Last year only two local non-profits lobbied the Lathrop City Council for the Community Development Block Grant funding that the Federal government makes available every year.
But this year, with more than double the amount of funding available, four multi-agency organizations and two local organizations are seeking assistance in executing their mission to benefit local residents.
According to the staff report prepared for the Lathrop City Council’s business meeting on March 11, staff is recommending that at least one of those local organizations – the Boys and Girls Club of Manteca and Lathrop – receive the full $5,000 allotment they are requesting.
This past year the City of Lathrop has received $78,164 in CDBG funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and will allocate 15 percent of that funding – or $11,724 – to local agencies that request assistance.
The process has been contentious in years past as entities have fiercely lobbied the council for the funding, but last year the agenda item garnered little discussion before the council approved staff’s recommendation to allocate $5,000 to the Boys and Girls Club and additional $5,000 to the city’s scholarship fund for local parks and recreation programs to allow children from low socioeconomic backgrounds to participate in city activities.
The staff’s recommendation for dispersal this calendar year includes:
uSending $1,000 to the San Joaquin Fair Housing agency, which requested that amount.
uGiving $3,724 to Give Every Child A Chance, which serves Lathrop students. The non-profit requested $5,000.
uDonating $1,000 to the San Joaquin Health Agency’s Meals on Wheels Program – meeting their full request.
uSending $1,000 to the Emergency Stockton Food Bank’s Mobile Farmer’s Market, which is the amount they requested.
uFulfilling the full $5,000 request from the Boys and Girls Club.
The City of Lathrop Activity Assistance Program, which requested $1,000, is not recommended to be included in the 2019/20 allocation.
The remainder of the money available in the CDBG disbursement will go towards the long-awaited upgrade at the Lathrop Senior Center – which will include the $44,000 removal and replacement of the floor, the $7,000 replacement of more than 700 individual ceiling tiles, $5,000 worth of subfloor replacement in the kitchen and the bathrooms, and the addition of a $4,000 commercial refrigerator, amongst other things.
If the council agrees, the remaining $19,770 will go into the City of Lathrop’s housing rehabilitation loan program that is administered by the County of San Joaquin.
The Lathrop City Council meets on the second Monday of the month at Lathrop City Hall – located at 390 Towne Centre Drive – at 7 p.m. For additional information, or to obtain a copy of the meeting agenda, visit the City of Lathrop’s website at www.ci.lathrop.ca.us.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
