Hamilton County commissioners will decide next week whether to provide an additional $100,000 in federal pandemic relief money for a youth mentorship program called the Lighthouse Collective, which would be the second of three yearly installments totaling $300,000.
The previous, nine-member County Commission approved the first $100,000 payment in November 2021 with the expectation that there would be an additional $200,000 available to the group in the following years.
The funding was part of a $71.4 million allotment Hamilton County received through the American Rescue Plan Act -- a spending package passed by Democrats in Congress in 2021 -- and that officials distributed to a litany of county projects and local organizations.
The Lighthouse Collective has been providing the panel with regular reports on its initiatives. A new crop of 11 commissioners, which included a number of returning representatives, took office Sept. 1.
As part of an effort to mitigate crime and violence in the city, the Lighthouse Collective has organized a series of initiatives over the past year, including a free weekend event at Miller Park called No Smoke Sundays. The group has also partnered with Hamilton County Schools and other local entities, Chris Sands, one of the co-founders of the organization, told the board during a meeting Wednesday.
Commissioner Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, asked Sands how the Lighthouse Collective has measured its success.
"We have seen the lives and families impacted in such a way that the family units are coming together," Sands said. "Young people who were affiliated in certain gangs and things of that nature are beginning to shift their mindset. That's how we begin to measure success. We have a long-scale and a robust plan to impact the lives of young people, and we're still in the process of doing that in our second year."
Asked by Eversole for more data, Sands said the organization would be willing to provide the commission with any further information members need.
"One hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money," Eversole said Wednesday, "and for taxpayers we want to be sure that organizations are being supported, there's a return on investment for the community. There has to be a benchmark measurement that we see success."
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Chris Sands asks the audience several different questions regarding personal experiences with gun violence at a forum at Brainerd High School on June 7.Commissioner Warren Mackey, D-Lake Vista, brought the initial resolution to the commission, which he said came after two women were killed and five injured during a shooting at a weekend block party on the Westside in September 2021.
"In the wake of that, the commission began having a conversation, and it seemed as if the commission was willing to accept that as just par for the course," Mackey said at the meeting. "But we were able to bring a resolution, and that program was pretty much designed by these men here. ... They've done a great job. They have engaged people in the community, and they do have a record. I'm going encourage the commission once again to support this second installment of $100,000."
The item also prompted questions from Commissioner Greg Beck, D-North Brainerd, about why the Lighthouse Collective was the only organization required to come back to request further installments of American Rescue Plan Act funding from the county.
"These people have been working for years with young people," Beck said. "They just reached the level where they could even ask local governments for money. So I just don't feel that's fair that they have to keep running in here with hat in hand, and no one else has to come. I know ministries that was given money out of this ARPA money. I haven't seen them up here making a report."
He suggested Hamilton County officials provide the organization with the remaining $200,000.
Finance Administrator Lee Brouner said the Lighthouse Collective was among the first organizations to receive a commitment of federal relief dollars from the county, meaning it was handled differently than subsequent requests.
"I believe at the time," Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, told Beck, "the idea was that because the group was relatively new that there should be ... a series of contributions to encourage sustainability of the organization and the efforts they were providing in the community."
Sharpe commended the work of the organization and said he would support the resolution. Commissioners will take up the item during their regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. March 1 on the fourth floor of the county courthouse, 625 Georgia Ave.
Another co-founder of the Lighthouse Collective, Montrell Besley, said in an interview that the organization's main event this year will be the Boys Leadership Summit on April 29 on the campus of Chattanooga Preparatory School.
The organization will also kick off No Smoke Sundays again in the summer and will be taking on a five-week summer enrichment program for rising sixth graders through eighth graders.
"We've really got a busy, busy schedule ahead of us for this year," Besley said.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.