Mayor Briley Announces $1 Million in Community Partnership Fund Grants

Metro Press release - More than two dozen nonprofit organizations will receive a total of $1 million in Metro Community Partnership Fund grants initiated by Mayor David Briley and approved by the Metro Council.

The Mayor's budget for the current fiscal year, which started July 1, included $200,000 each for five Metro departments – Davidson County Juvenile Court, the Office of Family Safety, Nashville Public Library, the Public Health Department and Social Services – to grant to qualified nonprofits. Council members overwhelmingly approved each department's recommendations at their August 7 meeting.
"Our city can make a profound difference in more people's lives when we partner with nonprofit experts who know how to make an impact through targeted funding," Mayor Briley said. "These grants will increase literacy and health, reduce youth violence, help victims of domestic violence and child abuse, and promote financial security."

Each of the five Metro departments will give grants ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 per organization. The departments developed goals, evaluation criteria and expected outcomes that nonprofits had to meet to qualify for funding. Metro will enter contracts with each organization spelling out the conditions under which the funds must be spent.
The grant recipients follow:

• Davidson County Juvenile Court will award $50,000 each to Oasis Center, Stars Nashville, Meharry Medical College's RWJF Center for Health Policy and Meharry's Division of Public Health Practice. These organizations offer restorative, trauma-informed programs centered on positive youth development practices. Creative programming will mitigate the exploitation and victimization of youth while improving academic outcomes and school attendance and reducing substance use, toxic stress, delinquency and gang affiliation.
• The Metro Office of Family Safety will grant $50,000 each to Morning Star Sanctuary, Mary Parish Center, the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence, and Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee. These funds will make domestic violence victims safer by supporting crisis services, including shelter, transitional housing and order-of-protection assistance. The grants also will be used to increase awareness of community resources that support domestic violence victims, including the confidential advocacy and counseling services that will be provided at Metro's new Family Safety Center, which is expected to open in early 2019.
• Nashville Public Library will appropriate $20,000 apiece to 10 organizations to advance their literacy efforts: Bridges for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Nations Ministry Center, Book'em, McNeilly Center for Children, St. Luke's Community House, Nashville Public Library Foundation, Project Transformation TN, East Nashville Hope Exchange, Nashville Adult Literacy Council, and Moves and Grooves.
• The Metro Public Health Department will grant $50,000 each to Trevecca Nazarene University, Conexion Americas, Walk Bike Nashville and The Family Center.
• And Metro Social Services will award $40,000 each to Safe Haven Family Shelter, Catholic Charities of Tennessee, NeedLink Nashville, The Arc of Davidson County & Greater Nashville, and Operation Stand Down Tennessee.

Rod's Comment: This million dollars is totally discretionary spending. It is not money metro has to spend.  If the mayor's office and the Council have not noticed, Metro is going broke.  At a time when Metro can not pay employees the cost of living increase they were promised, it does not seem appropriate to be giving money to non-profit organizations.  I am not certain it is ever appropriate, actually. 

I believe that generally non-profits deliver more "bang for the buck" than government programs. I believe non-profits are generally more efficient than government.  I contribute to several non-profit organizations myself. I spent the bulk of my working years, working for a non-profit organization.  However, I do not think tax money should be taken from citizens and given to favored non-profits.  Non-profits should have to convince givers that they are engaged in a worthwhile activity. Also, one of the non-profits receiving part of this million advocates for illegal immigration. Those of us who believe in enforcing immigration laws and who do not support open borders may not want our money going to this organization.

Metro is spending money as if there is no limit and as if we were fat with cash. A million dollars here and a million dollars there and pretty soon you are talking about real money.

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