Tumwater committee recommends equal split of $15,000 for 2025 human services grants after nonprofit presentations

The Tumwater City Council Budget & Finance Committee on June 13 recommended that the City Council allocate the available $15,000 in 2025 Human Services Program funding by splitting it equally among all applicants, after hearing presentations from local nonprofits about housing stability, eviction prevention, student supports and basic client assistance.

Committee members, staff and representatives from nine community organizations took turns describing programs and needs. Bridal McClanahan, the staff lead for the program, told the committee the human services program is “established to reserve a portion of funds for local organizations that provide human services to Tumwater residents” and introduced the applicants.

The recommendation follows staff’s summary that total requests equaled $37,000 while the program budget for this cycle was $15,000. Troy (city staff) presented a funding spreadsheet showing the aggregate requests, the $15,000 budget and a per-applicant equal-share figure of about $2,142. The committee discussed alternatives, then agreed to move forward with an equal split and to forward that recommendation to the City Council for final action on July 1.

Presenters emphasized housing instability, eviction prevention and immediate client needs. Justine Capra, secretary of the Tumwater Education Foundation, described the foundation’s Principal’s Emergency Fund and said housing was the top need: “Last year…we had $7,000 that went out towards housing,” with clothing, utility assistance, fees and food following. Ryan, development director at Safe Place (an Olympia-based nonprofit), said requested funds would go to client assistance (largely gift cards for gas, food and supplies) and noted Safe Place does not routinely track clients’ municipal residence because it runs Thurston County’s confidential domestic-violence shelter and must protect client confidentiality.

Keith Ann Campbell, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters, said the agency is expanding services into Tumwater middle schools and is seeking continued local support after state funding cuts. Carla Ramirez Tonore, executive director of Cielo, described bilingual case management, rent and utility assistance and culturally grounded navigation services; Cielo reported it supported about 1,200 families regionally in 2024 and over 200 Tumwater households. Savannah, garden project manager at Grub, described an affordable backyard-garden program that built one Tumwater garden this spring and distributes free plant starts and monthly gardening workshops.

The Tumwater Community Schools presenters, Diana Perez and Courtney Prothrow (interim co-directors), summarized in-school resource centers, bilingual staff and summer support; they said their program served more than 260 students and families in 2023–24, including 97 McKinney-Vento (homelessness) students, and that they distributed over $100,000 in client assistance that year. Maya Glazier Lawson of Family Support Center of South Sound said the center serves thousands annually and that, in 2024, 12.5% of the center’s Family Resource Services clients came from Tumwater (about 58 families); she said a $3,000 Tumwater allocation would fund about 100 hours of navigator casework.

Committee discussion touched on whether to weight awards, prior-year practices and other funding streams (CDBG and county/state sources). Staff noted some applicants also receive federal or county funding and that the CDBG funding cycle is not available this year to augment awards. After back-and-forth among councilmembers and staff about fairness and administrability, the committee directed staff to present the equal-split recommendation to the full City Council at its July meeting.

The committee meeting packet and staff spreadsheet showed total applicant requests of $37,000, a program budget of $15,000 and the evenly divided per-applicant amount of about $2,142; committee members discussed rounding and agreed to proceed without reweighting. The recommendation will be placed on the July 1 city council agenda for final approval.

Two council procedural items were addressed earlier in the meeting: approval of the May 23 minutes and confirmation that the budget committee’s recommendation will go to the full council. The Budget & Finance Committee adjourned after the staff budget update and other routine items.

The City Council will consider the committee’s recommended allocation at its July 1 meeting; the committee indicated it will notify applicants of the recommendation after council action.