After the council voted unanimously on April 8, Sedona City Council’s proposed rental assistance program is off the table after returning an Arizona Housing Grant aimed at being redistributed to Verde Valley organizations to car camps planned for homeless workers at Sedona Cultural Park.

The council had previously discussed city officials’ proposal to reassign the $875,638 grant on February 11. This redirected funds to a two-year program run by Catholic Charity Community Services and moved from the Sedona area to provide rental assistance to homeless individuals.

“During the discussion, the council wanted to clarify eligibility requirements to explore the potential impacts of homeless students in Sedona,” said housing manager Jeanne Blum. “School students fall into a different category… They don’t necessarily experience literal homelessness, which is what this fund requires to target. Some homeless students in Sedona may not qualify for this particular program.”

“Staff were instructed to return to a range of services that are endemic to Sedona to serve the community and ensure that the people we served have verifiable connections with Sedona,” continued Blum. “It had some challenges because it reduces the number of households being offered and there is little chance that cities will consume full grants. What’s more, Housing Authorities might prefer larger service areas.”

According to Blum, the alternative option would be to “require grant transfers to non-qualified nonprofits,” which would “will expand housing opportunities for more people and ensure data collection for future policy decisions.”

“The staff’s recommendation is to move the grant to non-qualified nonprofit organizations,” concluded Blum.

In a discussion with Adoh, “I learned about this distinction between two definitions of homelessness who do not allow students to serve in the district,” Mayor Anette Spickard added. Regarding staff estimates that the scope of the revised work would only affect around 25 families, instead of the 103 estimated in the original proposal, “Adime was a bit worried that it didn’t meet Congressional intentions for this grant.”

“Our grants are actually just transferred to Adoh for direct management,” Spickard said. She revealed that the council could ask staff to set up separate urban funding programs to benefit homeless students.

Councillor Kathy Kinsella asked what would happen to unused funds if the city couldn’t use them all because of a decline in the scope of work.

It was a reimbursement grant, so “it’s just staying in the state,” Blum said.

“Is there any reason to think that when grants are reassigned, Catholic charities will still be qualified service providers?” Kinsella asked.

“My understanding is that they’ll work with them,” Spickard said. “They will still generate this network of referrals.”

Councillor Brian Fultz asked staff to assess Adoh’s response to the council’s desire for “this truly strong bond.”

“They were a bit slippery about their original demand to scale to Sedona’s Nexus, as they didn’t meet the full intentions of Congress,” Spickard said. “I don’t think they’re just going to accept the transfer and spend money on the people of Sedona Nexus. I think they’ll do the Verde Valley area because it’s a poorly-served community in the state.”

“So you’re saying that the Nexus still exists. It’s just a larger area of ​​the region,” Kinsella said. Spickard and Blum agreed.

“These are all very soft terms,” ​​said Councilman Melissa Dunn. “Is there any guarantee that Sedona will be considered part of the Verde Valley?”

“In a conversation with Adoh staff, they clearly stated to me that when they request that we transfer the grant, they can identify the terms and conditions for that.

Public Comments

“We are looking at local solutions to local challenges and supporting you,” said Sedona Chamber of Commerce President David Key. “I think that’s appropriate.”

“The rental assistance funding will have a direct and immediate impact, which could help families in our program move more quickly to permanent housing,” said Elizabeth Slaine of Hope House in Sedona. “I think anything that helps Sedona homeless people need to be considered.”

“I support the idea of ​​moving these funds through either phase 2, original plans, to contract with a Catholic charity or to give them to Adoh and get them to allocate them,” says Jo Martin. “We rely on national control to give us help… We trust our states to support our communities, on our behalf.

“Grants are a solution for problems,” Bill Noonan said. “It’s a bit of a humiliation to the democratic process that we have reconsidered applications for this grant, or that the city has reconsidered that Arizona is still trying to foster it on us through this NGO.”

Council Comments

“No one denys that there are homeless people here, but there’s a perspective on whether it’s a big monumental issue worthy of big government resources. And when we haven’t spent a couple of years on that $875,000, it’s a pretty big ramp up,” Fultz said. “I support bringing that money back to Adoh. We certainly hope that it will provide a direction that the recipients need to have a strong nexus.

“I’m going to move more Adoh’s money into the area,” Dunn said. “I would like to make some kind of assurance that anyone in Sedona has a way of getting resources, whether they’re in the library or anywhere.”

“I also support the transfer of grants from Sedona to NGOs and serving the Verde Valley,” Vice Mayor Holi Proul said. She added that the number of people who proposed that the original plan provide support was “more than we serve in Sedona.”

“I support the money back to Adoh… Homelessness here is a local issue,” said Councillor Derek Pfaff. “I don’t think we’ll attach a string to it. We’re trying to get it both ways.”

“Local solutions are the right approach,” Councillor Pete Furman said. “We need to be good partners in the Verde Valley on this issue.”

“I think it’s important to have the full amount of money available from the state available,” Kinsella said.

“I don’t support limiting Adoh. They know what they’re doing. The council then voted to send the money back.