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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFY26 LA2A CWJ ResponsesNovember 22, 2024 FY26 Legacy Aid to Agencies HCDC Question and Answer (Q&A) Session Instructions The Q&A session provides an opportunity for commissioners and staff to ask clarifying questions about the applications submitted through United Way. Please provide written responses to the questions below. Written responses must be received by City staff no later than December 6, 2024. This process is intended to gather the information required to accurately score submissions. Written responses can be directed to Brianna Thul at bthul(a-)iowa-citv.orq or dropped off at City Hall (410 E Washington Street). All information related to this grant will be posted at www.icgov.orq/grants. The Housing and Community Development Commission will hold a meeting on January 27th, 2025, at 6:30pm in City Hall to develop funding recommendations for City Council. This meeting is open to the public and applicants are welcome to attend to hear the conversation. The meeting will also be recorded and posted online for those unable to attend. Agency: Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa Questions: Does the applicant have a year-end profit and loss statement available? Profit and loss statements for calendar year 2023 and calendar year 2024 are attached. 2. Is the operating deficit in the budget accurate? No, during the calendar year of 2024, up until the submission of the joint application (1/1-10/15), CWJ had an operating deficit of $66,377.36. 3. Please explain $485,951.64 reserve in relation to budget deficit of $83,896. This representation of CWJ's budget was in error. The "Operating Reserve Balance" was misinterpreted as our current bank balance, which includes our carryover/reserve funds in addition to income reserved for payroll and other operational expenses. Throughout 2024, our net expenditures have exceeded our net income. However, our carryover funds from previous years help cover this operating deficit. Due to this misunderstanding, we mistakenly reported $0.00 "Reserve/Carryover Funds" on the FY26/27 joint application. Our reserve/carryover balances are as follows: 1 /1 /2023: $381,303.69 1/1/2024- $409,977.92 November 22, 2024 4. Income information for beneficiaries does not appear to be listed in the application. Is there income data available for beneficiaries reported? Income data for those who access our services 1/1/2024 — 10/15/2024: • Less than $14,722.50 (0-30% Median Area Income): 60.5% • $14,722.51 — $24,537.50 (31-50% Median Area Income): 13.8% • $24,537.51 — $39,260.00 (51-80% Median Area Income): 15.4% • $39,260.01 — $49,075.00 (81-100% Median Area Income): 5.4% • Greater than $49,075.01 (Greater than Median Area Income): 3.8% 5. The agency selected 23 outcomes measures for FY24 in their previous joint funding application. Data reported on this application shows that they met zero out of 23 of the outcome measures. Please explain. Further clarification needed on various levels of services provided and qualifications of people who are providing those services. For example, 15 adults reportedly received healthcare services. Does the applicant provide healthcare services? Income Performance Measures: "Households become financially stable' - This measure is reflected in the combination of many services we provide, thus making it difficult to provide a specific number of persons directly impacted. Services we provide that positively impact financial stability include wage theft recovery, educational and empowerment classes, assistance with landlord disputes, translation assistance, workplace dispute resolution, access to UI Mobile Clinic, and many more. Many of the services we provide are related to the financial stability of low -wage and immigrant workers. Provided below are quantitative reflections of some of the services we have been able to directly quantify (i.e., wages recovered). However, because a lot of the work CWJ does is multi -faceted, it is more accurate to describe indicators as qualitative reflections of our work. After recent communications with the City, we now understand that selecting 23 outcome measures was not the best way to measure our work. In the future, as we did on the FY26/27 application, we will be more selective with our chosen performance outcome measures and choose to describe qualitative reflections of our work more thoroughly in narrative responses. Education Performance Measures: "Improve success for children and youth for school, post -secondary and work' - This also is reflected indirectly by a combination of services we provide. When parents and families have more time to dedicate to the success and well-being of their children, those children and youth have greater opportunities to thrive. We aim to assist low -wage and immigrant families solve the time-consuming issues that arise due to their status as immigrant or low -wage workers. These issues can include our assistance with translating documents for faster and accurate completion, assistance applying for social safety net programs, or providing advice and advocacy on how to deal with an employer stealing wages and/or violating workplace policies. These are just examples of a few common situations low -wage and immigrant workers November 22, 2024 encounter frequently. The services we provide to low -wage and immigrant workers in eastern Iowa provide more to quality of life than what can be quantified by any data set. The following data shows the number of individuals we have assisted with various types of cases — this can include wage theft recovery, housing/landlord disputes, workplace safety/health violations, assistance with translation, and issues relevant to low -wage and immigrant workers. This data does not include every individual who attended one of our events, classes, or workshops. Moving forward, we are revising our methods of record keeping regarding the number of individuals who access our services and how they interact with us. 2022: 298 individuals; $33,700+ wages recovered 2023: 219 individuals; $36,000+ wages recovered 2024 (1/1-10/15): 138 individuals; $9,912 wages recovered, $139,761.72 stolen wages owed (cases still in progress) Health Performance Measure: "Increase health of children and adults' - CWJ staff does not claim to provide medical services directly, however, we do provide access to healthcare services via the University of Iowa Mobile Clinic. Throughout the year CWJ hosts the UI Mobile Clinic at our office, and we spread word of their presence to the communities we serve. By hosting UI Mobile Clinic, access to necessary medical care to local, underserved populations is increased. Any and all details on services provided by the University of Iowa Mobile Clinic can be found on the UI Mobile Clinic website. Qualifications of those administering healthcare services are verified by the University of Iowa Heath Care. In 2024, we hosted the UI Mobile Clinic, with 27 individuals receiving medical care. We will host the Mobile Clinic one more time this year. We did not intend to misrepresent the work we do, however, the breadth of the work/services we provide to the community deserves to be reported. After recent communication with City of Iowa City staff, we now have a better understanding of how to more accurately report on our work through the joint funding process. We would like to acknowledge the validity of some of the concerns raised by the City and we are now working to rectify errors that have arisen primarily due to staff turnover. CWJ would like to emphasize the integrity of the work we do. As we continue to work to increase institutional knowledge, we would like to reiterate our intentions were never to mislead or misrepresent the work we do within our community. As an organization, CWJ strives to continue the long history of successful work it has done alongside the City of Iowa City. It is always our goal to reflect the characteristics we hope to instill within the communities of eastern Iowa. 6. Applicant is requesting a 164% funding increase from the prior allocation. What is the rationale for this funding increase? November 22, 2024 CWJ determines our funding requests based upon our financial need. Our funding request of $40,000 on the FY26/27 application is less than our request from the FY24/25 joint application (FY24-$45,000; FY25 application contains a typo of $5,000, but was later clarified that the request was for $50,000). Although our funding request exceeds the prior allocation of $15,000, our request on the FY26/27 joint application reflects our current financial need. CWJ's FY26 funding request reflects an 11 % decrease from our FY24 request. 7. Applicant references "members" as beneficiaries of services provided. How does an individual become a member and what are the requirements to receive services? There is no fee to access CWJ's services. Historically, those individuals have been encouraged to become a CWJ member. Those who become members pay an annual fee of $20 ($25 for a family). Through this small contribution, we to instill a feeling of ownership in our organization, its goals, and its programs within our members. Our ultimate goal is that each person we assist comes back regularly to contribute to the much larger fair labor movement. Becoming a member is currently optional. It is not a requirement to be a member of CWJ to access our services. The services we provide are open to the general public. CWJ opts to use the term "members' because it implies active participation in our organization. In contrast, the term "beneficiary" connotes a more passive type of engagement between the service provider and those accessing the service. By creating an active member base, CWJ hopes to utilize the successful elements of other organizing groups (i.e., labor unions, larger, more established worker centers) that promote continued participation. This is a major difference in the worker center service model in comparison with other types of service organizations. Our reference to CWJ beneficiaries as "members" reflects the culture we hope to instill within the communities we serve. 8. What specific advocacy and educational opportunities does CWJ lead on a regular basis and when are these held? CWJ regularly holds mobile home park tenant meetings, these include tenant know your rights workshops, tenant association meetings, and fair housing legal advice. CWJ also hosts educational classes throughout the course of the year including English as a Second Language, computer literacy, and this year we have hosted classes targeted towards aspiring entrepreneurs. These classes are typically held for 5-6 weeks at a time. CWJ schedules member meetings monthly and allies meetings every other month. We use these meetings as an opportunity to keep members of our organization and the community informed about rising societal concerns and ultimately, organizing people around them. November 22, 2024 Our member meetings are open to all members, as described in Question 7, as well as any immigrant and low -wage workers in our community who are interested in learning more about our organization, sharing an issue they are experiencing, or perhaps becoming a member. CWJ allies are individuals who care deeply about the issues facing those we serve and wish to use their time, and sometimes status within the community to assist CWJ in achieving justice for workers. Our allies meetings provide an opportunity for community members who are not low -wage or immigrant workers to stay informed on our efforts and offers opportunities to engage in actionable ways. 9. Please elaborate on the difference between the two proposed outcome measures selected. Number of services provided. During the FY26/27 granting period, CWJ will keep records of the total number of events/classes/workshops we host that are tailored to the needs of immigrants in our community. Number of individuals. During the FY26/27 granting period, CWJ will keep records of the total number of individuals with refugee or immigrant status that access our services. This could include individuals that attend our events/classes/workshops but also includes those who access other services. We track this data through our event sign -in sheets as well as our demographic intake form.