Limestone County nonprofits ask commissioners for level funding or modest increases

Representatives from several Limestone County nonprofits told commissioners on July 21 they need continued or increased county funding to sustain programs serving children, families and small businesses. Emmett Moore with the Family Resource Center, Terry Richardson of Athens Main Street, Becky Bentley of the Limestone Child Advocacy Center, Bethany Shockey of the Limestone County Development Association, Craig Beasley for the jointly appointed library board and Chloe Wilson of the county Extension office all spoke during the public-comment portion of the work session.

County funding supports programs ranging from literacy and parenting classes to farmers markets, forensic interviews for abuse victims, economic development recruitment and 4‑H youth programming — services the speakers said leverage other grants and private donations.

The requests matter because county appropriations are used as matching funds for state and federal grants and to pay for basic operating costs that nonprofit partners say they cannot otherwise cover.

Emmett Moore with the Family Resource Center said the agency has added a Families First fatherhood program, which he said is primarily funded by the Children’s Trust Fund or the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Program and is mandated to serve 25 people this year; he reported the center had already served 30. Moore said his organization took over the Learn to Read coalition of Athens-Limestone County on July 1 and asked the commission to continue level funding: the county has provided $20,000 in recent years, plus utility payments for the Family Resource Center. "We are requesting level funding," Moore said, and asked that utilities for the Learn to Read space at 410 Jefferson also be covered while the program transitions.

Terry Richardson, executive director of Athens Main Street, asked the commission to raise the organization’s annual appropriation by $5,000, from $18,000 to $23,000, to better compensate the farmers market manager and sustain events he said bring thousands of visitors to the downtown square. "For every dollar you invested, the value to Limestone County is an estimated $30," Richardson told commissioners.

Becky Bentley of the Limestone Child Advocacy Center described a rise in service demand and said county funding acts as match money for grants. She said the county’s $24,000 last year helped the center secure about $356,000 in state and federal funding and asked for an increase to continue scaling counseling, forensic interviews and prevention programming.

Bethany Shockey, executive director of the Limestone County Development Association, requested an increase in the county allocation from $90,000 to $120,000, saying LCDA has been level‑funded since 2009 while capital investment and job creation in the county have grown. Shockey cited $4.4 billion in capital investment and over 12,000 jobs tied to projects tracked since 2009 and said the additional funding would support staff and expanded recruitment and workforce work.

Craig Beasley, chairman of the jointly appointed board of trustees for the Athens‑Limestone County Public Library, described the board’s recent actions to restore staffing and make a salary increase permanent in the proposed FY2026 budget. Beasley said the board approved returning staffing to FY2025 levels to address increased public use and to stabilize operations; he asked that the library’s county contribution be proportional to other funding agencies.

Chloe Wilson, county Extension director, said Auburn University is investing about $348,954 in local Extension staff and programs and asked the commission for $20,000 to expand 4‑H youth programming and in‑school curricula; Wilson said Extension serves roughly 3,000 students annually and that Master Gardener volunteers logged about 8,000 hours this year.

Commissioners thanked the speakers and said the requests will be considered during the county’s budget process. No formal votes or commitments were made during the work session; commissioners moved on to the scheduled agenda items.

Less critical details: several speakers said written financial summaries and audit reports were included in the meeting packet; some organizations noted they are actively pursuing private and foundation grants to supplement county support.