Vision Committee recommends roughly $1M in Community Partnership Program awards, asks commission to set $60,000 minimum request

Sally Kimmel Shepard of Envision Athens presented the Vision Committee's review of the Community Partnership Program (CPP) applications and the committee's funding recommendations for FY27. Out of approximately $2.8 million requested across 27 applications, the committee recommended about $1 million in awards, prioritizing homelessness services and neighborhood revitalization where applications scored above a 75-point threshold on the committee's rubric.

"This one's a little bit different because the vision committee is the organization ... that reviewed all of the applications and then completely decided on the funding recommendations for those applications," Sally said, describing why Envision Athens led the review and how committee members scored applications through ZoomGrants. The committee adopted bylaws this cycle, elected an executive committee, and used a 100-point rubric with a 75-point cutoff for recommending awards.

The committee recommended awards for a mix of homeless-service and community programs (examples included Athens Area Homeless Shelter, Family Promise, Athens Land Trust, Advantage Behavioral Health and Sparrow's Nest) and proposed a policy change to set a $60,000 minimum request for future CPP rounds to concentrate assistance and reduce administrative overhead. Staff noted the recommended awards are subject to final budget approval and contracts will be executed after the commission adopts the FY27 budget.