Recently, Congress passed a budget that included millions of dollars in cuts. Some of those cuts are affecting people in Horry County.
25 nonprofit organizations are losing funding because of cuts in the budget passed last week.
The cuts come from a long standing program called Community Development Block Grants, or CDBG grants. They are designed to fund programs that serve low and middle income communities. Last year, the government distributed almost $4 billion dollars in block grants. In our area, the money goes to city and county governments, which then trickles down to non profit organizations. Last year, Horry County received $1,672,664 in federal block grants. This year it's down $125,450 to $1,045,415. Florence received $227,995, down $27,359 from last year.
It's a 16.2 percent cut to the grants across the board. That's $647 million dollars nationally.
NPR reports the block grants were originally created by President Ford in 1974. They were preceded by more a complex, competitive grant process lawmakers considered to be far less efficient.
One local recipient that is losing $12,000 from the block grant cuts is A Father's Place.
"It's a reduction in services when the demand is increasing," A Father's Place Executive Director Wallace Evans Jr. Said.
Their mission is to help clients gain employment, maintain a role in the lives of their families, and play a responsible role in the community. Without the CDBG grants, Evans Jr. says the nonprofit would loose their job recruiter, and a lot of the job placement and training services they offer.
"Nationally, the number of children living in father absent homes has increased 270% since 1960," their website says.
