Commission awards community enhancement grants: Next Chapter Lacrosse and Hope Restores receive $15,750 each; APA-Wisconsin chapter gets $5,000

The commission considered multiple community enhancement grant requests on April 23 and approved awards to two applicants and a sponsorship request.

Next Chapter Lacrosse: No representative was present; the commission voted to award Next Chapter Lacrosse $15,750. The transcript records the motion, a second, and unanimous approval.

Hope Restores: Tashira (identified in the record as Tashira Jackson), the executive director of Hope Restores, presented the organization’s proposal for a community-based mental-health and wellness project. Jackson said Hope Restores has operated in La Crosse for five years, offers six support groups (three youth groups, one parents/caregivers group, and adult men’s and women’s groups), and serves more than 300 families annually outside of support-group head counts. She described typical group sizes—about 30 youth per youth support-group cycle and roughly 20 men and 25–30 women in adult cycles—and said services include monthly community outreach, individual plans for participants, transportation support, meals and child care during meetings.

When a commissioner noted that the available grant funds might not cover the full request, Jackson said smaller awards would still be used toward program needs: “the money that is received will continue to go toward those support groups. They will continue to go towards transportation. They will continue to go towards helping families remove those barriers,” including meals, child care and basic needs such as clothing.

The commission voted to award Hope Restores $15,750.

International Committee: Dana Young, representing the International Committee, described a request for $500 to support a welcoming event tied to a Friedberg, Germany, delegation expected to visit La Crosse. The presenter said the committee historically received a $5,000 operating budget that covered sister-city activities and international events. During discussion staff noted that the international committee’s funding is a recurring budget line; because that item is already funded in the city budget, the commission took no action on the application.

American Planning Association, Wisconsin chapter: Director Trey (identified in the record as a department director) requested a $5,000 city sponsorship for the APA-Wisconsin annual conference to be hosted in La Crosse at the La Crosse Center in September. Explore La Crosse had already committed $2,000 from hotel tax revenue. The commission voted to award the $5,000 sponsorship.

The record shows motions, seconds and unanimous approvals for the awards that were made; one commissioner, Vicki Markison, recused herself from the grants process earlier in the meeting and that recusal was noted before the vote sequence.