In a virtual meeting on Tuesday morning, the Birmingham City Council extended funding to nine nonprofit organizations through it’s Building Opportunities for Lasting Development (BOLD) program.
The recipient organizations are:
• Birmingham Business Alliance
• Birmingham Business Resource Center
• Bronze Valley Corp.
• Bush Hills Connections, Inc.
• Community Care Development Network
• Create Birmingham
• TruFund Financial Services, Inc.
• Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham
• The Workshop & Rehabilitation Facilities for the Blind and Disabled, Inc
The BOLD program seeks develop community partners for the city to work with. It is administered by the Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity (IEO). The recipients were selected after an application and review process. The program has been changed by COVID with BOLD working with it receiving half of its pre-COVID funding and the grant period shortened from 12 months to six.
“The topline narrative is us really working to do more with less,” said Amelia Muller, civic design principal for IEO, in a presentation for the councilmembers. “So to think about how can we leverage city dollars and support in the community to maximize our investment.”
The program will distribute $500,000 to the nine partner organizations for a period of 180 days, with a progress report given to IEO at the midpoint mark in May. After a request from councilman Hoyt, the Department also promised to give that information to the council.
The council was again operating on essential minimum functions and took no input from citizens during the meeting.
Other notable items passed:
• Public meetings set for zoning changes for four properties.
• Grants were amended to the Birmingham Crossplex for NCAA Division II Track and Field Finals and NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Finals.
The full agenda for Tuesday’s meeting can be found here, and the full meeting can be viewed on the council’s Facebook.
