By Craig Stoker
Recently Meals on Wheels of Odessa submitted an ask to the City of Odessa and I was given the opportunity to present our case to the City Council. The night has a very official title, like budget appropriation night, or something close, but, it looks more like the old game show, “Let’s Make a Deal!” Last Tuesday night, our ask was not fully funded, and many of you have reached out to let me know you think we got a raw deal.
But it’s not so simple.
At the core, yes, our ask to the City was not fully funded, but, to be quite frank, it was never going to be. There was not enough money in the bucket we draw from to fund every single ask fully. The funds available to Meals on Wheels of Odessa, and other organizations like the West Texas Food Bank and Family Promise, come from the Federal Government through the Housing and Urban Development Department. This is called the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and there was a little over $900,000 available. The sub-category from which Meals on Wheels is allowed to ask is for Human Services, and that bucket only had around $140,000.
The total asks from the Human Services category were more than $300,000, and with only $140,000 to disperse, this is why I say our asks were never going to be fully funded.
To clear up another misconception, I have heard more than once that organizations like Odessa Arts and Downtown Odessa, Inc., who receive their grants from the City through the Hotel Occupancy Tax Fund (HOT) took money away from Meals on Wheels. The HOT funds cannot be spent on anything other than promoting tourism in Odessa. State law prohibits the city to re-appropriate those funds to an organization like Meals on Wheels. It simply is not true that another organization took money away from Meals on Wheels to use for the arts or downtown redevelopment.
I also want to express my appreciation to the City for continuing a 37 year partnership with Meals on Wheels. No matter what the level of giving, all donations to our program are appreciated. I also wanted to squash any ideas that their decision was politically motivated in any way. Councilwoman Swanner approached me after the meeting to express how difficult the decision was to not fully fund our ask, but that my expertise in fundraising would help make up the difference. I certainly appreciated her explanation, and I am truly grateful for the over $1.4 million the city has invested in Meals on Wheels over the years.
Of course, Meals on Wheels will have to make up the lost funding, but there is still money left in our grant from last year, and we hope to be able to ask the City for an extension. Also, as they always do, the community has stepped up to fill the funding gap, and we have an opportunity to do something truly special towards the end of the year, so stay tuned. We may be down, but we are certainly not out!
Craig Stoker is the executive director of Meals on Wheels of Odessa.
