Gainesville officials approve $7 million in pandemic relief to dozens of local nonprofits

Nearly $7 million of pandemic relief money will be distributed to dozens of local nonprofits, the Gainesville City Commission unanimously agreed on Thursday.

The money is intended to help a host of organizations provide and increase services to area residents – work that may have been hindered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 49 groups asked for a combined $19 million, but the list was dwindled down to 37 groups based on priorities of existing services by the Community Foundation of North Central Florida through a competitive process with the help of city staff and community activists.

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Mayor Lauren Poe on Thursday thanked Congress and President Joe Biden for taking an "unprecedented step" of providing the funding directly to cities across the country.

"It was a priority of this commission that money be distributed directly to our local nonprofit agencies because A: they have a relationship and proven track record with serving folks in the community that needs it most and B: they can do things the city simply can not," Poe said.

The money set aside made up nearly a quarter of the $32 million Gainesville received from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Among those who got the most money — and maximum allowed — are the Neighborhood Housing and Development Corporation's affordable housing program and Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry’s support for Grace Marketplace, each receiving $750,000.

Bread of the Mighty Food Bank’s mobile pantry program will get $477,534; Catholic Charities' homeless prevention program will see $409,270; Peaceful Paths’ domestic violence program will get $491,000.

Another $443,521 will go to Episcopal Children's Services’ Head Start Center program in east Gainesville that would provide early learning for children from low-income families. The Florida Institute for Workforce Innovation’s job training program for at-risk youths is receiving $422,522.

"There was a focus on human services, per federal guidelines, with the greatest impact for those communities of city residents disproportionally affected by the pandemic," said Barzella Papa, director of the community foundation.

But not everyone got in on the pot of funds.

Ten applicants were left off entirely, due to low priority scores, insufficient filing information or creating new services not previously established prior to the pandemic.

Others expressed frustration with the smaller $20,000 and $10,000 grants received.

Stephanie Bailes, CEO and executive director of the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention, appeared emotional before emphatically stating all the work Cade employees do in the community, including providing 900 community memberships, free classes at local YMCA locations and hosting graduation for PACE Center for Girls.

The museum requested the maximum funding at $750,000 but will receive a $10,000 cut for its "Spark Wonder. Invent possible” program.

Outside of federal funding, local philanthropists' donations and a portion of funds from a Gatorade trust to help cover operating costs, Bailes said Cade has little local support and has been in danger of closure, cutbacks and layoffs.

"For almost three years, we have been operating with an eight- to 12-week runway of cash," she said. "Until last week, when our federal employee payroll tax credit was received, we were planning as if we would have to significantly modify our operations to make it through next week's payroll. At the moment, we have cash on hand to get us through June."

The funds, however, were not intended to act as a stop-gap for struggling organizations or programs prior to the pandemic, nor help organizations move funding around to pay for other aspects of their operation.

Commissioner David Arreola also expressed disappointment with a lack of funding for some groups. He wanted to see how the city could better support a community ID program that was left off the list, as well as fund Gainesville for All's planned family learning center. The nonprofit GNV4ALL, however, is based out of a residential address in Live Oak, Poe said, making it ineligible for the city's pandemic relief funding.

Officials also voted to discuss how to spend and split a remaining $18,000 pot of money between the organizations at next week's general policy meeting.

The organizations and awarded amounts are:

• Alachua Conservation Trust - $20,000

• Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry - $750,000

• Alachua County Health Promotion and Wellness Coalition - $115,028

• Alachua County Organization for Rural Needs, Inc., d/b/a ACORN Clinic - $64,598

• Alachua Habitat for Humanity - $196,513

• Bread of the Mighty Food Bank - $477,534

• Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention - $10,000

• Catholic Charities Gainesville - $409,270

• CDS, Family & Behavioral Health Services - $138,154

• Created Gainesville - $20,000

• Episcopal Children's Services - $443,521

• Family Promise of Gainesville, Florida, Inc. - $268,520

• First Love Yourself, Inc. - $10,000

• FL Institute for Workforce Innovation, d/b/a Project YouthBuild - $422,522

• Food4Kids Backpack Program of North Florida, Inc. - $20,000

• Gainesville Area Community Tennis Association, d/b/a Aces In Motion - $20,000

• Gainesville Community Counseling Center - $284,698

• Gainesville Housing Development and Management Corporation - $20,000

• Gainesville Opportunity Center - $97,637

• Girls on the Run of Alachua County - $20,000

• -Girls Place, Inc. - $209,995

• Kids Count in Alachua County - $113,904

• Meridian Behavioral Healthcare, Inc. - $151,773

• Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church, Inc. - $10,000

• NAMI Gainesville, Inc. - $20,000

• Neighborhood Housing & Development Corporation - $750,000

• North Central Florida YMCA, Inc. - $300,000

• Pace Center for Girls, Inc. Alachua - $300,000

• Peaceful Paths - $491,000

• Rebuilding Together North Central Florida - $20,000

• River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding - $98,400

• Rural Women's Health Project - $240,165

• Star Center Theatre - $10,000

• University of Florida Mobile Outreach Clinic - $300,000

• Upper Room - $20,000

• Working Food - $138,090

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the Cade Museum's funding from a Gatorade trust covers 14% of its operations and that the museum is getting $10,000 in ARPA funding.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville, Florida nonprofits receive COVID relief grants