Once our budget is finalized (we hope this week!), one of our next steps is getting the money out to local vendors. So far, we have envisioned doing this through a “mini” RFP process, which would be created by the Core Group. At last Friday’s WMIC meeting, vendors indicated that they’d like to have more of a role in creating the process and criteria for distribution of funds. While there’s a concern that a conflict of interest would make it inappropriate for vendors to set up the process for them to apply for funds, it is also true that vendors have incredibly valuable insight into the best ways to access the money in order to create and manage effective programs.
The WMIC group decided that vendors should get together to provide recommendations to the Core Group on how to distribute the funding. At these meeting, it may be possible for vendors to indicate their interest in applying for funds. Based on the interest, it may be that there is no need for a competitive process (this seems most likely in the area of REACH for homeless individuals, but it may be true in other areas as well).
For the Programs for Individuals, planning has already been underway, led by Dave Modzelewski (DMH), Jay Levy (Elliot), Andrea Miller (ServiceNet), and Bill Miller (Friends of the Homeless). If you are a vendor interested in providing REACH services to individuals, you should contact these folks.
For the Programs for Families, a number of people volunteered to work on creating recommendations, and Tom Salter (NEFWC) volunteered to chair the group. Tom is working to set a meeting time for this group. If you want to be part of this group, contact Tom. As soon as a meeting is set, the time and location will be posted here.
