Opting to commit the remaining funding set aside for the group in late 2021, Hamilton County commissioners decided Wednesday to distribute $200,000 of federal pandemic relief funds to a local youth mentorship organization called the Lighthouse Collective.
In November 2021, commissioners voted to allocate $100,000 to the organization for community violence reduction efforts with the option of providing two more increments of $100,000 over the following years for a total of $300,000.
At the suggestion of Commissioner Greg Beck, D-North Brainerd, commissioners instead decided to Wednesday provide the Lighthouse Collective with all the remaining funding earmarked for the organization.
Beck’s amendment to the resolution passed 8-2 with commissioners Steve Highlander, R-Ooltewah, and Mike Chauncey, R-East Ridge, voting no. The amended resolution passed 10-0. Commissioner Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, was absent.
Last week, Beck questioned why the Lighthouse Collective was the only nonprofit the county has required to come back and request further installments of American Rescue Plan Act funding from the county, noting that the group’s founders have worked for years with young people.