County Council Allocates ARPA Grant Funds
May 9, 2022
Laurens County Council met on Tuesday, April 19th for the purpose of reviewing the ARPA application grants.
As reported by the Buzz previously, the county will receive $13.1 million in ARP funds, of which up to $2.5 million will be available to nonprofits and another $2.5 million for infrastructure projects (water, sewer and broadband) from the county’s first appropriation of ARP funding.
County Council members received the full applications in advance of the meeting to provide ample time for review. Representatives from submitting organizations were invited to attend the meeting and provide any additional information as might be requested by council members.
Below is a list of the grant applications received:
At the meeting, Chairman Patterson opened the review by advising all of the attendees the amount requested by 34 applicants was $9,250,792.00. He advised the amount that Council allocated to the Grant Applications was $2.5 million. He communicated that Council would be having to make some hard decisions to award monies, however he also advised there would more than likely be no monies awarded tonight. Each entity, for the exception of three, presented Council with information that gave them more knowledge of what they ask was for.
After about 1.5 hours the full County Council had allocated funds as follows:
| Organization | Amount Requested | Awarded |
| Straight Street Youth Center | $ 14,060.00 | $ 14,060.00 |
| Laurens County Trails Association | $ 16,000.00 | $ 16,000.00 |
| Good Shepherd Free Medical Clinic | $ 16,000.00 | $ 16,000.00 |
| Beyond Abuse | $ 40,000.00 | $ 20,000.00 |
| Fountain Inn Kid Enrichment Center | $ 42,000.00 | |
| Family Promise of Laurens County | $ 45,000.00 | $ 45,000.00 |
| Center for Community Services | $ 50,000.00 | |
| Laurens County Chamber of Commerce | $ 50,000.00 | $ 25,000.00 |
| P.A.I.A Lower Eastern Cherokee Nation SC | $ 50,000.00 | $ 50,000.00 |
| Dental Share Network of Laurens County | $ 60,000.00 | $ 60,000.00 |
| Laurens County Trails Association | $ 70,000.00 | $ 50,000.00 |
| Rotary Club of Laurens County | $ 75,000.00 | $ 6,000.00 |
| University of South Carolina Union-Laurens | $ 75,000.00 | |
| Bell Federation Center of the Blind | $ 90,000.00 | $ 40,000.00 |
| Bridging the Gap Advocacy | $ 98,000.00 | $ 20,000.00 |
| Camping Ministries of the Carolinas, Inc | $ 100,000.00 | $ 40,000.00 |
| Tranquility Point | $ 135,000.00 | |
| Main Street Laurens USA | $ 135,000.00 | $ 25,000.00 |
| United Ministries of Clinton | $ 150,000.00 | $ 75,000.00 |
| Presbyterian College | $ 161,500.00 | $ 60,000.00 |
| Cultural Arts Foundation Fountain Inn | $ 200,000.00 | |
| Laurens County Safe Home | $ 200,000.00 | $ 100,000.00 |
| Thornwell | $ 240,232.00 | $ 150,000.00 |
| American Legion Post 25 | $ 250,000.00 | $ 200,000.00 |
| Laurens Memorial Home for the Aged, Inc | $ 250,000.00 | $ 250,000.00 |
| The Laurens County Museum | $ 250,000.00 | $ 100,000.00 |
| United Way of Laurens County | $ 250,000.00 | $ 62,940.00 |
| Eighth Circuit Solicitor’s Office | $ 300,000.00 | |
| Laurens County School District 55 | $ 300,000.00 | |
| South Carolina Empowerment Centre | $ 350,000.00 | |
| The City of Laurens | $ 700,000.00 | |
| Clinton YMCA | $ 1,000,000.00 | $ 500,000.00 |
| City of Fountain Inn | $ 1,517,000.00 | $ 75,000.00 |
| Lakelands YMCA-Laurens | $ 1,971,000.00 | $ 500,000.00 |
| Total | $ 9,250,792.00 | $ 2,500,000.00 |
