Kathy Atwater told Chapel Hill Town Council Monday that the Marian Cheek Jackson Center has given her Northside community hope for a better life — and they should provide it with adequate funding in the next fiscal year.
The Jackson Center, which advocates for affordable housing in the Northside and Pine Knolls neighborhoods, would receive only $5,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds based on 2012-2013 budget recommendations.
Chapel Hill received 22 percent less funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development this year. The grants are meant to benefit low- and moderate-income families through housing repair, public improvements, affordable housing and public service programs.
Atwater asked the council to consider giving the center more money so it will be able to help long-time residents of Chapel Hill.
“The center allows people from moderate to low incomes to live in Chapel Hill,” Atwater said.
Council member Donna Bell said she thinks the Jackson Center deserves a high level of support.
“For the organizations that we are not able to fund at the level they requested, I feel that this decision not fit with the values of Chapel Hill, but specifically with the Jackson center,” she said.
Council member Jim Ward suggested that the council allocate more money for the Jackson Center by taking money from other organizations, but Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said he is concerned each group has limited grant money.
The Town Council will revisit the discussion at an April 30 town council meeting.
Notable:
The council also discussed the town’s Fiber Optic Business Plan, which aims to connect town facilities through new technology.
According to state law, the town is barred from selling fiber optic services, so they would either have to offer it for free or hire an outside provider to sell it.
Council member Laurin Easthom suggested the town implement a pilot fiber optic plan directed at connecting public housing neighborhoods.
But Bell said developing infrastructure is not the only issue. She said the town needs to ensure that low-income communities understand how to use fiber optic resources.
“We need to make sure people have access to those teaching tools that we have access to as a town,” Bell said. “It is more than just putting up an antenna and making sure everyone can connect.”
Quotable:
“Why doesn’t everyone want to live here?” asked Kleinschimdt, on the town’s fiber optic plan, which he thinks is a large draw to the town.
“I would hate for any agency to get 100 percent of its funding simply by default,” said Council member Matt Czajkowski, on the Community Development Block Grant’s proposal for the town to allocate a $100,000 grant to the Inter-faith Council for Social Services.
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