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City Council okay Block Grant application for Senior Citizens Center
The city is looking at a $1.9 million grant to facilitate a number things, including:
Rehabilitation of the aging facility, which would include upgrades to bring buildings up to code and provide energy improvements to reduce the energy costs. It’s estimated that the senior center could save as much as $19,000 a year in electricity costs if the grant is awarded and the improvements made. City staff estimates that the majority of the grant - $1,179,896 – would account for the primary costs.
The remainder of the grant would help pay for a program to help seniors pay for food and bring down the cost of a meal from $5 to $2 per mean and expand the program from Monday through Friday. The $51,000 price tag is expected to last for about two years.
The grant calls for hiring a facility manager to provide a full-time employee who can apply for grants, create fundraisers and outreach programs and aid in the day-to-day operations of the senior center. The grant calls for an expenditure of $225,000 and is anticipated to pay for two years.
The center also needs a full-time maintenance person and the grant is allocating $137,000 for such a person.
There is currently $28,540,278 in funding available for projects and communities like Lemoore are restricted to submitting only one grant application totaling not more than $2,000,000. The projects as recommended meet the national objective of primarily benefiting low and moderate-income seniors over the age of 62.
