Aside from the sole-source grants mentioned on Friday, The Escambia Children’s Trust Board will consider tomorrow evening awarding grants totaling $4.3 million for out-of-school-time programs
Boys & Girls Club of the Emerald Coast $874,878
Dixon School of Arts and Sciences $260,000
Covenant Care $201,095
Children’s Home Society $244,671
Urban Development Center $397,556
Omega Lamplighters $115,000
Pensacola Children’s Chorus $108,640
Creative School Age Child Care $99,443
Pensacola Little Theatre $150,000
City of Pensacola Parks and Recreation $540,040
Pensacola MESS Hall $85,648
CMB Visions Unlimited $293,184
SALT Ministry (Sisters Anointed to Lead Together) $11,489
Valerie’s House Pensacola $105,215
Epps Christian Center $254,800
Central Gulf Coast Freedom Schools $215,045
Chain Reaction $195,580
Children’s Theater Company $196,189
Finding what the grants are for takes some hunting around on the Trust website.
The agenda given the board doesn’t have the individual proposals, only the grant committee’s scorecard. The scorecard doesn’t give the names of the committee members, only initials.
The agenda for the grant committee doesn’t include links to the proposals.
Finally, I looked under the RFP section and found a link to a Google Drive.
There is a lack of uniformity among the proposals and no information on how staff verified the information or if they did site visits. The proposers were not required to provide financial reports or any proof of financial stability or sustainability.
The top five grant recommendations total $2,365,658 – 54% of the total.
1. Boys & Girls Club of the Emerald Coast $874,878
It will help fund after-school programs at the Englewood Community Center and Montclair Elementary for 240 kids (ages 5-18).
2. City of Pensacola Parks and Recreation $540,040
It will help fund after-school programs at four community centers for 235 kids (ages 5-12).
3. Urban Development Center $397,556
It will fund youth development programs in Century. The Town of Century will provide use of its Commerce Center and Pensacola State College will provide six classrooms. The proposal says it will help 740 children ages 11-18. However, the U.S. Postal Service reports that the Century zip code (32535) only has a total of 692 children from ages 10-19. Hmmm.
4. CMB Visions Unlimited $293,184
After-school program for 60 kids, ages 5-13
5. Dixon School of Arts and Sciences $260,000
It will fund Dixon After Hours for 450 kids in the first year, ages 5-18. No detailed budget provided.
Thank you, Mr. Outzen, for including the links. We at the Trust know our website is not ideal. We are in the process of implementing OneRequest – a public information platform, as well as OneMeeting (similar to the ECUA’s portal) which will house all of our information online. It is intended to make this navigation easier. We are limiting our staff in an effort to save taxpayer dollars and plan to utilize technology. Our goal is to have all this operational by mid-February. Please bear with us as we get all the new portals built out. In the meantime, anyone who has trouble finding documents can contact us at 850-475-4982 or at info@escambiachildrenstrust.org. Thank you. Happy holidays!