When the Athens City Council announced its fiscal year 2020-2021 appropriations for local nonprofits and other entities at its Dec. 14, 2020, meeting, some took issue with Limestone Child Advocacy Center’s request being denied.

Now, that denial has been reversed, and the Limestone CAC will be receiving more funds than it requested after a unanimous vote by the Council at its meeting Jan. 25.

According to Councilman Frank Travis, who brought Limestone’s CAC’s request back before the Council at the meeting, the initial denial occurred for two reasons. The first was the center not turning in the correct paperwork by the city’s deadline, but there was also a lack of understanding by some Council members as to the services the CAC provides children in Limestone County.

“When nonprofits submit a request for funds, we look at it and say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’” Travis said. “A lot of time, we do not have any further information or history behind that request. We need to do a better job of understanding these requests.”

After the CAC’s initial appropriation request was denied, Becky Bentley, the group’s executive director, made a speech at the Council’s Dec. 28, 2020, meeting and explained what the nonprofit does. Bentley brought with her the mother of a 12-year-old boy who watched as his father was shot and killed by a neighbor. The mother spoke about how Limestone CAC had helped her son cope with the traumatic experience and helped them both through the ensuing legal process.

Travis told The News Courier on Wednesday that speech led to him bringing Limestone CAC’s request back before the Council. Travis argued that, given the work of the nonprofit, the City should not only grant the appropriation request for $8,000 but increase it to $10,000.

Councilman Harold Wales, who was absent from the Dec. 28 meeting due to shoulder surgery, said at the latest meeting that he was also not certain as to the full scope of what the center does. Fellow Council member Dana Henry, who was more familiar with the Limestone CAC, was able to give Wales a rundown of their services.

According to the group’s website, Limestone CAC provides “comprehensive, accessible, free services for 100 percent of children and families in Limestone County impacted by or at risk of child abuse or neglect.”

Councilman Chris Seibert also gave his support for granting the appropriation, saying he knew the 12-year-old boy mentioned at the previous meeting due to youth league baseball and had heard about what the center had done for the child and his family.

The Council’s vote also allows for the appropriation to be granted during the current fiscal year. Travis said he did not feel that the center should be “penalized” and made to wait for the next fiscal year to receive funds just because of the missing paperwork.

In fact, this experience may lead to a change in how appropriation requests are handled by the City going forward. Travis said during the Dec. 28 meeting that he wanted to see more information on these requests than is currently given before decisions are made.

“From here on out, before we have our budget meeting, we need to have a work session where all agencies who request appropriations give us an overview of what they do and what the money will go to, so we’ll have a clear understanding,” Travis told The News Courier on Wednesday.