Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Oct. 16, 2024 – The Jonesboro City Council passed a resolution for $500,000 of humanitarian aid in Tuesday’s meeting.
This aid is part of Jonesboro’s Capital Investment Plan, with funding coming from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Any registered 501(c) nonprofit can apply, provided they are registered in Arkansas and are in good standing with the Secretary of State. According to the resolution, funding can be used to combat homelessness/housing and food insecurity, provide mental health support, revitalize neighborhoods and more.
The Community Development Block Grant committee will hear and accept funding applications, which will then be recommended to the City Council for final approval.
Councilperson David McClain, Ward 6, Position 2, asked how success would be measured with this grant.
Community Development Director Jeremy Biggs said they will use each nonprofit’s programmatic reports, as well as how well each organization serves its clients to measure success.
“It will be instance by instance,” Biggs said. “So, City Youth comes and asks for funds, so we will measure how children progress on their literacy scores. If Hope Found comes and asks for funding for victims of human trafficking, we’re just gonna monitor how many victims they rescued and helped to turn their lives around and go a different path.”
In their applications, nonprofits must clearly state what they plan to do with the money. If approved, the organizations will be required to provide quarterly programmatic and financial reports and host semi-annual site visits.
Councilperson Dr. Anthony Coleman, Ward 6, Position 1, asked how funding would be adjusted if it is determined more money is needed than available.
The resolution creates a protected account in the city ledger, according to Chief Administrative Officer Brian Richardson. This ensures money donated for humanitarian efforts does not go into other accounts.
“This creates a perpetual funding account that really does give the city some flexibility on supporting nonprofits that really do a lot of good work in this town,” Richardson said. “It was previously limited to CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funding and maybe special allocations here and there.”
He added that when, not if more funding is needed, it will be up to the city government to provide extra funds by working with the nonprofits in fundraising efforts.
