GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — For more than half a dozen local nonprofits, Friday was a big day.
More than $300,000 in total was awarded to them thanks to grants from the city of Green Bay as part of the Community Development Block Program, a federal program.
“I was so excited, and I’m excited to see where it’s going to go,” says Shannon Gowen, with the Northeast Wisconsin Community Clinic and who manages the clinic’s mobile health unit.
The clinic received $70,000, which will go to the mobile unit, otherwise known as ‘MOBY.’
Right now when they use MOBY, they have to pull staff from the clinic and often don’t even know if people will show up.
But Gowen says that $70K changes everything.
“Part of these funds, we were able to hire an outreach case manager, and she’s there to help the individuals that come to the unit to ‘hey how can I get you back to the clinic, how can I get you back to another appointment here,'” Gowen adds.
The new staff member will help identify the areas where MOBY is needed and schedule times for the bus to come back and help community members get care. In turn, ensuring no valuable resources or staff are going unused.
The grant is through the city but comes from the federal Community Development Block Program.
“These funds are meant to help lift up our neighborhoods, communities that have been disenfranchised, and have really faced struggles that are challenging to improve,” says Will Peters, the city’s Neighborhood Development Specialist.
Mayor Genrich says the yearly awards are vital, and it’s not just the city that decides where the money will go.
“We’ve tried to make it a real point of emphasis for us to raise the profile on this program, to let community members know this is a source of funding within the city of Green Bay, asking for them to help us identify where they’d like to see this funding go, then we use that input to identify worthy organizations within the city of Green Bay,” Genrich adds.
For Gowen, this grant means serving more people.
A full list of the nonprofits and how much funding they received:
Boys and Girls Club of the Bay & Lakes Region: $35,000
The Salvation Army of Greater Green Bay: $70,000
NorthEast Wisconsin Community Clinic: $70,000
We All Rise; African American Resource Center: $70,000
Ecumenical Partnership: $60,000
Community Services Agency Inc (COPSA): $69,006
Mandolin Foundation Limited: $10,000
Comments