DeKalb Times

At its March 27 meeting, DeKalb City Council discussed a resolution authorizing recipient agreements with four community organizations for a total of $60,000 from the city’s Community Development Block Grant Funds. 

Council approved the BDMG action plan for the next fiscal year, April 1 through March 31, 2024, a part of which was supporting public services through agencies who provide direct services to residents. The city is considering giving grants to Children's Learning Center, Elder Care Services, Hope Haven, and Safe Passage.

“We have a limit,” city manager Bill Nicklas said. “We can only do about 15% of that total on an annual basis for what's called public services. And this is for agencies that directly provide services to local residents. The city being, you know,  one arm's length removed from that as a funding agency, basically. So it's a competitive process with only $60,000 this year. (The available funding) has been going down in recent years. It was up a little bit during COVID. It's down now and it was down last year. So it's very competitive."

Nicklas said agencies seeking grants must explain their priorities.

"And one thing we expect is that agencies that are applying give us an idea of what the focus is and why that's a special focus and why it should deserve or gain your attention for some funding," Nicklas said. "So rather than have just one person make that decision, we have an internal staff group which changes on an annual basis. People who are just looking objectively at what the the facts are that their group is engaged.”

The council uploaded a livestream of its public meeting to the city’s YouTube channel.

Children’s Learning Center requested $15,000 from the funds to provide for its subsidy program which provides discounted or free transportation to low-income families to get their children to and from school or day care. The city opted to provide that full amount to the organization. 

The city also awarded the full $10,000 requested by Elder Care Services for its work in assessing the elderly population and connecting them with appropriate resources. 

DeKalb is giving Hope Haven $18,000 out of its requested $20,000 for operations of its homeless shelters, and Safe Passage will receive $17,000 of its requested $20,000 for operations of its domestic abuse shelters and services.

Due to decreasing available funds, Voluntary Action Center's requested $15,000 for its meal service programs was declined by the committee. 

A Voluntary Action Center representative asked council to reconsider, but after some discussion about how the funds were decided, council said it would consider VAC's next grant application the following year.

In other business, council discussed paying $22,054.76 to DeKalb Police Officer Elise Dusek for compensation after getting injured during work and seeking medical treatment.

Council will meet again at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Public Library’s Yusuna meeting room on 309 Oak St.