Board approves community partnership grants totaling $112,750 to local organizations

City legal staff told the Board of Public Works and Safety on March 5 that the city supports organizations that deliver services the city cannot easily provide and that those organizations apply for partnership grants through an annual public process. Michael Womba, administrator for the Community Relations Commission, said applicants submit detailed applications and make presentations to the commission, which then archives the presentations publicly.

The board moved and approved agreements for five organizations: downtown First Fridays ($50,000), First in Chaplain Crisis Response Team ($10,000), Goshen Historical Society Museum ($15,000), Southbend Elcart Regional Partnership ($2,750), and Warsaw Housing Authority ($35,000). The board recorded an affirmative recommendation for the mayor to approve the grants and voted unanimously to authorize the agreements at the meeting.

Womba described the commission’s role in reviewing and archiving presentations; no board member requested changes to the amounts at the meeting.