Nonprofit agencies like Big Brothers Big Sisters and Family Promise have roots in Scottsdale and will present video proposals to the Scottsdale Human Services Advisory Commission on Feb. 23 to be considered for Community Development Block Grant funding in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Both programs assist low- and moderate-income families and are regular recipients of funds, yet they have very different uses for the money.

“Most of our funding is to pay for the staff that runs the program,” said Susan Wiltfong, director of grants management at BBBS of Central Arizona. “A lot of grants, especially the CDBG grants, in all of the cities are to pay for salaries for the program staff to recruit, enroll, match and provide support services to the families.”

BBBS has been in Maricopa County since the mid-1950s and its primary purpose is providing one-on-one mentoring to eligible youth between the ages of six and 15. They currently serve about 75 families in Scottsdale and provide additional services such as trauma-informed care. While the mentors, or “Bigs,” are volunteers, one of the biggest expenses for the agency is hiring personnel to run the program. This includes program specialists, case managers and recruiters.

“We need people that are out in the community constantly recruiting for volunteers. If we didn’t have volunteers, then we obviously wouldn’t be able to serve the kids,” added Wiltfong.

CDBG funds are a crucial part of what helps BBBS operate. The same goes for shelter program Family Promise, although they use the funds in a more direct way.

“In the case of CDBG, generally speaking, we’ve used it for emergency shelter here in Scottsdale, which means Scottsdale residents only. We allocate based on the cost per family to do shelter,” said Ted Taylor, CEO of Family Promise of Greater Phoenix. The agency has received CDBG funds from Scottsdale every year since they began applying in 2010.

When forming a proposal, Family Promise estimates a number of “bed nights” that they will provide for that fiscal year, a number that they either meet or exceed annually. According to Taylor, homeless shelter bed nights include: safe shelter, food, basic needs, clothing, childcare, transportation, case management, cash flow training, employment referrals and housing assistance.
For Family Promise, the average cost and duration to shelter a family is just below $5,000 for 43 days.

“Nationally, the average in a site-based shelter is $16,000 a family. It takes 120 days. Family Promise is a very unique program and we have a 70% success rate at returning them to sustainable housing,” added Taylor.

They serve over 100 Scottsdale residents annually.

Family Promise and BBBS will present their video proposals on Feb. 23.

“The Human Services Commission then scores the application on the program description, community need, population served, program outcome measurements, budget and resources, priority need and their presentation to the commission,” said Mary Witkofski, community development supervisor.

The commission will then hold two subsequent meetings to establish a formal recommendation that is taken before the mayor and City Council for approval through the passage of a resolution.

Over $1 million in CDBG funds for the 2023-24 fiscal year will be available July 1. Nonprofits typically receive about 15% of those funds.

Editor’s Note: Peter Cirocco is a student reporter at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.