City of Lawrence

Outside Agency Funding

APPLICATION

General Information: Each year, the City Commission considers requests for the allocation of dollars to a number of agencies that provide services benefiting the Lawrence community. The decision on funding a request will be made during the City’s annual budgeting process. The decision will be based upon the availability of funds, the need demonstrated through the agency’s application, the stated objectives of the applicant’s program, past performance by the agency in adhering to funding guidelines (as appropriate), and the ability to measure progress toward the program objectives.

Instructions: Applications for 2008 funding must be complete and submitted electronically to the City Manager’s Office at cliebst@ci.lawrence.ks.us by the deadline of 5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007.

Questions? Contact Casey Liebst, Budget Manager at cliebst@ci.lawrence.ks.us or at 785-832-3409.

Section I. Applicant Information

Legal Name of Agency:		Lawrence Community Shelter, Inc.
Name of Program for Which Funding is Requested:			Bus Passes & Work Clothing for the Homeless
Primary Contact Person:		Loring Henderson representing seven Lawrence agencies
Address:	214 West 10^th Street, Lawrence, KS 66044
Telephone:	832-8864 (o) or 764-2095 (c)		Fax:	832-1053
Email:	loring@lawrenceshelter.org

Section 2. Request Information

A.	Amount of funds requested from the City for this program for calendar year 2008:	$9,000
B.	Will these funds be used for capital outlay (equipment or facilities) in 2008? If so, please describe: No.
C.	Will these funds be used to leverage other funds in 2008? If so, how: These funds for transportation and work clothing will release the limited funds of the participating nonprofit agencies to be used for other forms of assistance to the homeless. In some cases, payback plans can be arranged so the funding is available to be reused for another person in need.
D.	Did you receive City funding for this program in 2007? If so, list the amount and source for funding (i.e. General Fund, Alcohol Fund, etc.): Yes, the 2007 City funding was the same amount of $9,000 from the General Fund. This funding is distributed to seven agencies in Lawrence working with people experiencing homelessness. The Lawrence Community Shelter is the representative agency applying for this funding for the Community Commission on Homelessness and the seven agencies participating in the bus passes & work clothing program.
E.	If you are requesting an increase in funding over 2007, please explain exactly how the additional funds will be used: Not requesting an increase.

Section 3. Agency and Program Budget information

A.	How many paid full time employees work for your agency?	2	Volunteers?			100+
	Lawrence Community Shelter is submitting this request as the representative of the Community Commission on Homelessness for the seven agencies participating in the bus passes & work clothing program. Most information in this Section 3 applies only to Lawrence Community Shelter.
B.	What percent of your total 2007 budget goes to employee salaries and benefits?				35%

C.	What percent of your total 2007 budget is used for operating expenses?			17%

D.	What is the total estimated cost to provide the program in 2008?			$9,000

E.	What percent of 2008 program costs are being requested from the City?			100%
	This request applies to the total of $9,000 to be distributed to seven agencies.
F.	List other anticipated sources of funding and funding amount for this program in 2008:
	Anticipated Funding Source				Dollar Amount
	Dinner and Dancing at Dusk fundraising event				$28,000
	Chocolate and Tea at Three fundraising event				$20,000
	Individuals				$10,100
	Religious				$ 6,000



	TOTAL 2008 PROGRAM BUDGET				$64,100

Section 4. Statement of Problem/Need to Be Addressed By Program

A. Provide a brief statement of the problem or need your agency proposes to address with the requested funding and/or the impact of not funding this program. The statement should include characteristics of the client population that will be served by this program. If possible, include statistical data to document this need.

There are two problems addressed by this total request of $9,000.

Bus passes -- $6,600. Transportation to and from appointments, interviews, or job sites and the shelter or service provider offices is a major problem for people experiencing homelessness. A large amount of time for a homeless person in a given day is spent in waiting at or finding transport to an office or job. People experiencing homelessness normally have to rely on transportation from the public system, or a friend. $6,600 from the City for bus passes will purchase 13,200 one-way passes which is equivalent to 254 passes per week or 36 in a day to be distributed through seven agencies to about 380 homeless adults and children. This number is nearly equivalent to the January 2007 survey which showed 373 homeless adults and children in Lawrence at that point in time. Transportation assistance is essential to any plan for an individual or family to get out of homelessness. This support from the City is significant, direct, and practical.

Work clothing -- $2,400. There is an abundance of used clothing available in local outlets but it is odd sizes, styles, and colors and usually does not fit the standards required by an employer. Restaurants often ask employees to wear black pants and white shirt or some other specific combination of colors that aren’t available except by purchase. Amarr Door Company and other warehouse and industrial employers usually require steel toed shoes and related safety gear which can be expensive and must be specific to the employee’s size. Getting help from this City fund for work clothing will mean the difference between getting and holding a job or not for several homeless individuals over the 2008 year. At a projected average expense of $45.00 per request, 53 individuals will be helped by seven agencies.

B. How was the need for this program determined?

The needs for both transportation and work related clothing were recommendations in the Final Report of the Mayor’s Task Force on Homeless Services in 2005. Awareness of the needs resulted from a survey of local gaps in services to people experiencing homelessness.

1. The Report stated “Transportation options for individuals should be expanded through free or reduced fare bus passes to be used for work or health-related travel. Passes will be purchased by and issued by authorized service providers. This will be a cost component of the Jobs Program Plan.”

2. The Report stated, also, “Other employment related costs for work are such things as steel toed shoes, safety glasses, safety gloves, and hard hats. This is dependent on the type of work the candidate is place into, but most jobs require some type of safety gear. The cost of this gear is up to $100 for all the above requirements. Perhaps an arrangement for payback on this gear can be developed and is not unusual.” [A payback arrangement has been done in several cases over the past two years.]

C. Why should this problem/need be addressed by the City?

The Mayor’s Task Force on Homeless Services recommended both of these problems be addressed by the City in its June 2005 Task Force Report. The City budget has included funding for these two items (bus passes and work clothing) in the past two years. The funding amount is important to the nonprofit service providers which can then release other funds for direct service to homeless people needing assistance in areas such as housing, medical care, prescriptions, child care, and job training or education. The program follows the guidelines in the Task Force Report describing the needs in Lawrence and recommendations to meet the needs.

Section 4. Description of Program Services

A. Provide a brief description of the service you will provide and explain how it will respond to the need you identified in Section 3. The description should include how many clients will be served, and should describe as specifically as possible the interaction that will take place between the provider and the user of the service.

The bus passes and work clothing service to homeless consumers will be provided at seven participating agencies (ECKAN, First Step House, Pelathe Community Center, Bert Nash Community Mental Center, WTCS, The Salvation Army, and the Lawrence Community Shelter). Each agency is allocated a certain number of bus passes and dollars for work clothing. Bus passes are tracked and reported to the city in the categories of usage – health, employment, housing, legal, and benefits. Distribution of the bus passes is based on case managers decisions according to the individual’s goal and needs. Work clothing expenses are approved and paid for based on employment or other appropriate goals of the client and documented by receipts. This system of allocating, distributing, tracking, and reporting has been developed and used by the participating agencies in 2006 and 2007 without complications. It is projected that the bus passes will assist 380 homeless individuals and 53 will be helped through the work clothing program (unduplicated counts). The bus passes and work clothing program is complementary to the outreach workers program also funded by the City as described in the 2005 Report of the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness. These outreach workers are part of the staff from the seven participating agencies that use the bus passes and work clothing in their case management of client goals.

B. Describe any efforts your agency has made to explore the community to determine if there are any other agencies providing similar types of services. What efforts have you made to coordination services?

The bus passes and work clothing program is a coordinated service between seven agencies under the aegis of the Community Commission on Homelessness. The funds are initially received by the Lawrence Community Shelter, disbursed to the other six agencies, and tracked and reported quarterly to the Neighborhood Resources Department. The program has proven to be successfully designed to avoid duplication of service. The group of agencies meets at least twice annually to talk over particular agency needs and issues that may have developed. The project is straightforward, however, and the agencies are fully cooperative with each other. The group knows what agencies in the Lawrence community are providing similar services and this program insures continuation of efficient and fair distribution of resources. The agencies are appreciative of this assistance from the City which provides a much needed service to people experiencing homelessness.

Section 5. Program Objectives

Please provide three specific program objectives for 2008. Objectives should demonstrate the purpose of the program and measure the amount of service delivered or the effectiveness of the services delivered. A time frame and numerical goal should also be included. Examples include, “75% of clients receiving job training will retain their job one year after being hired,” “increased fundraising efforts will result in a 15% increase in donations in 2008,” “credit counseling services will be provided to 600 clients in 2008,” “new digital arts program will serve 275 students in 2008” etc. Applicants will be expected to report their progress toward meeting these objectives in their six month and annual reports to the City.

	Program Objectives

1.	Bus passes will be used to strengthen the ability of homeless clients to make jobs interviews, health appointments, housing searches, legal hearings, and benefits assessments. 100% of the individuals who will be assisted through this program in the 2008 year will be homeless.

2.	Work clothing, including shirts, pants, gloves, safety hats, safety glasses, shoes, etc. will be purchased for individuals in need of assistance to obtain or continue employment during the 2008 program year. 100% of the individuals assisted will be homeless.

3.	100% of the combined $9,000 funding for the bus passes and work clothing will be distributed and reported according to established procedures. Quarterly reports from the seven participating agencies will be submitted to the Neighborhood Resources Department showing categories of usage and totals distributed or spent

Please return completed application electronically to cliebst@ci.lawrence.ks.us by

5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007.

Office Use Only