Funding is crucial for the needy, groups say

Residency rule criticized

BY CECIL ANGEL and ZACHARY GORCHOW
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

The telephone call to Chad Audi on Tuesday was the kind of fallout that some Detroit nonprofits feared might happen.

The man, a suburbanite who gives $5,000 a year to Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, was upset about a city ordinance that effectively deemed 105 nonprofit groups ineligible for receiving federal Community Development Block Grant allocations because their boards were not at least 51% Detroit residents.

Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins said allowing suburbanites to be the majority showed a "slave-master mentality."

Audi, who is president of the Rescue Mission, said the man told him: "Please take my name off your mailing list if this is how people in Detroit are viewing us."

On Monday, the nonprofits received e-mail that they would no longer be receiving the block grant allocations through the City of Detroit.

On Tuesday, representatives from several of the organizations gathered at a news conference at Gleaners Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan on the city's east side. They stressed that needy people could be hurt if they lose funding.

"This has already cost organizations," said Cheryl P. Johnson, chief executive officer for the Coalition On Temporary Shelter, which stands to lose $138,540.

She said the ordinance contradicts all the talk of regionalism and "us working together."

The groups stressed that their board members are volunteers and are not paid.

"It's quite the opposite," said Daniel Varner, chief executive officer of Think Detroit Police Athletic League. "They're giving us money to serve city kids."

The council approved the new rules unanimously in July.

Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel, who on Monday called the situation an outrage and to the best of her memory recalled voting against the new rule, owned up to actually voting in favor of the measure. She said she must not have realized what the issue was when she voted for it, adding that the council took up a host of major issues that day.

"I missed it," said Cockrel, who did not attend the news conference. "I'm responsible for my votes."

She said there is some discussion among council members about trying to find a way to get the groups their funding outside of the block grant process as a stopgap measure -- if officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approve.

Many Detroiters are offering to help.

"We're getting calls from residents in the city saying, 'We want to be on your board,' " said Gerald Brisson, Gleaners vice president of development.

For one organization that was declared ineligible, the news may turn out to be good.

Tony Spearman-Leach, spokesman for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, said it was ruled ineligible. An internal audit found that 14 of 20 board members are Detroit residents. The museum plans an appeal.

Agostinho Fernandes, president of Gleaners, said it's not about 51% of the board, "it's about the 100% of folks who live in poverty."

Contact CECIL ANGEL at 313-223-4531 or angel@freepress.com.