(BLOOMINGTON) – The City of Bloomington Common Council’s Jack Hopkins Social Services Funding Committee invites social services agencies serving the needs of the City of Bloomington residents to apply for 2020 grant funding.
This year, the Committee has $311,000 to distribute. Applications and information are available on the Committee’s webpage. Applications are due by Monday, March 30, 2020 at 4 p.m.
Named in honor of former Council member Jack Hopkins who helped establish the program in 1993, the program is dedicated to funding projects that improve the lives of the City’s most vulnerable residents. Vulnerable residents include those who are low-to-moderate income, under 18 years of age, elderly, people with a disability, or otherwise disadvantaged. Since the program’s inception, the City has allocated over $4.45 million to local social services agencies.
The Committee is composed of five members of the Bloomington Common Council and two City residents with experience in social services. Council members serving are: Susan Sandberg (Chair), Matt Flaherty, Sue Sgambelluri, Ron Smith and one member yet to be named. The citizen appointments are: Tim Mayer and Mark Fraley.
Committee Chair Susan Sandberg advises that “[t]he Committee thoroughly considers each application for probability of success and maximum impact so that tax dollars are spent efficiently and effectively.”
This year the Committee is continuing the policy changes implemented within the last few years, including encouraging collaborative applications, requiring outcome indicators, and recommending funds be spent in 2020. The Committee is continuing one additional change launched in 2016: it is accepting applications for operational funds that do not meet one of the exceptions to the Committee’s long-standing, one-time funding rule (pilot, bridge, or collaborative). Any request for operational funds should be accompanied by a well-developed plan for future funding. Also note that the Committee will not accept applications from agencies two years in a row for the same operational expense.
Criteria
In general, applications must meet the following criteria:
- The program should address a previously-identified priority for social services funds (as indicated in the SCAN Report, the City’s Housing and Neighborhood Development department’s Consolidated Plan, or another community-wide survey of social service needs);
- The funds should provide a one-time investment that, through matching funds or other fiscal leveraging, makes a significant contribution to the program;
- This investment in the program should lead to broad and long-lasting benefits to the community.
Interested applicants should further consult the Committee’s funding criteria as outlined on the Committee’s webpage.
Important Dates: (All meetings listed below will be held at Bloomington City Hall, 401 N. Morton Street)Technical Assistance Meeting – Tuesday, 17 March 2020, 4 p.m. in the Hooker Room #245.
APPLICATION DEADLINE – Monday, 30 March 2020, 4 p.m.
- Invited Agencies Present Applications – Thursday, April 30th at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers room 115.
- Committee Recommends Allocation of Funds – Monday, May 11th at 5:30 p.m. in the McCloskey Room room 135.
- Agencies sign Funding Agreements – Early June 2020.
- Common Council Acts on Committee Recommendations – Wednesday, June 17th at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers room 115.
- HAND Technical Assistance Meeting for Grantees on Claims & Reimbursements – Tuesday, June, 23rd at 8:30 am, in the McCloskey Room 135.
