One hundred.
That is the number of calls for help Susan Garton, executive director for the Golden Triangle Homeless Coalition, estimates she gets “every day, seven days a week.”
“When the (Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program) shut down, our caseload doubled,” she said. “I wish that (Gov. Tate Reeves) would have extended it five or six more months. It was a shock to a lot of citizens who were needing assistance.”
In August, Reeves announced the state would stop participating in a federal program to offer utility and rent payments for those affected by COVID-19, calling it “liberal handouts.”
As of this week, help is on the way for organizations like Garton’s. Monday morning the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors gave final approval to some $1.75 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for local nonprofits — including $200,000 for the homeless coalition.
The county gave $400,000 to the Frank Phillips Memorial YMCA; $300,000 to Community Counseling; $175,000 each to Boys and Girls Club of the Golden Triangle and Last House on the Block; $150,000 each to Habitat for Humanity and the United Way; and $100,000 each to Contact Helpline and Helping Hands Ministries.
Direct impact
Those organizations are so valuable because they directly impact people, said District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks.
“It was a way to reach people that really needed help,” Brooks said. “These nonprofits serve a lot of people that need help, and that was one way we could give money and it would trickle down into the community.”
Although the supervisors decided to give to nonprofits last year, they had to get special permission from the legislature, explained County Administrator Jay Fisher.
The county designated $10 million of its ARPA payment as revenue loss money, Fisher said, which means it couldn’t be used for anything beyond the scope of usual government functions. Because the county doesn’t usually give money to nonprofits, the state had to approve the expenditures. The legislature gave the green light in March.
The $1.75 million is about 10% of Lowndes County’s total ARPA award, said President Trip Hairston.
“Someone like Helping Hands or the YMCA can do far more with that money than a government can do when it comes to helping people,” Hairston said. “… All of those organizations can use that money way more efficiently than the government can. They have established relationships in place and they know people they can help almost immediately.”
‘A good shot in the arm’
Hairston categorized the donations as “a good shot in the arm” for the recipients, but for some of the smaller organizations it’s a lot more than that.
The Homeless Coalition is planning to build a tiny house village on 2 acres along Airline Road that Columbus City Council donated in March. The coalition will eventually build 10 tiny houses that will help homeless people become more independent. Garton said all of its $200,000 ARPA allotment is going to the project.
“This is a huge step in the right direction,” she said. “Without the board of supervisors issuing that check, we wouldn’t be able to move as quickly as we’re moving on this.”
The bulk of the money will be used for infrastructure and site preparation work, such as cutting down trees and clearing the site, Garton said.
While the Homeless Coalition focuses on the unhoused, Jennifer Garrard, executive director for Helping Hands Ministries, said her agency is trying to help people weather financial crises.
The ministry operates a food pantry, Garrard said, but also helps people with other needs, such as one-time payments to cover rent and utilities. The $100,000 from the supervisors will go toward those costs.
“We’re going to split it up between rental and utility so we can stretch it out and make it go a long way,” Garrard said. “It’s for one-time emergency rental and utility assistance. … It has to be an emergency that happened to you (as opposed to self-created), like emergency repairs or people getting sick and being unable to work.”
Garrard said the money for the rental program usually comes from federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program funding. The United Way gets that EFSP funding and splits it among many organizations.
“We have to apply for those, and we might get a chunk of money,” Garrard said. “… I had $21,000 that I got last June. That was divided between 50 (grants) for rental assistance. It goes pretty quickly. These rents are $500 and $600.”
Garrard said when EFSP money comes in, it’s spent pretty quickly, and it may take six months to receive more. The ARPA infusion will allow Helping Hands to steadily fund its assistance programs.
For the Frank Phillips YMCA, the ARPA funds will help the membership-supported organization get back on track after a long dry spell, according to Executive Director Jimmy Woodruff.
“When COVID came along, we lost 25% to 30% of our membership,” Woodruff said. “… We’re probably back to pre-pandemic numbers, but we’ve still got members who still haven’t come back yet. It’s been very impactful to us economically.”
While the YMCA board will decide how to spend the $400,000, Woodruff said there are definite deferred facility needs.
“We’ve got a lot of HVAC units between the downtown and Caledonia properties, and there are some urgent needs to upgrade or replace some of that,” Woodruff said. “We might look at fixing the roof. We have big-ticket items like that over the past three years we haven’t been able to do.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion