Glendale News Press, CA
Feb 7 2009
Nonprofit drops out of race
Community center cancels its grant application due to strict series of
requirements.
By Jason Wells
Published: Last Updated Friday, February 6, 2009 10:21 PM PST
CITY HALL ‘ A youth-oriented nonprofit has withdrawn its federal block
grant application, citing burdensome reporting requirements, two weeks
before a city commission was to consider it and 19 other funding
requests.
HASK Armenian American Community Center also returned the $5,000 in
federal block grants allotted to it last year, despite a
recommendation from the Community Development Block Grant Advisory
Committee to not fund its $37,100 request.
`It’s very, very unusual that a nonprofit cancels their funding
application,’ said Jess Duran, assistant director of the Community
Development and Housing Department.
The City Council, which has the final say on how the block grants are
divided among local nonprofits, lowered the recommended funding
allotments in April for other agencies to allow room for the $5,000
grant to HASK’s Media For You program, which provides new media
mentoring and training for low-income youth.
But the nonprofit could not afford the city’s tighter insurance
requirements, and meeting the strict federal reporting requirements
attached to the funding was too burdensome, HASK administrators said.
The morass prompted the organization to withdraw its $37,100
application for next fiscal year in a Jan. 22 letter to the city, HASK
Executive Director Steven Abramian said.
`I think it came to the point where all of us realized that this type
of funding just isn’t cost-effective for smaller players like us,’ he
said.
HASK will instead pursue other fundraising efforts to make up the
difference and support next year’s programming, Abramian said.
The withdrawal vindicated the advisory committee’s original assessment
last year that HASK was too nascent an organization to keep up with
the vigorous reporting requirements, and that a few thousand dollars
wouldn’t do any good since prerequisites for the funds are often as,
if not more, expensive, Chairman Zareh Amirian said.
`It’s not just about how vital we think the services are,’ he said.
`It means nothing if they can’t handle the mandatory reporting and
insurance requirements that are put forth by the
government.?.?.?. Last year, politics got in the way.’
As the faltering economy continues to put more pressure on social
service agencies in terms of demand and resources, City Council
members have said that this time around, greater consideration would
be given to organizations that provide `essential’ services ‘ housing,
food, bill help and child care.
In December, Glendale Healthy Kids and Homenetmen Glendale Ararat
Chapter announced they would not pursue federal block grants to free
up more money for other groups that are `desperate’ for additional
resources.
With HASK’s exit, the applicant pool for a projected $480,000 in
allotments from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
now stands at 19. Combined, their requests total more than $1 million.
The total pot of money could increase significantly if earmarks for
more block grants are made in President Obama’s upcoming stimulus
package, Duran said.
The advisory committee is scheduled to hold public interviews Monday
for all 19 applicants before formulating its recommendations.
That list is scheduled for City Council review March 24.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress