Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Development to enter into a Beneficiary Grant Agreement with Besa Community Inc. (Besa), a non-profit organization, in an amount up to $300,000.00, and to authorize payment of operational expenses starting January 1, 2023, using federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to support and increase their organizational capacity to service disproportionately impacted census tracts.
Ordinance No. 1201-2021 authorized the City of Columbus to accept and appropriate approximately $187,030,138.00 of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds as signed into law by the President of the United States on March 11, 2021.
Besa is a not-for-profit organization that coordinates community-wide service projects, manages citywide drives to educate and connect people to community resources, and partners with businesses and other not-for profits to connect volunteers to communities in need. At the onset of the pandemic, Besa’s response plan was to mobilize and direct resources to where they were needed most. COVID-19’s impact on communities of color and communities with concentrated poverty has only exacerbated the divide and the basic needs of those communities already suffering with food insecurity, housing instability, infant mortality, and health disparities. This funding will allow Besa to continue to help those communities and people still experiencing the negative impact of COVID-19 in need in 2023. The majority of Besa’s work will take place in the Near East, the Hilltop, Franklinton, Linden, and smaller neighborhoods in or adjacent to Downtown.
If the guidance from the U.S. Department of Treasury is modified while this Beneficiary Grant Agreement is in effect, it is requested that the Director of Development be given the authority to modify the terms and conditions of the Beneficiary Agreement without seeking additional Council approval in order to align with the most c...
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