Committee recommends a slate of Community Impact Grants, forwards allocations to full council

At its April 21 meeting, the Richland County Community Impact Grants Committee voted to forward a slate of recommended grants to the full county council for final action, approving award amounts for multiple nonprofit programs from the FY2027 CIG application cycle. The committee reviewed the program overview, compliance report and third-party rankings before taking motions to fund individual organizations; the application window ran from Dec. 2, 2025, through Feb. 1, 2026, and the committee set a cap of $200,000 per organization for this cycle.

The committee heard from Bridal Hammond, the county’s director of budget, who noted that awardees flagged in yellow in the packet are currently noncompliant and that staff had reached out to those organizations multiple times, including in the prior 30 days. "The applicants or the awardees who are highlighted in yellow are the ones who are noncompliant at this time," Bridal Hammond said. Committee members asked how noncompliance is handled and whether unspent funds from FY2025 had been returned; ACA Thomas said the funds remain available through FY2026 and estimated a prior balance of about $147,000 if not used by fiscal year end.

Members discussed application changes for FY2027: the prior "community partner" designation was removed so applications were open to all nonprofit organizations, and each application was ranked by a third-party reviewer. A committee member asked about the meaning of the "CIG program percent" column; Hammond clarified it indicates the percent of the program’s total budget the applicant is requesting from CIG. The committee also debated policy guidance about funding an organization for 100% of an eligible program; staff clarified that while the ranking considered other confirmed revenue sources, requesting 100% did not automatically disqualify an applicant under the written application criteria.

During the funding motions, a number of organizations received committee approval to move forward as recommendations to the full council. Motions approved at the meeting included six-figure recommendations for several organizations and many smaller awards; committee members asked staff periodically for remaining-balance tallies while the group moved through motions. One funding item (Anchor Family & Community Services) had an initial motion that died for lack of a second and was later approved at a reduced amount. A motion to fund the Big Red Barn Retreat passed after Committee member Cooper recused themself, citing service on that organization’s board.

The meeting also included a procedural item in which a non-committee participant raised the case of a regional Chamber/BRAC applicant that failed administrative review due to an incorrect uploaded document. Staff said the applicant had uploaded a 2023 document rather than a current Richland County business license; staff noted applicants are required to upload a business license as part of the guidelines. "When you have 72 applicants, it's very difficult for staff to take on the responsibility of verifying everybody's business license ourselves," ACA Thomas said, emphasizing the application requirement to upload the license.

Votes at a glance (committee recommendations forwarded to full council): Senior Resources — $200,000 (approved); Midlands Housing Alliance — $200,000 (approved); Limitless Community Development — $200,000 (approved); Columbia Urban League — $100,000 (approved); Goodwill Industries of the Upstate Midlands — $100,000 (approved); Wiley Kennedy Foundation — $50,000 (approved); Congaree River Community Development Corporation — $35,000 (approved); Ram Foundation — $35,000 (approved); Serve & Connect — $72,288 (approved); Power & Changing — $30,000 (approved); Greenview Swim Team — $10,000 (approved); Living Faith Christian Center — $7,000 (approved); City Year Columbia — ~$16,000 (approved); Homeless No More — $50,000 (approved); Benedict College — $46,500 (approved); Epworth Children's Home — $25,000 (approved); Christian Assistance Bridge — $10,000 (approved); Boys & Girls Club of the Midlands — $20,000 (approved); United Way of the Midlands — $25,000 (approved); Big Red Barn Retreat — $25,000 (approved; Committee member Cooper recused); Therapy Place — $50,000 (approved); SC Lift Community Outreach — $30,000 (approved); additional approved awards and amounts are recorded in the meeting packet and the official motion list transmitted to full council.

The chair said the committee does not have to award all available funds in a cycle; staff reported periodic remaining-balance tallies during the meeting (for example, at one point staff reported $1,299,000 remaining, later $964,000 and later $209,000 at different points during the allocation process as motions were passed). The committee voted to send the recommended allocations to the full county council, which will take final action at its next council meeting and then move any approved awards into the broader budget process.

The meeting ended with the committee adjourning after the slate of recommendations was compiled for the full council.