Covid aid program has only 3 applicants
Washington County lacks formal process for vetting, nonprofit groups say
FAYETTEVILLE — More than a month after the county began accepting applications, only three local nonprofit groups have applied to Washington County for federal American Rescue Plan Act money.
Partners for Better Housing asked for $502,760, Welcome Health asked for $100,000 and Magdalene Serenity House asked for $33,436, according to Brandi Wilhite, the county’s relief money administrator.
The county announced at the end of August that it would set aside about $2.3 million of the $46 million in relief money for local nonprofit organizations. The county will accept applications through Oct. 31 and then work with the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District in Harrison to review the applications to see if they comply with federal guidelines. The county will pay the district from $10,000 up to $35,000, depending on the number of applications received and reviewed.
After the review, the Quorum Court will receive reports on the applications, and the j ustices of the peace will decide in early 2023 whether to fund the requests.
The lack of an application process was a bone of contention for some nonprofit groups that noted the Quorum Court awarded money to some groups without any process in place to accept and evaluate requests. The county allocated about $2.9 million to Upskill NWA for a job-training program to address shortages of qualified employees in health care, and another $315,000 to Returning Home, a Springdale nonprofit group helping men who have been incarcerated reintegrate with the community.
April Bachrodt, executive director of Magdalene Serenity House, said she applied with no guidance from the county about minimum or maximum requests for money.
“We decided to request funding to cover a portion of the year’s cost of housing our eight women in our two-year program,” Bachrodt said. “We didn’t feel comfortable asking for a large amount, so we tried to propose an amount I felt was very reasonable.”
Magdalene Serenity House provides women who have experienced trauma, sexual exploitation and addiction and have been incarcerated with a structured two-year residential program, which houses up to eight women at a time.
Residents receive comprehensive services to meet mental and physical health needs, including counseling, medical and dental care, assistance with application for benefits, job and education readiness, legal advocacy and life skills training.
Brittney Gulley, director of development for Welcome Health, said she learned through a newspaper article that money might be available. Welcome Health was founded in 1986 by Jessie Bryant as the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center to provide medical and dental care to low-income or uninsured residents of the area, according to the clinic’s website.
Gulley said the effects of the covid-19 pandemic definitely hit the clinic.
“We could see a shift in our operation,” Gulley said. “In the beginning, the numbers were fairly small. Then our numbers started to increase as people found themselves without jobs or without insurance.”
Gulley said the clinic has an annual budget of about $500,000 and is heavily dependent on grant money, along with donations from individuals, churches and civic groups and local fundraising efforts. In 2021, the clinic provided more than 12,000 free services to more than 2,400 patients. The $100,000 would cover the cost of providing about 2,400 services to 480 patients, she said.
Monique Jones with Partners for Better Housing said the group works to help working people get access to the home market. She said as the cost of building has gone up, the cost of homes in Northwest Arkansas has doubled to tripled. The $502,000 the group requested would pay for the education programs and home down payments for those who qualify. The group also plans to offer programs to help senior citizens remain in their homes.
“We’re trying to make sure these folks are being taken care of,” she said.
Evelyn Rios Stafford, justice of the peace for District 12, said the county should be doing more to publicize the availability of the federal aid money and to help people navigate the application process. She said the county should make use of social media, have the information about the program translated into Spanish and Marshallese to reach people in those communities and do more to try to actively reach people through the news media and public meetings.
“Some of these basic communications strategy building blocks would go a long way,” Stafford said.
Magdalene Serenity House provides women who have experienced trauma, sexual exploitation and addiction and have been incarcerated with a structured two-year residential program, which houses up to eight women at a time.