$20K in North Port Squared funds divvied up between 12 nonprofits

NORTH PORT — Twelve area nonprofits recently received a slice of a $20,000 fund through the North Port Squared program.

The initiative was started to “foster collaboration” between city government and local nonprofits, according to city officials.

The program was approved by the City Commission in Fiscal Year 2022-23.

Funding, as of now, is $20,000 for every fiscal year.

Each nonprofit can only apply for a maximum of $2,000 from the program every other year. In application, the groups must state what it plans to do with the funds.

At a public workshop last week, an independent committee assessed 13 different applicants.

Of them, 12 of 13 received some type of funding.

To start, financial documents were needed.

Additionally, the board had questions for the groups, including:

Is the agency sustainable without assistance?Did the agency provide information on how expenditure will help the North Port community?Has city staff received and verified their financial documents?Does the agency’s request align with city pillars?Is there a conflict of interest?

The 12 nonprofits receiving funding included:

Kiwanis. After discussion, it was decided there is not a conflict of interest with the group and a committee member. Kiwanis was fully funded with $2,000.North Port Coalition For Homeless/Needy Children Inc., AKA Backpack Angels, requested and received $2,000.Awaken Outreach Center requested and received $2,000.Teen Court of Sarasota requested and received $2,000. One member of the committee said they may have a conflict of interest. She is on the board of Holly’s Hope, which has a connection to Sarasota Teen Court. The city clerk, however, said it is not a conflict of interest since there is not potential financial gain.United Way of South Sarasota requested and received $2,000.North Port High school Music Boosters requested and received $2,000.Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Suncoast requested and received $1,980.The Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties requested and received $1,713.Literacy Volunteers of South Sarasota County requested and received $1,265.North Port Forward requested and received $1,000.

Two nonprofits received partial funding:

The North Port Chorale was partially funded, given $1,500.The Women’s Resource Center received partial funding, being given $541.97.

There will be a future meeting to ensure funds given were used to purchase what each organization said in applications. Then, there will be one last meeting to evaluate how the item is assisting them.

Family Promise of South Sarasota County did not receive any local funds.

For more information on North Port Squared, visit NorthPortFL.gov/NP2