The Urban League of Greater Chattanooga will receive funds from Hamilton County that make it whole after county officials clawed back money from the nonprofit several years ago.
Originally, County Mayor Weston Wamp brought a plan to the County Commission in early April to give $250,000 to the local Urban League, an organization that aims to help Black and disadvantaged communities achieve economic self-reliance in the city. Through a suggestion spearheaded by Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, commissioners upped the ante — $450,000 for the nonprofit. The funding proposal passed 8-3 Wednesday night.
“It never sat well with me when this body voted to remove those funds from the Urban League,” said Sharp, who had voted for plans in 2023 to take money back from the organization. “I motion that we make the Urban League whole.”
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The County Commission voted 9-1 three years ago in favor of a proposal from Wamp to siphon funds away from both the Urban League and the Sankofa Civic Engagement Organization, another nonprofit that raises funds for the Black community in Chattanooga. Commissioner Greg Beck, D-North Brainerd, was the only one opposed. Both organizations pushed back, writing letters calling the choice discriminatory.