After Chattanooga City Council members in June approved $200,000 in city funding for a nonprofit formed three weeks prior, the city is still waiting on paperwork that city code says should have been in hand before council approval.
The money, earmarked for nonprofit Grace Impact Center at the request of council member Dennis Clark of Cherokee Woods, was included in the city’s fiscal year 2027 budget, approved in June. But as recently as Oct. 23, city officials said they were still waiting for documents from the organization.
The organization was incorporated with the state on June 2, three weeks before the council approved funding for the group when passing the city’s annual budget on June 23. It has yet to receive any taxpayer dollars.
Grace Impact’s mission is to make real progress on reducing violence in Chattanooga, Clark said by phone, adding that city programs haven’t done the job.
According to city code, nonprofits hoping to receive funding from the city must submit documentation before any money is appropriated. This includes a copy of the most recently completed annual audit, a copy of the nonprofit’s charter filed with the Tennessee Secretary of State and its most recent IRS Form 990 as filed with the IRS, among other documents.