Hawke’s Bay is better off after the first round of the Community Response Fund
September 4, 2009
Craig Foss and Chris Tremain are delighted with Hon Paula Bennett’s Minister for Social Development and Employment announcement today of successful applicants to the first round of the Community Response Fund.
Chris said that “Nationally we’ve made $8.8 million available to critical social service groups under pressure due to the recession. Locally this has had a direct boost for local social services “
“The Community Response Fund is a targeted, short term fund which provides one-off grants of up to $50, 000 to providers of critical social services for families, children, young and older people” Craig explains “And this can only be good for families who are struggling presently.”
This first round opened on the 8th of June and closed on the 3rd of July. There were 293 applications considered, including 6 from national organisations. Twelve panels with regional representation considered the applications against clearly stated criteria.
164 applicants from all around New Zealand met that criteria. That included;
- Severe financial difficulty due to the impact of the recession, resulting in an inability to maintain service levels,
- Significantly increased demand for services from families struggling as a result of the economic downturn,
- Innovative approaches in meeting service demands with substantially new initiatives such as working in collaboration with other critical social service provide
In this round, the average amount granted was $40,995. Our Hawke’s Bay region received $ 419,671.00 which will be of huge benefit to those in need.
Unsuccessful applicants can apply again in the next funding round as long as they meet the criteria. A series of regional briefings will be held in September to help organisations better understand what evidence they need to supply.
Both MP’s expect a higher number of applicants in the second funding round, which closes on 25 September 2009 and encourages all local social services to apply for the fund.
