Ryan Carter
Some community organizations are upset about recent recommendations
from a city panel that leave them to fend for themselves financially.
A nine-member citizen advisory panel for the city has cut up $4
million in federal Community Development Block Grant funding to
distribute among more than 20 community social service organizations
for the coming fiscal year.
But in a time of belt tightening, the choices have not sat well
with some, including Maria Rochart, executive director and founder of
New Horizons Family Center.
The center, a nonprofit organization that has become a haven for
many families and children in south Glendale for everything from
family therapy to after-school services, will not receive any of the
$400,000 sought by its board to buy two lots on south Glendale Avenue
to be used for housing the center's mental-health program. And the
center will receive only $45,000 of the $123,000 it asked for to
bolster staffing at its new 700,000-square-foot after-school
facility, which is set to open next month.
The panel's recommendations, which will be presented to the City
Council for approval in April, upset Rochart, who has spent years
building the center and acquiring its property.
"I should not be penalized for doing a good job for the children
of south Glendale," she said.
Panel member John Cianfrini said he had to weigh the needs of
similar programs against their output, and the organizations' ability
to raise money from private sources.
"We need a program like hers," Cianfrini said of Rochart and New
Horizons. "But she's smart. She knows how to operate. The rest are
struggling, and they don't succeed [in fundraising] like she does."
Cianfrini, also a board member of the Adams Square Merchants
Assn., saw Adams Square revitalization projects receive full funding
of $365,000 for two projects. Cianfrini recused himself from the
board's vote on funding for Adams Square. The funding was requested
by the city, not Cianfrini.
Assistant Development Services Director Jess Duran said the
revitalization of Adams Square was badly needed, and the funds will
allow it to be completed. Still, the panel's recommendations had
Rochart asking why, after expanding to reach more children, the panel
could choose not to bow to Rochart's full funding request.
"How could you cut something the city is supporting that will
triple the amount of children to be served in south Glendale?" she
asked.
Recommendations for full funding in categories such as social
services, community centers and neighborhood revitalization included
$126,000 to Homenetmen, as well as $100,000 for Glendale Unified
School District's Cerritos Elementary School parking lot
improvements. The city's traffic signal improvements program received
$286,000, and the Glendale Police Department's Police Activities
League received its full $35,000.
