SWEETWATER COUNTY — The Sweetwater County Commissioners approved the second round of applicants for the Charitable Organization Relief Program, in which there were six organizations requesting funding.
The Charitable Organization Relief Program is a Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funded program being provided to charitable and non-profit organizations that have been impacted by the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
On January 15, the Commissioners approved 14 requests for a total of $631,043. That left about $301,371 for a second round of applicants. Sweetwater County was originally allocated $932,414 by the state under the program. Population metrics were used to designate the allocations to the counties.
Krisena Marchal, Sweetwater County Grants Manager, said the first round of requests are still being reviewed for compliance, as eligibility must be proven. The organizations must fit the definition of a charitable organization, had to provide a good, service, or payment, and lost revenue due to COVID-19.
“Just losing money is not enough, you have to prove that you provided also some type of good, services, or payments, and had the lost revenue,” Marchal said.
All of the payments will be issued on March 16, Marchal said.
The second round applicants included Mount of Olives Lutheran Church, Sweetwater Family Resource Center, Rock Springs Renewal Fund, YWCA of Sweetwater County, Actor’s Mission, and United Way of Southwest Wyoming.
There were some concerns of whether United Way is considered a “charitable organization” since they are an organization that income flows through to other organizations.
“We are not sure they meet that definition because they are a pass-through entity,” Marchal said.
Marchal said the organizations have had to describe in detail what goods and services they provided, and that United Way may not fit the requirements to receive funding. It may be that the organizations that lost funding from United Way would need to make requests directly.
Marchal also noted that some organizations have included loss of funds from United Way in their requests for this funding, and therefore there is some overlap that is having to be taken care of.
Kelly Frink, Executive Director of United Way, said they are asking for the funding to cover awards that go out to other organizations that have not yet gone out, but will. Therefore, the organizations have not been impacted by this lack of funding yet.
The requests were as follows:
- Mount of Olives Lutheran Church: $2,182
- For PPE, cleaning services, and teleconferencing costs as they moved services online.
- Sweetwater Family Resource Center: $46,177
- For hotels, emergency shelter, utility assistance, and goods and services for clients. Shari West of Sweetwater Family Resource Center said revenue has gone down while need has increased.
- Rock Springs Renewal Fund: $11,956
- For loss in donations or other revenue.
- YWCA of Sweetwater County: $1,865
- For PPE, cleaning services, and telework.
- Actor’s Mission: $90,000
- For loss in donations or other revenue.
- United Way of Southwest Wyoming: $245,801
- For money awarded out to other organizations in June. The money typically comes from United Way campaign efforts raised in the fall and winter.
The Commissioners unanimously approved the requests in full, however, on a first come, first serve basis. The above applicants are listed in the order they were received, and therefore United Way of Southwest Wyoming will only be granted up to the amount of available funding.
Marchal said she is anticipating some relinquished funding from the first round of applicants, due to not meeting the specific requirements of the program. Therefore, United Way of Southwest Wyoming will receive their request in full up to the requested amount, contingent upon available funding.
