,” Saffo said.
Council member Charlie Rivenbark agreed and requested more information on the results generated from the funded entities.
Tips or comments? Email info@portcitydaily.com.
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
