Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Romeo council divides $2,500 in CDBG funds; Samaritan House and Interfaith groups urge more help
Summary
With only $2,500 available in Community Development Block Grant funds, the Village of Romeo allocated small awards and heard pleas from Samaritan House and Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers about rising service demand and senior chore programs.
The Village of Romeo Board of Trustees held a public hearing and discussion on Jan. 27 about Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and local community needs and then allocated the available $2,500 among local nonprofits.
Clerk Lucero opened the hearing by confirming that the village's FY24 CDBG allocation from the county is $2,500, correcting an earlier newspaper report that listed a larger figure. "There was a typo that went out in the newspaper ... it was 2,500," she said, apologizing for any confusion.
Diane Himb, a Samaritan House board director and volunteer, described a 30% increase in requests for food assistance and listed recent outputs: food aid to dozens of families, gift-card support to avoid evictions, seasonal food boxes, a backpack program and home deliveries. She told trustees that a $3,500 grant would substantially help pantry operations.
Barbara, a client-service coordinator with Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers, described IVC's "Safe at Home" project, which uses CDBG funds to provide minor home repairs and chores for low- and moderate-income seniors and adults with disabilities, and asked for council support to expand services in Romeo.
Trustees reviewed last year's recipient list and discussed the county's eligible-recipient list. With limited funds, the board made modest awards (for example, $100 to Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers) and encouraged local nonprofits to submit formal requests through the county eligibility channels for future allocations.
The board voted to allocate the FY24 CDBG funds as presented and closed the hearing. Clerk Lucero said a retraction would run in the local paper to correct the previous notice.
