DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — Last week, the Decatur City Council approved a $101.4 million budget for fiscal year 2025.
But once again, the applications for appropriations from outreach organizations that work with homeless people in the city have been denied.
“Because they don’t think that the taxpayers should help the homeless and that’s coming right from the mayor himself,” said Sue Terrell, Executive Director of Hands Across Decatur (HAD).
Terrell has been pleading with city officials for funding for nearly a decade. She says that the homeless population has increased each year since she opened the doors in 2012.
Earlier this year, the city of Huntsville awarded a $5,000 grant to Hands Across Decatur, but the organization has not received support from the city it calls home.
Terrell applied for a $35,000 grant that would go towards the rent, utilities, emergency food and medications, but she said the city asked for a required return on the investment.
“They are elected for our entire citizens, our entire citizen base and not just those who have money,” Terrell explained.
Terrell told News 19 that in recent months, the number of people seeking assistance has risen to more than she has ever seen before, and without additional support, closing the HAD operation is a real possibility.
The council said that some appropriations in the budget disappeared or were eliminated.
“We appreciate what Sue does in the community, but it’s not like that every organization that does that is getting city funding,” one council member said.
Terrell said that if HAD closes, it will be the city of Decatur’s responsibility to take care of its growing homelessness issue.
“It’s upsetting to me when the city cannot realize, elected officials do not realize that there is an issue,” Terrell said. “You’ll have to do something about it, or it will get worse. The time is now to stop it. It’s the city’s responsibility to help the homeless or to help the poverty-stricken. It’s not my responsibility. It’s up to the city who is elected for our entire citizens and our entire citizen base. Not just those who have money and not just those who make six-figures a year.”
Terrell has no date as to when HAD may be shut down.
The post Hands Across Decatur considers closing after city denies funding again appeared first on WHNT.
