Council approves $200,000 ARP allocation for Heart, Love and Soul to expand case management

The Niagara City Council voted Feb. 5, 2025, to approve a $200,000 revision to the Home ARP grant allocation for Heart, Love and Soul, Inc., authorizing the mayor to execute documents outlined in the mayor’s recommendation memo dated Jan. 29, 2025.

The motion to approve the allocation was made by Council member Archie, seconded, and passed on a roll call in which Archie abstained due to a conflict of interest and three other members voted yes. The meeting record shows a 3-0 vote with one abstention and the motion carried.

Mark Batesold, introduced himself at the podium as "Mark Batesold, executive director of Heart, Love and Soul," and urged council approval during the public-comment period. Batesold said his organization receives funding from Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) programs and from the Continuum of Care, but many people seeking help do not meet HUD's literal-homelessness definition and therefore are not eligible for those funding streams.

Batesold described the ARP funds as a three-year allocation that would allow Heart, Love and Soul to provide case management to a wider population of people in need who fall outside HUD's eligibility criteria. He said, "With these ARP funds, which we propose to spend down over a 3 year period, we'll be able to provide case management services for folks who fall outside of HUD's eligibility criteria for people experiencing homelessness."

Council members did not record additional amendments or conditions to the mayor’s recommendation memo in the meeting record. The council authorized the mayor to execute any documents necessary to effectuate the grant revision as described in the Jan. 29 memo.

The approved allocation directs $200,000 in Home ARP funds to Heart, Love and Soul for expanded case management services over three years; the council’s file notes reference the mayor's recommendation memo dated Jan. 29, 2025.