CAC seeks block grant of $102,317

After a public hearing, Whitman County commissioners on Monday approved a Community Development Block Grant application which will be submitted by Community Action Center of Whitman County.

Jeff Guyett, executive director of Community Action Center, reported they provided services in the county through funding from the Community Development Block Grant -Public Service in the amount of $102,384 from July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014.

During 2014, CAC served approximately 5,100 people throughout Whitman County. The block grant funding helps support of programs that do not receive full funding to cover payroll and benefits, administrative costs and space costs from other sources.

The CDBG-PS grant application for July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016, is $102,317 with $99,317 dedicated to provide program support and services.

CDBG funds intended uses are:

• Community Food Bank: CAC operates the Community Food Bank on a primarily donation basis. They use the CDBG funds for staff costs, administrative and space costs to support the operations of the food bank. They anticipate serving approximately 3,500 households and distributing nearly 200,000 pounds of food and commodities. For the 14 months ending Feb. 28, 2015, the food bank distributed nearly 4,600 food sacks, as well as commodities such as meat and eggs, to approximately 3,500 households.

• Permanent Housing Assistance: CAC will use the CDBG funds for staff, administrative and space support to continue to develop affordable housing, home ownership and rental property resources for low-to-moderate income households in the county.

They are currently developing four self-help affordable new homes in Palouse.

They anticipate assisting eight to 20 households with the home buyer application process on that project.

They also anticipate assisting 350 households with the other housing assistance.

They also have begun preliminary planning for another affordable rental housing project to provide another 30 to 40 units in the county.

CAC has developed self-help housing projects in Colfax, Palouse and Uniontown with 12 affordable homes for homebuyers.

They have assisted approximately 22 households with the homebuyer application process on the those projects.

• Emergency/Crisis Assistance: CAC will use the CDBG funds for staff, administrative and space support to provide critical emergency, energy and shelter services as well as legal referral services. CAC fields approximately 8,500 phone calls for information and referral services during one year. In 2014 CAC fielded approximately 7,500 phone calls for information and referral through the course of a year and served 1,700 households with Energy Assistance Services in 2014. They anticipate serving 1,850 households with Energy Assistance Services this year.

• Washington State Low Income Weatherization and Improvement: CAC will use CDBG funds for staff and administrative and space support to provide weatherization and home rehabilitation services to low-to-moderate income households in the county.