Wise warns of cuts at Community Action
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
Highland County Community Action Organization Executive Director Julia Wise warned county commissioners of significant cuts to the organization if projected federal funding reductions come to fruition.
Wise and Mark Current met with commissioners Shane Wilkin, Tom Horst and Jeremy Shaffer at the Feb. 9 board meeting.
“I don’t know if you watched the State of the Union address, but President Obama singled out Community Action for cuts.”
Wise said her agency is looking at a potential 50-percent reduction in Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding.
According to the Ohio Department of Development, the CSBG “aims to help individuals and families living in poverty to become self-sufficient, strengthen local communities, and to increase the capacity for Ohioans to create their own opportunities.
The state administers the program through the Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Community Services. CSBG funds are granted to nonprofit Community Action agencies to coordinate and link public and private resources and to focus these resources on specific poverty issues at the community level.”
Obama’s budget would cut the community development program by 7.5 percent, or $300 million, Jacob Lew, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, wrote in The New York Times.
Wise said she anticipates as much as a $150,000 reduction in funds, which would affect the senior nutrition programs, mobile food services and other areas of service.
“If we lose this, it could drastically change the face of the organization,” Wise said. “We would lay off up to 15 people. It’s (CSBG) the glue that holds it together. We can’t take a 50-percent cut. We understand there will be cuts, but we can’t take 50 percent.”
Wise said HCCAO employs approximately 100 people and has an annual budget of $7 million.
“What about working with the Senior Citizens Center on senior nutrition?” Wilkin asked.
“They do not go countywide,” Wise said.
“Maybe you can do something more centrally located at the Senior Center,” Horst said.
Wilkin said he would ask Highland County Senior Citizens Center Director Suzanne Hopkins to contact Wise and discussion options for the senior nutrition program.
Wise said the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau showed Highland County had the 26th-lowest per-capita income in Ohio, some $10,000 below the state average, she said.
“Last year, 45 percent of the county got a service from us,” Wise said.
“That was a huge jump for us; 19,000 individuals got a service from us.”
In addition to meeting with commissioners, Wise also submitted letters to U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner.
In her letter, Wise wrote: “In 2009, the organization provided services to over 33 percent of the county population. In 2010, this figure jumped to over 45 percent of the population. As you are aware, our unemployment rate still hovers around 14 percent. We encourage you to assist HCCAO and other Community Action Organizations in maintaining services to our county’s most vulnerable residents by working to keep funding for CSBG and Community Action programs intact.”
• In other action, commissioners entered into an agreement with Julia Wise to apply for funding under the FY 2011 Community Housing Improvement Program.
Commissioners said they “desire to cooperate with a non-profit organization in preparing a grant application for submission of the application to Ohio Housing and Community Partnership (OHCP) due April 1, 2011.”
• Commissioners met with Sheriff Ron Ward on several issues, including a lease-purchase agreement with Canon for new copiers at the Justice Center, a grant application for new patrol cruisers, and a new dog box for the dog warden’s truck.
Ward also presented commissioners with a copy of the Highland County Sheriff’s Office annual report for 2010.
• Commissioners received a letter of resignation from Salem Township Zoning Inspector Larry Barr, effective March 1.
• Commissioners passed the following resolution by a 3-0 vote: The authorization of additional appropriation to the Sheriff’s 911 Wireless Personnel budget from Unappropriated Funds to Salary Employees for $3,389.36. The quarterly payment from the Capital Improvements 911 fund to the 911 Wireless Personnel fund will be increased by $37.50 per quarter from $23,862.50 per quarter to $23,900 per quarter to compensate for an increase in the Worker’s Compensation appropriation from 2010. The total amount paid from N-03 to S-59 will be $95,600 per year.[[In-content Ad]]
Wise and Mark Current met with commissioners Shane Wilkin, Tom Horst and Jeremy Shaffer at the Feb. 9 board meeting.
“I don’t know if you watched the State of the Union address, but President Obama singled out Community Action for cuts.”
Wise said her agency is looking at a potential 50-percent reduction in Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding.
According to the Ohio Department of Development, the CSBG “aims to help individuals and families living in poverty to become self-sufficient, strengthen local communities, and to increase the capacity for Ohioans to create their own opportunities.
The state administers the program through the Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Community Services. CSBG funds are granted to nonprofit Community Action agencies to coordinate and link public and private resources and to focus these resources on specific poverty issues at the community level.”
Obama’s budget would cut the community development program by 7.5 percent, or $300 million, Jacob Lew, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, wrote in The New York Times.
Wise said she anticipates as much as a $150,000 reduction in funds, which would affect the senior nutrition programs, mobile food services and other areas of service.
“If we lose this, it could drastically change the face of the organization,” Wise said. “We would lay off up to 15 people. It’s (CSBG) the glue that holds it together. We can’t take a 50-percent cut. We understand there will be cuts, but we can’t take 50 percent.”
Wise said HCCAO employs approximately 100 people and has an annual budget of $7 million.
“What about working with the Senior Citizens Center on senior nutrition?” Wilkin asked.
“They do not go countywide,” Wise said.
“Maybe you can do something more centrally located at the Senior Center,” Horst said.
Wilkin said he would ask Highland County Senior Citizens Center Director Suzanne Hopkins to contact Wise and discussion options for the senior nutrition program.
Wise said the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau showed Highland County had the 26th-lowest per-capita income in Ohio, some $10,000 below the state average, she said.
“Last year, 45 percent of the county got a service from us,” Wise said.
“That was a huge jump for us; 19,000 individuals got a service from us.”
In addition to meeting with commissioners, Wise also submitted letters to U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner.
In her letter, Wise wrote: “In 2009, the organization provided services to over 33 percent of the county population. In 2010, this figure jumped to over 45 percent of the population. As you are aware, our unemployment rate still hovers around 14 percent. We encourage you to assist HCCAO and other Community Action Organizations in maintaining services to our county’s most vulnerable residents by working to keep funding for CSBG and Community Action programs intact.”
• In other action, commissioners entered into an agreement with Julia Wise to apply for funding under the FY 2011 Community Housing Improvement Program.
Commissioners said they “desire to cooperate with a non-profit organization in preparing a grant application for submission of the application to Ohio Housing and Community Partnership (OHCP) due April 1, 2011.”
• Commissioners met with Sheriff Ron Ward on several issues, including a lease-purchase agreement with Canon for new copiers at the Justice Center, a grant application for new patrol cruisers, and a new dog box for the dog warden’s truck.
Ward also presented commissioners with a copy of the Highland County Sheriff’s Office annual report for 2010.
• Commissioners received a letter of resignation from Salem Township Zoning Inspector Larry Barr, effective March 1.
• Commissioners passed the following resolution by a 3-0 vote: The authorization of additional appropriation to the Sheriff’s 911 Wireless Personnel budget from Unappropriated Funds to Salary Employees for $3,389.36. The quarterly payment from the Capital Improvements 911 fund to the 911 Wireless Personnel fund will be increased by $37.50 per quarter from $23,862.50 per quarter to $23,900 per quarter to compensate for an increase in the Worker’s Compensation appropriation from 2010. The total amount paid from N-03 to S-59 will be $95,600 per year.[[In-content Ad]]