9 nonprofits designated to receive grant funding from Tumwater

Nine nonprofit organizations are set to receive $983,454 from the city of Tumwater as part of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant program. Tumwater City Council met on Tuesday, May 7, to decide on its recommendations to the county about how to allocate the funds.

The council previously agreed to reserve 85% of the funds for housing capital projects while 15% would be for projects that support public services. While the city is set to receive $1,229,319 from HUD in total, 20% of it will be used by the county that administers the grant.

Three non-profits applied for funding under housing capital projects while six organizations sought grants under the public services category. All of the applications were approved, but the limited grant amount had to be shared by the groups.

Before the proposed allocations were submitted to the council, the city’s Budget and Finance Committee met in April to interview the applicants and consider the allocation of the funds. City staff did not know the exact amount of the grant at that time so the allocation which the council later approved slightly deviated from the committee’s recommendations.

Within the housing capital category, the three organizations are Homes First, Rebuilding Together Thurston County, and South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity, which collectively requested $924,350.

South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity applied for two projects, one being the Tâlícn Townhomes buy-down project, which received the biggest share under the category. The request was for $560,000 which will be used so Habitat can buy down the purchase price of 14 housing units in its Tâlícn housing project at Tumwater.

The city council approved an allocation of $434,057 for the project and another $45,000 for Habitat’s second project, its Critical Home Repair Program in which the organization assists low-income homeowners with house repairs.

The requests of the other two organizations were approved in full amount.

Public services

The six organizations under the public service category are Boys and Girls Club of Thurston County, Catholic Community Services, Family Education and Support Services, Senior Services for South Sound, Thurston County Food Bank, and TOGETHER!.

The groups requested $449,234 in total but only $184,398 was available. A smaller funding request by Catholic Community Services was granted in full but the rest of the requests were only partially granted.

In the case of Thurston County Food Bank, its request was for $100,000 but was only allocated $30,000, the largest mismatch in this round of funding.

According to the organization’s application documents, the grant would be used for its food delivery service for seniors and people with mobility issues.

Medrud explained that the reduced funding was the recommendation made by the Budget and Finance Committee as the program was still new and that it will serve a large population outside Tumwater.

Tumwater receives the CBDG grant every three years. It shares the funding with Lacey and Thurston County, so the recipient of the grant alternates between the three jurisdictions every year.

The city’s recommended allocation will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for final approval. The organizations are not expected to receive the grant until September this year, according to a timeline in Tumwater’s city staff report.