MV Receives Large Proportion Of County Grant Funding

But Reduced Pot Of Funds Causes General Belt Tightening

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

Moapa Valley entities received a lion’s share of the total Clark County Outside Agency Grant (OAG) funding awarded in the District B area for the upcoming fiscal year. The Clark County Commissioners approved this year’s round of grants last month and the details of the awards were recently made public.

But despite doing very well in the proportional distribution, the four local agencies traditionally receiving grant funding are still tightening their belts. Each is, once again, receiving significantly less than requested.

That is because the overall pot of OAG money available to each Commissioner was, once again, reduced this year. The Commissioners had a total of $1 million available for the OAG program throughout the county. While that sum seems significant, it had to be divided among seven different commissioners.

“I wish there had been more to work with,” said County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick. “But I got requests for funding from 115 different entities throughout District B totalling $7-8 million being requested. My part to work with came to only about $143,000. So there is only so far that you can spread it.”

Despite that, nearly half of Kirkpatrick’s portion, a total of $71,000, was awarded to the four Moapa Valley institutions. United Seniors received $19,000 after requesting $25,000. The Old Overton Gym foundation requested $22,000 and were awarded $18,000. The Old Logandale School Historical and Cultural Society (OLSHACS) requested $42,850 and received $17,857. And Cappalappa Family Resource Center received $16,000 after requesting $25,000.

A large portion of the other half of Kirkpatrick’s piece also came to the outlying northeast Clark County area. A total of $60,000 went in two parts to the City of Mesquite. These t wo grants were awarded once again in order to keep two city facilities open to unincorporated county residents. The Mesquite Recreation Center and the Mesquite Senior Center each received $30,000 for that purpose.

The $12,500 that was left in Kirkpatrick’s share was split among only five different non-profits operating in North Las Vegas; each receiving $2,500.
“I did my best for the folks out there because I know how limited the funding options are for them in the outlying areas,” Kirkpatrick said. “Unfortunately, I know that no one got all that they asked for.”

Perhaps hardest hit by that disparaty was the Cappalappa Family Resource Center in Overton.
The center has a total annual budget of $131,000. About $81,000 of that has been grant funding from County and State sources. The difference, about $50,000 per year, is raised mainly through sales of donated second-hand goods at the Cappalappa Thrift Store.

Cappalappa Board President Norita Espinosa said that, more than ever, the center will be dependent upon support from the community in the coming year.
“To continue with our business at this point, we will need help,” Espinosa said. “If the center is an important institution to the community, now is the time for people to show it.”
One way of showing that support would be for folks to increase donations to the Thrift Store, Espinosa said. Instead of holding yard sales, people could consider just donating their items to the center so that it can be sold in the Thrift Store.

Another way to show support would be in the form of simple monetary donations made from community members who would like to see these services continue.

Finally, Espinosa said that the Board is looking at other community fundraising opportunities to help with the work of the center.
“There are important things that Cappalappa does for the community,” Espinosa said. “We hope that will be able to continue.If the community is there to take care of Cappalappa now, then Cappalappa will be there to take care of the community in the future. It’s as simple as that.”

Cappalappa has long been the sole local portal to assistance programs for struggling Moapa Valley families. Last year, Cappalappa handled 336 ongoing case files, helping a total of 715 people in a community of around 8,000.

The center staff helped those people identify services, benefits and programs for which they would qualify; and then helped them apply for those programs. The array of services include housing subsidies, food stamps, energy assistance programs, Medicaid benefits and more.

The center also provides the only free Food Pantry for the needy in the community. Cappalappa staff also mobilizes resources to help families obtain back to school supplies and it has a Christmas season assistance program for needy children, supplied by local donations. The center also hosts a myriad of training programs for young parents, new babysitters and other caregivers.

To do all of that, the center employs three full time staffers. These include Cappalappa Director Penny Vallone. Vallone said that the center has been running a tight ship for quite some time.
“We have been used to running pretty lean and it probably should be that way,” Vallone said. “But most of our budget goes to staffing. Funding cuts end up affecting that first. And that leads to an impact on the amount of service that we can offer to people.”

Cappalappa Board members expressed deep appreciation to Kirkpatrick for securing the OAG funding that she did for the local center.
“We truly do appreciate all of the efforts of Commissioner Kirkpatrick in including us in this year’s OAG process again and in sending us the funding that she did,” said Cappalappa Treasurer Ryan Doty of Logandale. “We will continue to function and offer the services to the community. And we look forward to continuing to work with the Commissioner even more closely in the future.”