The Community Reinvestment Fund Board just announced the award of the latest round of HUD grants to numerous groups here in the Tri-County region. Those grants, ranging up to $10,000, were awarded by the Board to fund projects which are designed to encourage “marginalized” group members to begin to participate in greater numbers in the government planning and decision-making processes which affect us all here in this Tri-County region.
“The members of our community reinvestment fund Board and Julie Powers, Executive Director. of the Mid-MEAC agency which is responsible for monitoring and administering these grants, have all been working very hard over the past several months to identify those projects which have been proposed by local community groups that should encourage marginalized people to better understand the government planning process and to get involved in the decision-making processes which affects them,” said Howard Spence. “We are very pleased that we have been able to award over 40 such mini-grants which total almost $300,000.”
Spence, an Eaton County Commissioner representing Delta township, has served on the community reinvestment fund Board for approximately a year.
“HUD provided the grant money for this project because the federal government recognizes the fact that marginalized group members often are not well represented in the government decision-making process which affects them so much directly,” said Spence. “As a member of several of the identified marginalized groups identified by HUD myself, I recognize some of the long term benefits to our communities which these grants will provide.”
The grant standards provide that there are approximately 14 groups of people who are considered to be marginalized. Among those groups identified as being marginalized in our area are minorities, women, young people and students, Senior citizens, members of the GLBT community, persons who have English as a second language, and small business owners.
“I am especially pleased that since I was appointed to this Board I have been able to work with other Board members to get more groups from Eaton County and more groups of minorities and students involved to receive these HUD grants for worthwhile projects in the community,” said Spence. “One personally disappointing thing which I have seen while working on this program is that many of the groups which are eligible grant recipients do not have much expertise or experience in applying for such grants or for administering even small amounts of grant funds to achieve the grant’s stated worthwhile purposes. The members of the Board are now considering offering programs or community presentations that would help better prepare members of these marginalized groups in the community to more effectively apply for and receive funds for similar projects in the future.”
Some of the more recent awardees of grants by the Board include the South Side Community Coalition, the Delta Township Government Youth Council, Eaglevision Ministries, Relevant Academy Government in Action, the Greater Lansing Food Bank, Lansing Westside Commercial Association, Capital Area Community Services, and the Refugee Development Center.
“Of course, each of the members of the community reinvestment fund Board has their own priorities and preferences for which projects should be funded and which marginalized groups should be encouraged to participate more,” said Spence. “I myself have advocated strongly for making sure that Eaton County’s marginalized groups get involved in this program since we have so many marginalized group members of all types in our County. One of my favorite projects which I am happy to see funded includes a grant for the Delta Township Government Youth Council which provides a group of Delta township students with up to $5000 to get other students at Waverly High School and Grand Ledge High School involved in planning and analysis of public transportation bus deficiencies in Delta township.”
“Another project I really was pleased to fund is a grant to the South Side Community Coalition which is designed to encourage young minority students there in Lansing to learn more about protecting the environment and recycling. A third project which I believe has the potential to significantly impact marginalized group members of our community throughout the region is a project funded for Eaglevision Ministries which has as its focus raising community awareness and helping devise strategies for protecting young people from becoming involved in sex trafficking here in the greater Lansing area.”
Although funding for this Community Reinvestment Fund Board grant project is wrapping up, members of our community who are interested in working to further assist marginalized groups to become empowered to advocate their own rights and interests in the government planning process should contact Julie Powers for additional information about options they make have for further involvement to encourage greater participation by marginalized group members in the future. More information is available at www.midmeac.org.
This was printed in the June 15 – June 28, 2014 edition
