City officials mull nonprofits’ requests

Asks exceed Springdale block grants

SPRINGDALE — City officials are mulling requests for funding from 11 local nonprofit groups that in total exceed the amount of money available.

The Springdale City Council heard a report last Monday on requests for more than $200,000 in funding through the federal Community Development Block Grant program. The council took no action during the meeting and will discuss the grant requests at its next Council Committee meeting on March 18.

The city expects to receive roughly the same amount this year as it did in 2023 — about $857,000 — and federal guidelines limit the amount that can be allocated to the nonprofits to 15% of that total, according to Dean Allen, the program manager for the city. The bulk of the money will be used for housing rehabilitation for low- and moderate-income families, but some can be used for grants to nonprofits that provide services to qualified low-income individuals and families.

Allen told the aldermen they could choose the level of funding they would make available up to the 15% federal limit and whether to fund just some of the groups or to fund all of them at a reduced level. The 15% limit would leave about $134,000 available for the nonprofits. To fund all of the groups within that limit would require each organization’s request be cut by about 34%, Allen said.

Council member Jeff Watson said cutting the requests by an equal amount could be an easy way out, but he wasn’t certain if that was the best approach. He said reducing the funding might adversely impact all of the groups.

“I’m really worried about the watering-down effect of cutting everybody 34%,” Watson said.

James Cornelison, with the BTX Sports Fitness Club in Springdale, said that his group has been operating for three years providing after-school and summer programs for disadvantaged youths, with an emphasis on indigenous and Marshallese youths but the program is not limited to those groups. This is the first time the group has applied for funding from the city, Cornelison said. The $24,000 in city funding could pay for scholarships for five young people for a year each.

Cornelison said many of the young people the program provides services to come from living environments that don’t allow them to pay their own way.

“At one time, 17 of 27 of our kids did not have a parent at home,” he said. “They were living with grandparents or other families. We have five kids who are living in campers right now.”

Dorothy Cardiel is director of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary to Post 2952 in Springdale, which is asking for $20,000 in funding. The group supports the VFW post and offers its own program to provide emergency relief in the form of “go buckets” to veterans who are moving into their own residences. The program also provides gift cards that can be used to buy food and gasoline.

Cardiel said many veterans experience problems with homelessness and some of the programs that assist them in getting into a residence don’t provide many necessities once they move in.

“They may get rent assistance and a mattress, but they don’t have other supplies,” Cardiel said. “The go buckets provide them with what they need to set up a kitchen and to cook a meal. We also provide linens and some personal items.”

Mayor Doug Sprouse said the city has increased funding for nonprofit groups in the recent past, but the needs continue to grow.

“For years, the City Council limited the amount for grants to 10% of our CDBG money,” Sprouse said. “The last couple of years, we’ve increased that. I’m of the opinion we need to get it up to the 15% federal limit.”

Alderman Rex Bailey is chairman of the council’s CDBG Committee.

Bailey said he and Allen spent the past year working on the process and vetting the nonprofit groups to be certain they met the federal guidelines and provide the services they say they do.

Bailey said his preference given the shortfall in available funds is to cut all of the requests equally so each group does get some assistance.

He said he would vote against any effort to cut all of the funding for any of the groups.