Funding cuts force Mt. Airy USA into 'crisis mode'
Despite remarkable successes, the community development corporation has seen its city funding shrink in the last year. "We're building on a house of cards," the group's director said.
by MICHAEL J. MISHAK
For Farah Jimenez, the gushing news of what many call the Mt. Airy renaissance is bittersweet.
As executive director of Mt. Airy USA, the nonprofit community development group that in large part laid the foundation for the neighborhood's commercial and residential real-estate boom, she is waging a behind-the-scenes battle to maintain momentum in the face of recent funding cuts.
While the group's work, from streetscape improvements to housing development, has attracted a bevy of new restaurants and shops to Germantown Avenue, its programs are running out of resources.
"When we tell our success story too well, people think we don't have needs," Jimenez said. "We're building on a house of cards."
The funding climate for nonprofit community development corporations has worsened in recent years.
Sharp cuts at both the federal and city levels have forced Mt. Airy USA to compete for an ever-shrinking pool of funds. Though the state has picked up some of the slack, awarding the group $125,000 this year for economic development projects, the city is tightening its belt.
Last year, the city Commerce Department cut Mt. Airy USA's annual subsidy from $75,000 to $50,000, Jimenez said. The amount of funding for fiscal 2006, which begins July 1, has yet to be announced, and the group's director is lobbying the city agency to restore the lost money. "We're not asking for a lot here," she said.
Also, in fiscal 2006, Mt. Airy USA will see a 5 percent cut in federal community block grant money, from about $80,000 to $76,000. The funds, earmarked for housing counseling, are disbursed through the city's Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD). According to Emilymarie Romin, an agency spokeswoman, the office cut funding for counseling agencies citywide because of a loss in federal funding.
The overall loss in funding has already resulted in layoffs at Mt. Airy USA, Jimenez said. Also, two of the group's hallmark revitalization programs — the Avenue Project and Avenue Ambassadors — are now operating "in crisis mode," she said.
The city's lengthy process of awarding contracts complicates matters. In late March, Gov. Rendell announced $125,000 in state funding for Mt. Airy USA to finance Main Street and Elm Street programs. Those funds are managed by two city agencies instead of being given directly to Mt. Airy USA. The money has not yet been released.
The Main Street contract is managed by the city Commerce Department. It will partially pay for a full-time staffer to run redevelopment activities in the central business district. The status of these funds remains unclear. Commerce Department spokesman Tom McNally told the Local Monday that he was unable to look into the issue this week due to the demands of coordinating Live 8, the mega concert that city officials expect will draw a million people to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday.
The OHCD handles the Elm Street contract, which partially provides for a full-time manager to oversee redevelopment in the areas around the central business district. Spokeswoman Romin said the contract was "in the final stages of preparation" and set to take effect "within several weeks."
The lag time in receiving funds, while not uncommon, is problematic, Jimenez said. Faced with uncertainties, Mt. Airy USA has done its fair share of operating in the dark. The group recently received a contract for a program it had already launched eight months earlier. "We can't work in deficits," she said.
Perhaps recognizing a problem, the city plans to study the performance of its economic development agencies in fiscal 2006 "to determine whether existing and future programs may be delivered in a more efficient manner," according to its five-year plan.
For groups like Mt. Airy USA, such a study is long overdue. In the meantime, Jimenez said she plans to step up efforts to convince the city of her group's eligibility for further funding.
"Things like the Avenue Project produce enormous results," she said. "It hits the city's bottom line positively." According to Jimenez, 30 new businesses have opened along Germantown Avenue in Mt. Airy in the past two and a half years. That level of interest, she said, is due in part to Mt. Airy USA's efforts.
At most risk, Jimenez said, is the group's Avenue Ambassadors program, which provides a full-time cleaning crew to sweep trash from the sidewalks along the main business strip. According to Jimenez, the program now operates on the voluntary annual contributions of area merchants, a funding source that is dwindling. "The program is in real crisis," she said.
Though City Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller initially secured a three-year commitment from the city to partially fund the Ambassadors program, the local dollars dried up last October, Jimenez said. The program received $50,000 in its first year, she said, and was on track to receive another $50,000 over the next two years when the city pulled its support.
The situation has left Mt. Airy USA scrambling to keep its programs alive. "We're focusing on survival instead of building an infrastructure and finding sustainable funding sources," Jimenez said. Remarkably, at a time when funding is at a low, the group has scored some impressive victories.
Mt. Airy USA recently received nearly $1 million in state monies for streetscape improvements. The group plans to install new lighting, trash cans and bike racks on the Avenue.
Last month, it broke ground for the Montana Street Townhomes, an 11-unit development for low- to moderate-income families, partially financed through a $1.38 million federal grant.
Another groundbreaking, for the mixed-use Pelham project, is slated for mid-July.
Mt. Airy USA is also working on plans to improve the Franklinville section of the neighborhood, the area bounded by Germantown and Chew avenues between Gorgas Lane and Upsal Street.
"We're having tremendous success," she said. "But the underlying reasons for that success are at risk." |
