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Mills River council hears four nonprofit funding requests totaling roughly $58,350
Summary
Four local nonprofits asked the Mills River Town Council for a combined $58,350 in support: $12,000 for senior meals, $18,350 for the farm market (Kids Zone and SNAP admin), $10,000 for home repairs through Housing Assistance Corporation, and $18,000 requested across Smart Start programs (including $13,000 kindergarten transition and $5,000 Imagination Library).
Four nonprofits presented funding requests to the Mills River Town Council as staff proposed using ABC tax revenue to support the awards in the upcoming budget.
Ruth Williams, representing the Mills River Life Enrichment Center, requested $12,000 to cover weekly senior meals and ongoing programming for an 18‑year outreach program that averages about 80 attendees per week; Williams said the group previously served fewer weeks last year because its facility was used as a disaster relief center after Hurricane Helene.
Linda Britton of the Mills River Farm Market requested $18,350 to support Kids Zone programming, the demonstration kitchen and administration of SNAP and SNAP‑matching (“Double SNAP”) services. Britton cited program statistics for 2024: roughly 10,000 shoppers, 54 vendors, more than $240,000 in market transactions overall, and $13,000 in SNAP tokens distributed after a doubling program; she emphasized the market’s role in nutrition education and local agricultural economic support.
Representatives from Housing Assistance Corporation described their long‑running home‑repair program serving households at or below 80% of area median income and asked for $10,000 to cover hard costs for Mills River clients; staff said eight to eleven Mills River clients are active and about 11 are on a waitlist.
Kendall Heck of Smart Start Partnership for Children asked for $13,000 for kindergarten transition programming and $5,000 for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library; Heck said approximately 299 children in Mills River received Imagination Library books in FY24–25 and that the program costs about $31.20 per child.
Council members thanked the presenters and directed staff to include the nonprofit requests in budget deliberations; council did not make award decisions at this meeting and asked that the items be discussed further in the workshop and budget process.
