One change occurred after a Nov. 10 public hearing on ways to spend the Village of Lake Orion’s Community Block Development Block Grant Funds.
Council members agreed to take $1,500 from an allotted $3,000 for street trees from 2002-03 CDBG monies and give it to the Women’s Survival Center.
The council told Mary Grace McCarter, the center’s executive director, that the monies were to be targeted for legal services only.
This is the first time the non-profit center has asked the village for funding.
According to volunteer Wayne Barry, the center’s legal program is now the only low or no cost legal program in Oakland County.
This past January, Oakland County Legal Aid’s Funding was merged into a tri-county program run by Legal Aid and Defender in Detroit. Since then LAD has cut its services 80 percent due to decreased funding.
That has left thousands of women and children, victims of domestic violence or families evicted from their homes with no legal assistance.
“We’ve picked up their legal representation,” Barry said.
According to Barry, the Oakland County Bar Association has given the center $23,000 and additional funds/grants are being sought from the state.
“We appreciate what every help you can give us,” he added.
LO Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel told council members she was informed by Oakland County that CDBG funds could only be given to a sole service provider such as HAVEN (without putting out for bids). The county told her the survival center is not a sole service provider, because of the other services it has.
The center also has community education services, counseling services, help line services and children’s services. These are not the only ones in the county.
McCarter said the center does receive CDBG funds from other municipalities. She indicated there would be no problem directing the village’s funds into legal services only.
Van Tassel said she would double check with the county if that was possible.
HAVEN received $2,200 from the village. It deals with crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.
HAVEN assisted 28 people and received 66 crisis calls from residents in the village.
Almost $24,000 in CDBG funds will be used for street trees, emergency rehab for income eligible people, install/repair sidewalks and Home Chore.