Poverty rate affects more FEMA funds
Published February 11, 2007
Local non-profit groups might be turning out the lights on rent and utility assistance programs offered to low-income residents in Brazoria County.
About $120,000 in funding provided for rent and utility assistance programs was cut by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for 2007. The funding was part of $170,000 local organizations and food banks received from the federal agency every year.
The funding was cut because unemployment and poverty levels are decreasing in the county. The county’s poverty rate must be above 11 percent and the unemployment rate must be above 5.8 percent for the organizations to be eligible for the funding, said Stephanie Cone, executive director for the United Way in Brazoria County.
When the funds were being appropriated, the county’s unemployment rate was 5.2 percent and the poverty rate was 10.2 percent, Cone said. It was the first time the county had been below the threshold in 16 years, she said.
Some of the groups that provided rent and utility assistance now will have to drastically cut their programs.
The Neighborhood Center in Pearland now can only offer rent and utility assistance to Pearland residents because of the cut in funding, said Executive Director Kelly Perusse.
“We lost more than half of our money for that program,” she said. “We’re still trying to scamper and figure out what we’re going to do.”
Rent and utility assistance funding was given to organizations serving the four regions of the county. The Neighborhood Center used $10,000 of its own funding to support its assistance for Pearland residents and $12,000 from FEMA to support Alvin residents, which is in its region, Perusse said.
With the cut, no rent or utility assistance will be provided to Alvin residents through the Neighborhood Center, she said.
The Salvation Army in Freeport, which received the largest portion of rent and utility assistance funds at about $48,000, has been asking for donations since the funding cut was announced in January, said Salvation Army Capt. Guy Nickum.
“We’re hoping that the public will help with donations and products we can sell in our thrift store,” he said. “My philosophy is that God will provide. It’s an unfortunate event.”
The Salvation Army is hoping to find other funding sources through grants, he said.
The Brazoria County Community and Welfare Department, which covered rent and utility assistance for residents west of the Brazos River, is trying to do the same thing, said Executive Director Nancy Friudenberg.
The welfare department received $200,000 in funding from Reliant Energy, but it will not be able to go toward all residents who received assistance, she said.
“The thing is it’s only going to cover Reliant customers,” Friudenberg said. “The majority of Brazoria County residents are not Reliant customers.”
The county agency has dipped into its Community Development Block Grant funding to help maintain its rent and utility assistance program, Friudenberg said. Last year, the welfare department received $36,080 from FEMA for the program.
Though the funding was stopped for 2007, Cone said local groups might be eligible for funding from the state to get them through the year. The state has $430,000 in “set aside” money that can be given to such groups, she said.
Applications for that funding already have been turned in, though any amount received will not replace what was lost, Cone has said.
John Tompkins covers Brazoria County for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 849-8581.
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