Tumwater committee approves staff's CDBG funding tables, forwards recommendations to council

The Tumwater Budget & Finance Committee on April 24 heard presentations from a slate of local nonprofits seeking 2026 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) awards and voted unanimously to forward staff's recommended funding tables to the full City Council for consideration on May 5.

Acting City Administrator Kelly Adams told the committee the city's recommendations will be shared with Thirstston County so the county can meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development deadlines. Adams said the committee's decisions will inform the county's recommendation to HUD and that staff provided applicants' eligibility notes and exhibits in Appendix A (capital) and Appendix B (public services).

Committee members heard roughly 10-minute presentations from organizations that included Community Action Council of Lewis, Mason & Thirstston, Boys & Girls Club, Olympia Mutual Aid Partners (Oly Map), Senior Services for South Sound (HomeShare), the county food bank's Four Kids weekend backpack program, Together (community schools), Foundation for the Challenged (Options), Homes First, Rebuilding Together Thirstston County, and South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity.

Carrie Blackburn, housing program lead at Community Action Council, outlined a $30,000 request for Tumwater-targeted homelessness prevention: "We are requesting $30,000. Twenty-five thousand will be in direct client assistance ... and $5,000 being held for administrative funding," she said, adding the program served 167 unduplicated Tumwater households over the past year.

Representatives from the Boys & Girls Club said their ask — $52,500 — would fund a pilot to provide full-year club membership and wraparound services for 25 youth identified through Tumwater schools, including transportation and summer coverage. "This program has served hundreds of kids over the last 10 years," a presenter said, describing the model used successfully elsewhere in the county.

Ty Gundle of Oly Map asked for $55,282 to expand outreach and short-term hotel placements for people living unsheltered in the city. Gundle said Oly Map is already supporting a camp in Tumwater and expects the pilot to reach about 60 individuals; he warned hotel costs drive a large share of the budget.

Rebecca Hutchinson described HomeShare's model for older adults and noted the program's safety screening and background checks. Food-bank representatives requested $40,000 to expand the Four Kids weekend backpack program to a three-bag rotation to reduce meal fatigue and add culturally relevant foods.

On the capital side, applicants included groups seeking to acquire and rehabilitate housing for extremely low-income residents (Foundation for the Challenged asked for $100,000 to leverage the state housing trust fund) and nonprofits seeking to preserve affordability or complete critical repairs (Homes First requested $198,476 for a survivor housing purchase; Rebuilding Together and Habitat requested funds for roofs and major repairs).

Committee discussion focused on priorities: members repeatedly emphasized prevention and keeping residents in their homes, food-security programs and youth stabilization, and the need to balance shovel-ready repair work with projects that could leverage larger state funding. Staff displayed the public-service cap (HUD-allowable public-service maximum $136,666) and noted public-service requests totaled about $32,782.

After a line-by-line review and adjustments that reflected member priorities and applicants' minimum acceptable awards, the committee voted to present the recommended public-service and capital funding tables to the City Council. The motion to forward the tables passed unanimously.

The council is scheduled to consider the committee's recommendation at its May 5 meeting; county staff will continue follow-up with applicants on eligibility and the capacity to spend awards in a timely manner as part of the county's submission to HUD.

Ending: The committee closed the meeting after the unanimous vote to send the tables to council.