Wake County Gave $20 Million In COVID Cash: How Was It Spent?

And was it spent properly? Oh, wait, that’s not a question that is being asked. Nor “what does this really have to do with COVID relief?” Some questions that could certainly be asked with state and federal money across the nation

Wake County gave $20 million in COVID-19 relief funds to nonprofits. Who got the most?

Thava Mahadevan runs a small farm where he grows food for poor and homeless people with mental challenges.

He can feed more of them now, because Wake County is giving his group — XDS Inc. — $150,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.

“And our goal now is to expand what we have learned here as part of our Heat and Eat meal program into Wake County,” Mahadevan said.

Kelly Nivison wasn’t so lucky.

She asked the county for just $2,000 for her orchestral group, the Raleigh Camerata, but her request was denied.

“It was a little bit of a letdown,” she said.

They were among the winners and the losers in the county’s “Elevate Wake” program that handed out $20 million in federal relief funds to nonprofits who had to apply for it.

While that’s admirable, what do either have to do with COVID relief? Looks more just like handing out taxpayer cash to private groups because they can. Out of the 4 pages of recipients, very few seem to have anything to do with COVID.

Raleigh-Wake County Dental Society Community Dental Health Program Inc. (DBA Wake Smiles) received $70k for a dental clinic renovation. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. (Raleigh Alumnae Chapter) received $35K for the Southeast Raleigh Community Health Truck Rodeo. Southeastern Wake Adult Day Center got $371K for Advancing Treasured Thyme, whatever the hell that is. The African American Cultural Festival of Raleigh and Wake County got $400K for African American Cultural Festival Capacity Building and Sustainability PRoject. What do any of these have to do with COVID? New Bethel Christian Church got $200K for Food Pantry Expansion. Let them spend their own money.

The Boys and Girls Club of Wake County is getting $2 million to move its Brentwood Club to Fox Road in Raleigh, and will upgrade its HVAC systems and purchase new buses.

Dorothea Dix Park is getting $1 million to repair its walkways and make its restrooms ADA-compliant.

Does that have anything to do with COVID?

Roylance says there are safeguards to make sure the money is spent properly, and Dillon says the county partnered with the Triangle Council of Governments to help distribute and monitor the funds.

“So when an organization gets the funding, they have to come back and report on everything that that is agreed to, and there’ll be individual contracts with each agency or each nonprofit that ensures that the public funds are spent for the purposes that they they applied for,” Dillon said.

Did ABC11 here in Raleigh bother asking to see records about monitoring to make sure the money is being used as intended? Not that it has much to do with COVID.

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