Then, in December, the county began requesting letters of interest from community organizations interested in ARPA funds. It was also fourth among the priorities of the focus groups. This included focus groups with organizations throughout the county and a survey that reached nearly 1,500 people.Īssisting small businesses and nonprofits in staying open topped the list of survey responses with regards to community needs.
#Sedgwick county animal rescue team how to#
(Alex Unruh/The Beacon) Help for small businesses, nonprofits top Sedgwick County COVID recovery needsīefore deciding how to allocate its ARPA dollars, the county undertook an extensive community needs assessment. Sedgwick County is allocating $21.3 million of its federal COVID relief dollars to the health department. The county also spent about $21 million of ARPA money in 2021 to pay county employees extra for hours spent doing essential work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The public health response includes $21.3 million for the health department to continue COVID testing and vaccine distribution. The ARPA dollars will also pay $2.6 million for that lease. While the remodel takes place, the county commission will move its offices to the Ruffin Building downtown.
Nearly $7.5 million will pay to remodel the county’s administrative space - including the County Commission offices - into court space. The largest expense is going to address public safety and a backlog in court cases that largely grew out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board of Sedgwick County Commissioners voted 5-0 on March 23 to allocate all $ 100.2 million of its ARPA dollars for county programs, including public health measures, a court backlog and employee premium pay. But he found out on April 4 that the money won’t be coming - to him or any of the other 232 groups that applied. Walker hoped to use the money to retain staff, especially those who worked with patients. That can mean replacing lost government revenue and even directly assisting small businesses, nonprofits and households. The money can be used broadly to offset the impacts of the pandemic.
He wasn’t alone - 232 other businesses and nonprofits also submitted letters of interest for the county’s portion of the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. In January, Walker sent in a request to Sedgwick County for $300,000 of the county’s $100.2 million in COVID recovery dollars. “And the amounts that have gone to that fundraising, both to us as an entity and to the United Way, have decreased sharply during COVID,” he added. “We have seen a decrease in our revenues because we’re primarily funded through what would be considered fundraising, either through the United Way’s fundraising or through our own,” said Aaron Walker, executive director of Cairn Health. Since COVID-19 began, the nonprofit Cairn Health has struggled to maintain its budget to provide health services to low-income individuals in Sedgwick County.
0 kommentar(er)
