Who got how much of the $750,000 in Columbus crime prevention grants? See the list here

The award for a new children’s theater program in Columbus being funded in part by a $25,000 crime prevention grant from a city office is one of the 38 such grants handed out last year.

Here’s a breakdown of the organizations and programs that received a share of the $750,000 from the Columbus Consolidated Government’s Office of Crime Prevention in 2002. The information Seth Brown, the city’s crime prevention director, gave the Ledger-Enquirer shows 50 organizations and programs applied and requested a total of $2,594,203:

Approved applications

Liberty Theatre & Cultural Center: requested $35,140; granted $15,000.

STEAM Expo: $85,000; granted $10,000.

Columbus Scholars: requested $20,700; granted $15,000.

Open Door Community House: requested $20,000; granted $15,000.

Columbus Symphony Orchestra: requested $20,000; granted $5,000.

Building Wellness: requested $27,061; granted $15,000.

Literacy Alliance: requested $30,000; granted $20,000.

American Youth Arts Society: requested $30,000; granted $25,000.

Flourishing Ladies: requested $75,000; granted $40,000.

Second Chance: requested $150,000; granted $50,000.

Columbus Technical College: requested $427,000; granted $55,000.

Omega Lambda: requested $50,000; granted $20,000.

Legitimation Station: requested $17,000; granted $15,000.

Hope Harbour: requested $20,000; granted $13,000.

Truth Spring: requested $30,000; granted $25,000.

Columbus Museum: requested $6,472; granted $5,000.

The Focus Program: requested $36,000; granted $30,000.

Young Life: requested $20,000; granted $15,000.

Boyz 2 Men: requested $40,000; granted $25,000.

Better Work: requested $115,624; granted $25,000.

New Birth Outreach: requested $50,000; granted $20,000.

Protégé Project: requested $32,000; granted $10,000.

Columbus Dream Center: requested $16,500; granted $17,000.

Girls Inc.: requested $50,000; granted $15,000.

Overflo: requested $75,528; granted $25,000.

Columbus Regional Tennis Association: requested $35,868; granted $20,000.

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Chattahoochee Valley: requested $50,000; granted $10,000.

Columbus Community Center: requested $31,000; granted $20,000.

Men Act This Way: requested $143,705; granted $15,000.

Neighborhoods Focused on African-American Youth: requested $100,300; granted $25,000.

Easter Seals of West Georgia: requested $20,000; granted $10,000.

Springer First Act: requested $48,885; granted $25,000.

Right from the Start: requested $20,000; granted $15,000.

Micah’s Promise: requested $60,000; granted $20,000.

I Am Her: requested $29,128; granted $10,000.

Children’s 1^st: requested $20,000; granted $10,000.

Turn Around Columbus: requested $52,892; granted $25,000.

East Carver Heights Community Development Corporation: requested $20,000; granted $20,000.

Unapproved applications

These 12 organizations and programs applied in 2022 but weren’t approved for a grant from the city’s crime prevention office:

STEAM Race: requested $50,000.

Teen Advisors: requested $35,000.

Trilogy Productions: requested $82,000.

Second Chance Transition: requested $30,400.

The Learning Center: requested $34,500.

Youth in Action: requested $30,000.

Beginning New Outreach: requested $25,000.

YMCA of Metropolitan Columbus: requested $18,000.

Bruce Outdoors: requested $75,000.

Love Like Lexi: requested $20,000.

Learning Center: requested $38,500.

Hope and Faith: requested $45,000.

Grant selection process

Any nonprofit organization or program with an active board and tax exemption under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is eligible to apply. The deadline each year is March 30.

Applications are available via the link on the columbusga.gov website and must be submitted to the Office of Crime Prevention, Government Annex Building, 420 10^th St., second floor, Columbus, GA 31901. The office phone number is 706-225-4615.

A seven-person board recommends which applications to approve and how much money to grant, then the Columbus Council votes on that recommendation.

“Programs are selected based on their impact to the community and their ability to achieve the stated task,” Brown said.

The mayor appoints four of the board members: one chairperson, one education community representative and one Fort Benning representative to three-year terms and one law enforcement agency representative to a a two-year term. Columbus Council appoints the other three members to three-year terms: one residing anywhere in the city, one in state Senate District 15 and one in state Senate District 29.

The current board members are: Danny Arencibia (chairman), Joyce Dent-Fitzpatrick (law enforcement rep), Patricia Flora, Marcus Gibson, Lane Jimmerson, Rocky Marsh (Fort Benning rep) and Angela Vickers (education rep). Dent-Fitzpatrick’s term expires March 31 of this year. The terms for the other members expire March 31, 2025, according to the city’s website.

The $750,000 for the grants comes from the city’s fiscal year 2023 operating budget of $314,533,253. The city’s sales tax provides the revenue for the grants.

This story was originally published January 19, 2023 at 5:00 AM.

Mark Rice

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

706-576-6272

Mark Rice is the Ledger-Enquirer’s editor. He has been covering Columbus and the Chattahoochee Valley for more than 30 years. He welcomes your local news tips, feature story ideas, investigation suggestions and compelling questions.