BROOKINGS Tuesday night was a good evening for nonprofit social service agencies in Brookings, as the City Council gave final approval, on a 7-0 vote, to providing $258,035 in funding as part of the citys 2024 budget.
The money was a slight increase from the 2023 city budget, when $252,480 was OKd. That said, the funding wish list from the agencies including Brookings Area Transit Authority, Boys & Girls Club of Brookings, Feeding Brookings and more totaled $431,000, so no agency received its full request for 2024, per information from city documents.
All of these organizations consistently step up when they are needed in our community, and to have these funds available to them will make a difference for each and every one of them, Heidi Gullickson, Brookings Area United Way executive director, said at Tuesdays meeting.
A BAUW committee reviewed all city social service requests in December as part of the dual application funding process. The following groups have received funding for 2024:
- Brookings Area Transit requested $115,000, and received $96,810.
- Brookings Area Crime Stoppers sought $1,000, and got $500.
- Habitat for Humanity wanted $50,000, but was approved for $9,500.
- Boys & Girls Club of Brookings applied for $75,000, and was approved for $59,325.
- Great After School Place requested $7,500, and received $3,100.
- Brookings County Youth Mentoring sought $10,000, and got $5,700.
- Brookings Domestic Abuse Shelter wanted $20,000, but was approved for $13,000.
- East Central CASA applied for $2,500, and was approved for $1,700.
- Brookings Backpack Project requested $15,000, and received $11,500.
- Brookings County Food Pantry sought $20,000, and got $14,200.
- Feeding Brookings wanted $25,000, but was approved for $14,200.
- Brookings Behavioral Health & Wellness applied for $50,000, and was approved for $14,250.
- Avera Behavioral Health requested $40,000, and received $14,250.
Brookings Mayor Oepke Ope Niemeyer asked about whether food security is becoming more of a factor in the city, with new funding requests in recent years from organizations such as Brookings Backpack Project, Feeding Brookings and Food Pantry.
We have definitely seen the numbers come up when we talk about the Brookings Backpack Project, Gullickson noted.
This year they started out at a higher number than theyve ever started the school year at. Theres always a little ebb and flow with that number, but this week they were packing almost 500 bags.
She continued, That is a program that is open to anyone in Brookings County. They take care of all the schools in Brookings, along with Head Start. There arent any financial levels that somebody has to meet or be below, but if a family feels like that assistance is going to help them, they can sign up to be part of that program.
Gullickson added that the bags which are put together for the kids to have on the weekends have almost doubled in cost, going from roughly $4 per bag to roughly $9 per bag.
The mayor wasnt the only one with questions, either. Councilor Brianna Doran asked if Gullickson could expand on the patterns of the needs shes seen in the community, and how the funding helps meet those needs.
Brookings is a very nice community, and many of us enjoy getting to live here, Gullickson said. That does not mean that everybody is at the same level for their income, for their living situation, for their food all of those kinds of things. Transportation plays into it. And so when we look at some of those needs that are out there, theyre typically very entwined with something else.
And so knowing if we can help in one area, it can lessen kind of a burden in another area for a family and, as I say that, really to meet every single need in our community would be an astounding number that we just will never be able to do.
Gullickson continued, Our families are resilient. Our nonprofits are resilient and work together to try to figure out how we can help folks get back on track or fill that one need that has come up and just move on.
Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne hopped into the discussion as well, offering praise before turning to the heart of her concerns.
I want to thank you and the team that you work with for the work that you do on this every year, she said. Its really helpful to have these recommendations, and so I appreciate that.
Tilton Byrne then wondered if partial funding of requests instead of full funding could put some organizations between a rock and a hard place because theyve committed to do a project, but dont have the adequate funds to complete it. If so, she asked, would there be a way for the community to step up or if other funding sources would be available?
I just want to make sure were not putting anyone into a hard spot by granting them just partial dollars, Tilton-Byrne finished.
When I look at these requests and the applications that our board read through most of these are to continue to do what theyre doing, Gullickson said. Do they all have wish lists of different programs that they would start to be able to either fill a need or increase a program? Yes. But these I feel like are the continued programming that theyre doing, and so any and every dollar that comes to them theyll be able to use.
The council meets again Feb. 20 at a study session. It begins at 6 p.m. and will take place at the Brookings City & County Government Center, 520 Third St.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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