Naperville nonprofits face struggles without federal funding
A financial reporting error by Naperville officials has left several of the city’s nonprofit agencies, including Loaves and Fishes Community Pantry, in a lurch as they enter their busiest season.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, the city failed to submit an annual performance report accounting for the use of Community Development Block Grant funding for the 2009 program year. When the city failed to produce the report, HUD suspended 2010 funds in September, in the amount of about $393,000,
HUD also conducted on-site monitoring of the city’s block grant program in April 2011.
“A number of findings of noncompliance were identified, some of which were serious in nature,” HUD spokeswoman Laura Feldman said. “At that time, HUD and city officials created an action plan to address reporting and program operating deficiencies to ensure the city could access its funds in the future, once reporting was current and comprehensive procedural changes were implemented to ensure compliance with CDBG regulations and related requirements.”
Since that time, HUD has received the city’s 2009 and 2010 financial reports but is still monitoring the city’s 2011 compliance before releasing the funds.
City Manager Doug Krieger agreed with Feldman’s assessment but said the city has now assigned new staff members to deal with HUD funding moving forward.
“HUD has been very patient and helpful in the training of our new employees regarding HUD’s practices and requirements,” Krieger said. “I’m anticipating this whole situation will be cleared up by the end of this month.”
The longer the funds remain frozen, the more serious the problem becomes for agencies that were promised a share of the federal money.
Charles McLimans, Loaves and Fishes’ executive director and CEO, fears the pantry won’t receive the $142,000 he said it was promised in July. And those who will suffer, he said, are thousands of DuPage County residents served every year by the food pantry.
McLimans said the agency already has served 34,937 individuals this fiscal year, a 59 percent increase over the same period last year.
“At a time when our services are needed more than ever, we’re forced to reduce our services instead of increasing them as our clients are requesting,” he said. “Our shelves are not empty yet but that’s only because we’ve been spending our food budget at a ratio of two months to one month. So we’re faced with emptying our shelves or reducing our level of service.”
The agency hoped to use the federal funds to help pay for its new facility on High Point Drive but instead was forced to secure a secondary loan from the Illinois Facilities Fund.
“It has just been a vicious circle,” McLimans said. “We were rewarded money that was earmarked for us so our social services funding was reduced about $30,000 to $27,000.”
The Naperville Heritage Society was promised about $37,000 in block grant funds, spokeswoman Donna DeFalco said. The society typically uses the funds to improve accessibility to the structures at Naper Settlement. She declined to say whether any projects have been delayed due to the lack of funds.
“We apply for grants regularly and don’t always get them. And we apply to many different sources,” she said. “We have been fortunate in the past to receive the CDBG funding from the city and we look forward to another opportunity to participate in the future.”
Louise Jacobs, manager of Naperville Elderly Homes, Inc., confirmed her senior living agency is owed $27,300 but declined to comment further. Calls to the YMCA and Naperville CARES were not returned.
Feldman said HUD and the city are working to resolve outstanding findings of noncompliance from the 2011 monitoring review.
“Once those issues are resolved, we anticipate that the city may have access to its funds,” she said. “A response to the findings is anticipated from the city this month.”