By Jason Brady
The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners’ American Rescue Plan Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday to review funding recommendations for nonprofit organizations.
The meeting is scheduled immediately after the 9 a.m. regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners in the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse. The committee will meet on the fifth floor in Room 564.
The county staff is asking the committee to approve with modifications or deny with explanations each funding proposal. The staff is also asking again for the go-ahead to contact the selected nonprofit organizations to conduct risk assessments to determine if they are fully qualified to receive the funding and provide their services to the county.
In January, the county solicited proposals from local nonprofit organizations for programs and projects that would help the county recover from the negative effects of COVID-19. The county plans to pay for these projects or services with Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
The federal American Rescue Plan Act awarded Cumberland County $65.2 million in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, and the board allocated $3.5 million to fund the proposals submitted by the nonprofit organizations.
The county received 42 responsive or qualified proposals from 38 nonprofit organizations. Cape Fear Valley Mobile Integrated Services submitted two proposals: NARCAN and Community Paramedic programs, which will be funded as sub-awards through the county's Substance Use Services and Behavioral Health Services ARP projects.
The county administration then established an ARP Nonprofit Review Panel composed of various county staff and county legal experts who reviewed and ranked the proposals. The ranking, according to county staff, was in accordance with the Responsive Proposal Review Guidelines approved by the full board at its May 16 regular meeting.
Based on these earlier guidelines, the county’s legal team identified 19 proposals ineligible for sub-award. The panel has not reviewed these proposals. The remaining 21 proposals have been ranked from highest to lowest.
However, at its Aug. 5 meeting, the committee asked county staff to gather more detailed information from the remaining 21 responsive nonprofit organizations. That included a more detailed explanation of the projects, how long each entity has operated, each entity's annual budget, and a copy of their most recent IRS Form 990. This information was due to the county finance's purchasing division on Aug. 19.
The county staff is asking the committee to allow the proposals to move forward by having staff conduct risk assessments on the proposals that are deemed eligible by evaluation scores and as project funding permits.
The staff recommended nonprofit organizations, their ranking and the amount requested are:
- Fayetteville Urban Ministry Inc.
- Score: 90
- Project: Fayetteville Urban Ministry’s Coronavirus Recovery Project
- Project budget: $750,000; amount requested: $750,000
- The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County
- Score: 75
- Project: Artists in Schools – Arts for All Allocation (Title 1 Schools)
- Project budget: $271,375; amount requested: $150,000
- Carolina Collaborative Community Care Inc.
- Score: 75
- Project: Murchison Choice Food: Healthy Food, Healthier Living
- Project budget: $508,195; amount requested: $508,195
- Healing Hands of Love Kingdom Connections International
- Score: 74
- Project: The Healing Hands of Love Kingdom Connections International's Youth Empowerment Center
- Project budget: $161,500; amount requested: $80,750
- Cumberland HealthNet
- Score: 73
- Project: Safe Haven
- Project budget: $500,000; amount requested: $500,000
- Cumberland County Council on Older Adults
- Score: 72
- Project: Meals on Wheels
- Project budget: $476,615; amount requested: $476,615
- Employment Source Inc. dba ServiceSource
- Score: 63
- Project: Building Independence
- Project budget: $159,826; amount requested: $159,826
- Connections of Cumberland County Inc.
- Score: 63
- Project: Day Resource Center
- Project budget: $525,545; amount requested: $438,510
- Better Health of Cumberland County
- Score: 59
- Project: Medical Emergency Direct Aid Program
- Project budget: $417,626; amount requested: $258,210
- Community Health Interventions Inc.
- Score: 59
- Project: CHI COVID-19 Mitigation Initiative
- Project budget: $331,940; amount requested: $331,940
- Communities in Schools of Cumberland County
- Score: 57
- Project: Reengaging and Supporting Middle and High School Students Affected by COVID-19
- Project budget: $507,185; amount requested: $507,185
- Cape Fear Botanical Garden
- Score: 57
- Project: Cape Fear Botanical Garden COVID-19 Recovery and Revitalization Initiative
- Project budget: $243,344; amount requested: $248,344
- Kingdom Community Development Corporation
- Score: 55
- Project: Windows to the World
- Project budget: $1,278,756; amount requested: $1,278,756
- Noonday Kitchen
- Score: 53
- Project: Sunshine Market
- Project budget: $348,744; amount requested: $348,744
- The Joel Fund
- Score: 53
- Project: Operation Furnish, Operation Wellness, and Resource Connection
- Project budget: $182,696; amount requested: $182,696
- The School of Hope Inc
- Score: 53
- Project: Keep Hope Alive
- Project budget: $313,308; amount requested: $313,308
- Carolina Collaborative Community Care Inc.
- Score: 52
- Project: Child Development Enhancing Futures (CDEF)
- Project budget: $291,912; amount requested: $291,912
- FTCC Foundation Inc.
- Score: 50
- Project: Barriers to Education for At-Risk Students
- Project budget: $369,500; amount requested: $369,500
- Cumberland Residential and Employment Services and Training
- Score: 50
- Project: Adult Day Vocational Program
- Project budget: $1,063,949; amount requested: $123,130
- Rape Crisis Volunteers of Cumberland County
- Score: 50
- Project: Victim Services
- Project budget: $111,171; amount requested: $111,171
- Communities United for Youth Development
- Score: 45
- Project: Building a Better Community: "Grays Creek Strong"
- Project budget: $400,000; amount requested: $400,000
Jason Brady covers Cumberland County government for CityView TODAY. He can be reached at jbrady@cityviewnc.com.
