Monroe County awards $151K in community service grants

Community service grants to 25 organizations totaling $151,220 were approved by Monroe County councilors at their Tuesday evening work session.

The community service grants, which have been made annually since 2008, are named after a former county councilor, the late Sophia Travis.

This year’s total figure is about 11.5 percent more than last year’s.

That’s more than the 5-percent increase in revenue from the property tax levy that local governments will see for 2023. An increase to the Sophia Travis grant funding that is greater than the property tax increase was something county councilor Cheryl Munson had championed when last year’s awards were made.

Munson is chair of the five-person committee that makes recommendations on the grant awards. Also serving on the committee this year were Munson’s colleagues Trent Deckard and Jennifer Crossley, as well as two community members, Jean Capler and Joshua Johnson.

By dollar amount this year, the top five awards went to: New Hope for Families ($11,480); Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington ($9,400); The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Foundation ($9,240); Girls, Inc of Monroe County ($7,700); Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monroe County ($7,400). A complete table of this year’s awards, and the projects they will fund, is included below.

A vote to make the awards was taken on two different resolutions—one just on the awards to Planned Parenthood ($5,000) and All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center ($5,000), and a second resolution on the remaining awards.

That separation put councilor Marty Hawk in a position to support the resolution covering awards to those organizations that have nothing to do with the provision of abortion services. Hawk’s position is that she will not vote for anything that is connected to providing abortion services.

On Tuesday, the topic of abortion services didn’t get any discussion among county councilors, and there was no comment during time allowed for the public to weigh in. Hawk voted no on the one resolution and yes on the other.

In 2013, the grant program was renamed in honor of Sophia Travis, who served on the county council from 2004 to 2008. She worked as a councilor to “assure the applications for the limited funds available for support would be considered in a fair, even-handed and transparent process,” according to the renaming resolution.

At Tuesday’s county council meeting, Crossley said her service on this year’s committee marked the first time she’d worked on the county’s community service grant awards. But in 2018, Crossley served on the city’s analogous committee to award social services funds, which are named after former city councilmember Jack Hopkins.

Crossley said, “We have a lot of need, from feeding those that are hungry, to those that are experiencing homelessness.”

Deckard praised Munson for her work chairing the committee, expressing his “absolute gratitude to councilor Munson, who really takes this to heart.”

This year’s total of $151,220 brings the total awarded since 2008 to about $1.62 million.

Table: 2022 Awards for Sophia Travis Community Service Grants