DeKalb City Council approved over $700,000 in grants, split between community development and local 501(c)(3) nonprofits on Jan. 22. The investment into DeKalb’s community this year shows a strong continuance of crucial support from the city.

DeKalb manages two different monetary pools for grants, according to City Manager Bill Nicklas. One comes from the federal government, while the other comes from general revenue of the city.

The federal money is given to the city in the form of a Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, because the city qualifies based on a list of factors such as population, poverty levels and housing needs. DeKalb expects to receive $375,561 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Though less than previous years, the total planned amount – including funds from previous years – of $486,000 is still an impactful amount that will be invested into the same five categories as it has in previous years: Administration and Planning, the Owner Occupied Housing Rehabilitation project, Public Services, Public Facilities, and Economic Development.

This money is key in helping to create and improve public support systems, improve the living conditions of marginalized groups and individual citizens, boost the local economy and make improvements to DeKalb as a city.

The continued yearly grant money being put toward these improvements is important and a net good for both residents of DeKalb and NIU students.

CDBG money is planned to go toward public services, among them Safe Passage – DeKalb County’s domestic violence and sexual assault crisis center – and Hope Haven, which provides various methods of support for homeless residents of the county.

The funding of these two organizations, alongside others approved, means they can extend their life-saving services to more people as a benefit to the community. DeKalb is backing its population in important ways.

“It takes more than just the meat and potatoes of good roads, you know, public safety, that kind of thing to make a community,” Nicklas said. “It’s also how we help people who are less fortunate and may be in desperate need of a hand up. A fair amount of the money that is allocated annually by the city goes to those purposes.”

Alongside the beneficial CDBG allocations, the city is taking further steps toward supporting the community with its investment into local nonprofit organizations.

Of the 31 applicants, 23 have been recommended to receive this human service money. The recommended nonprofit organizations include Barb Food Mart, DeKalb Area Alano Club, Family Service Agency of DeKalb County and RAMP, to name a few. 

Support of these irreplaceable services is vital in improving the quality of life for all that live in and around DeKalb and, again, allows them to extend the reach of their impactful resources.

Nicklas explained the process the city takes to select applicant nonprofits is in-depth.

“We have an internal committee, which is a diverse committee, it includes people who have regular contact with agencies that may apply and know something more than just anecdotally what they do and the work and success that they have,” Nicklas said. “There are several layers of review and consideration and then the council ultimately gets a copy of every applicant presentation.”

Even if the city is unable to provide the full amount of money requested by applicants each year, DeKalb is still made a better place by the grants given.