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Dozens of local nonprofits present funding requests as city staff outlines new application process
Summary
At a city workshop, Twentynine Palms staff explained a new, separate application track for nonprofit contributions and 11 organizations presented project summaries and dollar requests totaling $139,770; the city will award $50,000 this fiscal year and a subcommittee will make funding recommendations to council.
City staff told nonprofit representatives at a Twentynine Palms workshop that the city received 11 applications requesting $139,770 but has budgeted $50,000 for nonprofit contributions this fiscal year. Staff said a subcommittee will review the applications and bring funding recommendations to the full City Council; recipients can expect notifications after July 1 and each organization will have three minutes at the council meeting to present and take questions.
The new application stream was created after the council directed Community Development Block Grant funds primarily to municipal construction projects in prior years, staff said, and the city launched a dedicated nonprofit application for organizations seeking local contributions. The city verified each applicant’s nonprofit standing and state registration as part of eligibility screening and emphasized that no funding decisions would be made at the workshop.
Representatives from local nonprofits described a range of services and requested amounts: Ready for Reading Book Club (Lynette Ramirez) asked for $3,000 to purchase age-appropriate Scholastic books for backpack programs and school distributions; Inspiration’s Edge (Ian Farris) requested $10,000 for portable lighting to expand a mobile theater; Girls on the Run (Molly, council director for the Inland Empire chapter) requested $10,000 to train coaches and continue programming that served 25 girls in 29 Palms this spring and expects to serve about 60 girls in two summer camps; Theater 29 (Gary Daniel) requested $20,000 for sound-system and facility upkeep; Morongo Basin Unity Home (Susanna Barnett) requested $16,000 to support shelter and outreach services; 29 PSP (Sherman Tam) requested $3,800 for volunteer driver mileage reimbursement, rental vans and web automation to provide airport transportation for active-duty service members and their families; Reach Out Morongo Basin requested $20,000 to sustain senior-center operations and transportation for older adults; 29 Palms Community Food Pantry requested $30,000 to support emergency food distribution to roughly 700 unduplicated families; Molding Hearts requested $10,000 to support housing-first transitional services for people with serious mental illness; the Hope Center (Terrence Sandifer) requested $10,000 to expand literacy, financial-management, and workforce-readiness programs.
City staff reiterated process details: the application window opened Feb. 3 and closed Feb. 28; applicants will be reviewed by a subcommittee in the coming weeks; final council decisions are expected after July 1. Speakers who asked questions during and after presentations were advised to bring documentation and be prepared to answer council questions during their three-minute presentation slots.
Several presenters and audience members praised the breadth of services across the Morongo Basin and urged the city to consider ways to increase available funding in future cycles. City staff said this workshop was informational and procedural only; the subcommittee will return with formal recommendations for council action.
For the nonprofit applicants, next steps are subcommittee review, council consideration and written notification after July 1; no funding commitments were made at the workshop.
