United Way gets denied fund request
‘Pop-up’ program to launch soon
The Charles County Board of Commissioners declined a request from the United Way of Charles County for funds to support a human services initiative for residents in need who live in the western part of the county.
The county commissioners will also review the wording of a standard operating procedure that says that organizations that receive funding from the Charles County Charitable Trust, the county’s
official grant-making arm, are not eligible to receive funding from the county government through other means.
United Way of Charles County Executive Director Michael Bellis appeared before the commissioners on Tuesday seeking $65,000 to fund a series of regular “popups” in Indian Head to provide job opportunities, distribute food and provide health care and legal advice to residents who have difficulty paying for basic needs and those whose incomes fall below the federal poverty threshold.
Bellis noted that a recent survey of social service needs in the county ranked transportation in the top three. “Our theory was, let’s bring the services to the people,” Bellis said. “There’s a wealth of services [available], but they’re scattered around. We need to bring them together and pop them up.”
The first pop-up will be held on Saturday, Sept. 28. The United Way is also developing a “virtual bulletin board” to serve as a clearinghouse for data and advertisements for human services opportunities.
The United Way received a grant from the county charitable trust during the fiscal year 2019 cycle to develop a detailed proposal for the project, but did not receive a grant during the most recent round of awards. Bellis told the commissioners that the United Way had been unable to complete a detailed planning process for the project in time to be included with its grant application.
“We did have some expected [funding] that did not come through, which ... certainly put a hitch in our giddy-up, but we move forward,” Bellis said.
Bellis said the $65,000 would be used in partnership with county’s department of community services to cover the costs of a one-year trial as well as the collection of data that could be used to support future grant applications.
Asked by Commissioner Amanda M. Stewart (D) whether, in the interest of a “true partnership” with the county, the United Way would be willing to contribute its own funds to the project, Bellis explained that the revenue the organization brings in is distributed to other county nonprofits to fund their own programs, and the organization strives to end each fiscal year with a “zero balance” on its books.
“We don’t have a lot of reserves to pull from,” Bellis said.
Commissioner Thomasina Coates (D) said that, “while it appears to be a great program,” she would have preferred to have seen the county Department of Community Services adopt the program and turned around to work with the United Way as a partner.
“I think that probably would ... have been ... useful and conducive to you guys,” Coates said. “Are they here to help you out in this area?”
Bellis said that the conversations he had had with county staff had been “basically geared around what would be an effective means of leveraging public dollars by an investment in the program.”
“My understanding is that there were conversations with community services and fiscal services, but ... I don’t work in this building, so I can’t simply answer that question,” Bellis said.
“This couldn’t go forward in next year’s round of consideration by the trust for some reason?” county administrator Mark Belton asked.
“The timeline is a major issue,” Bellis replied. “We wouldn’t see [that] funding for another 10 months. Our schedule needs to begin because we feel the need is great.”
Furthermore, Bellis said, the organization stood to lose “substantial expertise” if it was unable to secure the funding before then.
Stewart suggested that the commissioners review the standard operating procedure related to giving funds to organizations that also receive charitable trust grants because it was unclear whether the restriction applied to organizations that had ever received a charitable trust grant at any time in the past, or only to those that had received a grant in the same year that they were seeking other funds from the county.
“I think it would be appropriate for the commissioners to review the policy,” Stewart said.
She also encouraged Bellis to consider co-presenting the program with representatives from the town of Indian Head, other nonprofit partners and county community services and fiscal staff.
“When funds are being requested, we need to make sure they’re at the table,” Stewart said.
Commissioners’ President Reuben B. Collins II (D) said that the previous commissioners had decided to invest the county’s grant-making authority with the charitable trust, and the current board was “bound by ... that ver y specific relationship.”
“That in no way suggests that this concept is one that doesn’t warrant future discussion, but I think a few issues have arisen during the course of your presentation which pose potential issues in terms of the ability of the board of commissioners to directly fund this very, very important initiative,” Collins said.
Saying that he thought it would be “inappropriate” to make a decision about the funding at this time, Collins encouraged Bellis to await the outcome of Belton’s review of the standard operating procedure and work with county staff on the best way to present the proposal.
“I don’t want you to take this as ... summarily dismissing the concept,” Collins said. “Look at it as an opportunity to open the door, and we can begin the process of looking at this from [a] practical perspective and in terms of how we can actually come up with solutions for the future.”
“United Way of Charles County is deeply disappointed by the Commissioners’ decision to not support our Community Connections program for the residents of Indian Head and Western Charles County,” Bellis told the Maryland Independent in a written statement. “Our organization remains committed to bringing this vital programming to working families who have too long been ignored and left to fend for themselves. We are actively engaged with other interested parties to help stand up this initiative and are hopeful that the community atlarge will see the value of our work.”