At the June 12 Sparks City Council meeting, council members voted to award both Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada and Opportunity Alliance Nevada each $179,840 to help fund their employment programs.
The monies are generated from three of the City’s budgets, which include the Fund 1203 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement, the Program 130271 Grant Program Management account, and the Account 603125 Council Approved Subsidy. The total amount in these three budgets equals $360,000.
City of Sparks staff created a five-year consolidated plan for fiscal years 2020-2024 that identified these four priorities: 1) Make improvements to public infrastructure to increase accessibility and public safety; 2) Provide supplemental support for the operations of nonprofits that provide shelter and supportive services to low-income households, residents with special needs, and the homeless; 3) Implement Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFH) measures to ensure fair housing activities are in place in the Sparks community; and 4) Support activities that create affordable and mixed-income housing opportunities.
The Sparks City Council approved the five-year consolidated plan on June 22, 2020, and subsequently an amendment to the FY 2022-2023 Annual Action Plan allocating up to $360k of CDBG-COVID funds to meet the goal of expanding economic opportunities and benefits to low- and moderate-income residents and households.
The City solicited bids from local organizations, encouraging them to submit proposals showing how they can adequately provide resources to low-to-moderate (LMI) income level City of Sparks residents in obtaining permanent employment and/or how they support Sparks businesses who lost employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Submitters were required to show proof regarding equipping LMI residents with tools and resources toward self-sufficiency, job training and an opportunity of permanent employment as well as how they assist businesses in retaining job positions with the prospect of permanently increasing their workforce.
The City received two submissions from Opportunity Alliance Nevada and Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada and proposed to split the $360k available Covid funds evenly amongst the groups.
Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada is a 501(c)3 that helps residents of Washoe County with its food pantry/dining room offerings, housing programs, workforce development, a resource hub, and wrap-around supportive services. With its CDBG-COVID funds, Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada wants to implement an employment assistance program by offering workforce development training, on-the-job training, and rental assistance. Its proposed six-month training program will expand on its existing models to become a comprehensive training plan that benefits both residents and businesses.
Opportunity Alliance Nevada is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to support LMI individuals in obtaining self-sufficiency through financial literacy, workforce development, and job training. Opportunity Alliance Nevada would like to partner with JOIN, Inc. to implement the Employ Sparks Program, a 12-week program supporting local businesses and up to a dozen LMI residents impacted by COVID. The Employ Sparks program consists of two components which includes providing LMI residents with tools and resources toward self-sufficiency, paid job training, and an opportunity for permanent employment; as well as assisting businesses in retaining positions through an eight-week on-the-job training program. JOIN, Inc. is a 501(c)3 that helps people obtain access to education, job training, and job placement in urban and rural communities throughout Nevada.
City Councilmember Kristopher Dahir commented, “Thank you for the work you’ve done on this, it is right up the alley of some of the things we talked about over the last few years.” Staff confirmed that people need to live in Sparks and have a business in town to benefit from these programs, and Dahir said he wanted to continue the goal of helping residents in these volatile economic times.
Councilmembers Charlene Bybee and Paul Anderson also voiced their approval of how these funds would be distributed. Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada was awarded $179,840 in a unanimous vote, and the funds for Opportunity Alliance passed in a 4-1 vote. Councilmember Dian VanderWell abstained from voting since she sits on the board for Opportunity Nevada.
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