Kent’s annual $65,000 grant allocation to local social service agencies has remained static for years, but City Council members recently decided it’s time for a change.
Council’s Committee of the Whole on April 2 formally sanctioned a recommendation to full council to raise the social service grant pool to $100,000.
If council officially approves the recommendation during its April 16 meeting, City Manager Dave Ruller said he expects Community Development Director Bridget Susel will reconnect with the organizations to distribute the additional dollars where they can be the most impactful. The goal, he said in an email to The Portager, “is to strengthen and broaden the safety net for members of the Kent community that are most vulnerable to the possible effects of inflation and federal funding cuts.”
With $65,000 in hand, the city was able to fully fund five projects and partially fund two more. The fully funded amounts and recipients are:
- $14,000 to Coleman Health Services for its eviction prevention/housing start-up programs.
- $6,000 to Community Legal Aid to provide legal assistance for Kent residents.
- $10,000 to Axess Family Services for its Housing and Emergency Services program.
- $5,000 to Axess Family Services for its Portage Area Recovery Center.
- $7,000 to Axess Family Services for Safer Futures.
The five nonprofits received the same level of social service grant funding from the city’s community development department last year.
Partial funding requests were awarded to:
- LoveLight, Inc., which received $12,000 of the $20,186.82 it requested for its Building Communities, Building Futures: Youth Component program.
Portage Metropolitan Housing Authority, which received $11,000 of the $11,608.72 it requested for its Good Neighbor Program. - Lovelight received $11,174.46 from the city last year. PMHA’s 2024 grant award was $8,769.70.
Five additional organizations will receive needed dollars from Kent’s 2025 Celebrate Kent! Grant allocation, which the city’s economic development department awards each year.
This year’s recipients are:
- Haymaker Farmers’ Market, which will receive $3,000 for its Music at the Market program. Farmers’ Market leadership had asked for $3,040, up from the $2,600 it received last year. The group reported annual market attendance at 34,321.
- Standing Rock Cultural Arts, which will receive $800 for its five Downtown Innovative Community Events. The group had requested $1,000, the same as it received last year. DICE attendance was reported at 120 people.
- SCRA will also receive $800 for its “Who’s Your Mama” Earth Day/Environmental Film Festival. The group had requested $1,000, the same as it received last year. Event attendance was reported at 150 people.
- The Kent Jaycees will receive $1,800 for its Kent Craft Beer Fest. The nonprofit asked for $2,000, up from the $1,275 it received last year for its Grill for Good event. Attendance was reported at 1,000.
- The Crooked River Arts Council will receive $1,200 each for its Kent Beatle Fest and American Roots events. CRAC had requested $1,250 for each event, up from the $1,050 it received last year. Attendance at Beatle Fest was reported at 5,000, while attendance at the American Roots event was reported at 7,000.
- CRAC will also receive $2,500 for its Kent Blues Fest and an equal amount for its Kent Rocks festival. The group had requested $2,500 for each event, up from the $2,100 it received last year. Attendance at the Blues Fest was reported at 7,500; attendance at the Kent Rocks event was reported at 7,500.
- The South End Juneteenth Organization will receive a $1,200 Diversity Grant, the same as the group requested this year and received last year.
All recipients are required to put up matching funds. Council does not have to vote on the measure because it was already appropriated in the city’s 2025 budget.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.