Guest column: Public Service Grants help nonprofits solve community problems

Very soon, City Council will consider the coming year’s Public Service Grant (PSG) budget. Public Service Grants are a critical source of funding for local nonprofits that serve our community’s most vulnerable persons or needs. For the 2021-22 year, the approved budget was $3,932,579 for PSG.

However, it is far more instructive to look at how the PSG budget has diminished over time, and why restoring it to previous levels would be beneficial. For perspective, PSG funding was $5 million in 2005 (approximately $7.1 million in today’s dollars) but was cut to $2 million in 2008. It has never recovered, let alone expanded, despite a growing population and increased need.

We believe the Public Service Grant budget should be restored to more normalized levels. Council member Matt Carlucci has introduced a bill (2021-851) that will require an annual minimum appropriation (going forward) to PSG of $5.5M. We support this increase for several reasons:

• Community problems being addressed by these agencies include the most crucial areas of mental health, homelessness, hunger, housing, stabilization, health care and fiscal security.

• The agencies focused on these issues are established, effective, safety-net program providers who work in partnership with other government and nonprofit organizations to assist and seek solutions. It is far more efficient for them to tackle these problems than to have government delivering these services.

• The citizen-led PSG Council oversees a structured evaluation of all incoming proposals. Each application reviewed is assigned a score based on its quality and potential. It is disheartening to report that in the most recent round of applications, there were 14 ‘A’ rated applications that had to be declined due to a lack of funds.

By investing in nonprofit organizations to provide holistic solutions to community problems, taxpayers benefit from their efficiencies and expertise — ultimately lessening the impact on first responders, UF Health and other government-supported entities. An additional $1.5 million could provide individual case management for those with mental health issues, provide an additional 69,000 nights of shelter and 93,500 shelter meals for at-risk or homeless individuals, and give 5,000 rides to veterans for physical and mental health appointments, just for starters.

We believe restoring the Public Service Grant budget is a worthy investment in our fellow citizens and neighbors, and we urge the Council to pass this legislation.

Nina Waters, president, Community Foundation of Northeast Florida

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Guest column: City should restore Public Service Grant budget