Council to award funding to local nonprofits

The results are in.

A dozen nonprofit groups have petitioned Maricopa leaders for a portion of city funds as part of a program that divvies up dollars to local organizations based on a scoring matrix.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, the mayor and other council members will evaluate the results and decide which groups should receive funds.

The city’s nonprofit funding program began in fiscal year 2011-2012 to create a fair process for awarding grants to organizations that benefit the community.

Applications submitted to the city are reviewed by the council. Council members anonymously rank the groups, giving the lowest rank to the organizations they most wish to receive city dollars. Scores given to the groups represent a summation of the rankings.

For example, this year 13 applications were submitted. Council members ranked the applications from 1 to 13; those rankings were added together. If each council member ranked an organization as 1, the score would be 7.

An application from Against Abuse, Inc., an organization that spreads awareness about family violence and provides counseling to abuse victims, received this year’s best score of 15.

Recycling and waste management group, Environmental Concerns Organization Inc., submitted two applications that came in second and third with scores of 25 and 31. Following close behind was an application from the MASH Coalition Against Substance Abuse with a score of 32. Rotary International’s request for funds came in fifth with 39.

Each group requested a certain amount of funds for a specified project. While 13 applications were submitted this year, the requested amounts from the five applications with the lowest scores fall within the $200,000 recommended for the program by the Budget, Finance and Operations subcommittee.

Positioned at the top of the scoring matrix is Against Abuse, Inc., with a $6,000 request to help fund a program in which educators teach young students about healthy relationships. The organization received the same amount of funds for the program last fiscal year.

The Teen Dating Violence program is taught to Maricopa High School students, helping them to recognize abusive relationships.

Mary Duarte, associate director of Against Abuse, Inc., said the students also learn skills to maintain a healthy relationship.

“The feedback has just been wonderful,” Duarte said.

Environmental Concerns Organization Inc. requested the most funds out of the top five scoring groups. The organization is requesting $78,000 to help expand its Community Service Worker program, a project involving people completing court-ordered community service.

For 16 years, the group has worked with both youth and adults who have been ordered by the court to give back to the community.

“We’re always trying to come up with meaningful programs for them,” said Gina D’Abella, the group’s executive director. “Team-building programs. Programs that help them understand that they’re making a difference in their own backyard.”

The organization also submitted a separate application requesting $30,000 to help fund a tire recycling and household hazard waste event. The event, which gives community residents the opportunity to legally dump old tires and hazardous chemicals, has been held in previous years.

D’Abella said the past events were “very, very successful.”

“We got in tons of paint and oil and chemicals – just nasty, yucky stuff,” she said. “We hired a professional organization to come in and safely remove everything.”