JANESVILLE — Rock County may allocate the remainder of its COVID relief funds to Evansville tornado victims, the Boys & Girls Club of Janesville, Community Health uninsured program, the YWCA Rock County Childcare Center and KANDU Industries.
The Rock County Board’s finance committee made the recommendation Thursday, and when the county board met in full it did not object.
The county has $994,064 left in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that it received during the pandemic. They have to be allocated by Dec. 31 otherwise they have to be repaid to the federal government.
There aren’t exact dollar amounts yet, but there would be approximately $600,000 allocated toward tornado victims, and then approximately $100,000 to each of the organizations.
Leaders of the three organizations testified before county board members as to why they should receive the funds.
“KANDU helps more than 200 clients with disabilities and gives them a chance to learn, find acceptance, purpose and thrive among their peers,” KANDU Executive Director Kathy Hansen told the board, adding that, “through the years, we’ve developed new programs based on the needs of our community. We have evolved with techniques that helped the people that we serve. We have partnered with Rock County on the majority of our programs, if not all of them.”
YWCA Rock County Executive Director Heidi Deininger advocated for her organization by defending it. She was in attendance for the meetings of the county board’s health services and finance committees prior to the county board meeting as a whole.
“During those meetings, our name was specifically was mentioned as a nonprofit that may potentially been receiving excessive funds, and we do not. There are two major funding sources in the community, the United Way and Rock County. We do not receive United Way funds, not one bit from United Way. So, the only help we’ve received recently has been from Rock County,” Deininger said. “Our shelter has received money in the past, and so has our care house, $10,000 for each most of the time. One is a full-service 365-day-a-year, 24-hour-a-day that helps people who have been traumatized and we pay for everything for nine months while they are with us.”
She added that in transitional housing, people stay for 18 months and “We absorb so much of the cost so they can get back on their feet again.”
“I want you to be aware that we are not a large non-profit. We are a small nonprofit in Rock County,” Deininger said.
In 2021, YWCA Rock County received a $462,526 two-year grant from the United Way, according to information reviewed by The Gazette.
Boys & Girls Club of Janesville board member Steve Schumacher said there has been a rise in poverty in the children they serve, and in general there are “amazing gaps in society.”
“The Boys & Girls Club has so many different programs that we service these kids. A good example is that sometimes the one thing they need is a safe place, and that’s what the Boys & Girls Club is. And, they also need things like homework help, things like just a mentor to talk to and also there’s also things for getting grades up. There’s a passport to graduating. The Boys & Girls Club does all those things,” Schumacher said.
A formal resolution will be presented at the finance committee on Aug. 8. A separate resolution has already gone through the finance committee for tornado victims. It will be updated at the Aug. 8 county board meeting.
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