Pensacola's planning a $3.9M Children's Resource Center, but funding could be in question

Pensacola's proposed $3.9 million Children's Resouce Center may have run into a stumbling block as the Escambia Children's Trust must decide if it will fund the property purchases as part of a funding request.

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves announced earlier this June that the city would apply for a $3.5 million grant from the Escambia Children's Trust to fund the purchase of the Morris L. Eaddy Lakeview Activity Center and covert it into the region's first children's resource center.

Community Health Northwest Florida is providing an additional $400,000 in matching funds, and the city plans to spend $42,450 on the project.

On Tuesday, the grant proposal went before the Escambia Children's Trust Program Committee. The proposal must clear the committee before the full Children's Trust board of directors can vote on it.

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Escambia County Children's Trust board member Stephanie White, who sits on the program committee, said the committee wanted more information on the types of services that the center would offer before deciding whether to move the project forward.

"I think it's a great idea, and I hope we can work together to make something work," White said.

White said the committee decided the Children's Trust board needs to decide if the Trust will fund property purchases as a matter of policy.

In January, as the Trust worked out its policies in awarding grants after a false-start the month before, the board voted 7-1 to adopt a policy not to allow grant funding to go toward the construction or renovation of properties as part of grant awards.

Voters approved the creation of the Children's Trust in 2020 vote, and it generates approximately $10 million a year through a 0.5 mill property tax to fund initiatives and services to improve the lives of Escambia County children.

White said the idea for awarding grants is to have the funding go directly toward programming for children.

White said it was unclear if the policy decision on funding property purchases would go directly to the full board or the board's policy committee first.

Children's Trust Executive Director Tammy Greer did not respond to the News Journal's request for comment Thursday.

The city would use the $3.5 million to fund the purchase of the Eaddy Center for $2.9 million from the Lakeview Center. The remaining $600,000 would be used to fund programming and operations of the new center.

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Lakeview Center would still use about 871 square feet of the 20,000-square-foot building to provide children with behavioral health services, according to the city's application.

Community Health Northwest Florida would set up a pediatric clinic using approximately 2,000 square feet of the facility.

The city would use the rest of the building under its Parks and Recreation Department to provide programming focused on children, including converting about 900 square feet into a commercial kitchen to provide meals to children.

Reeves said Wednesday the city would continue to pursue grant funding from the Children's Trust.

"We haven't been given any indications that it won't work or that we're in a situation where it's not feasible," Reeves said.

Reeves said conversations are going back and forth between city staff and the Children's Trust staff about the information needed to move the grant forward.

"I feel like we've got a great project that has a lot of partners that are proven entities here that care about children in this community," Reeves said. "And I think it's what would be a really good fit for the use of these dollars that are available and more coming available."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia Children's Trust questions Pensacola children's center funds