New York Leads Nation in Getting Faith-Based Funds

WASHINGTON – New York may not be on the map of most evangelicals who fought for funding of faith-based groups, but no state received more money from President Bush’s initiative.The Empire State received more than $152 million in the 2003 fiscal year, according to figures from the White House, most of which went to well-established programs that had long been receiving federal support.Most of the $152 million went to such traditional community outreach programs as Head Start and services for the homeless, often administered by established charities like the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities.“There really is no extra money for us,” said Dr. Judith Vogtli, who runs an abstinence program for Buffalo-area teens called ProjecTruth.Nationwide, faith-based organizations won $1.17 billion in 2003. That’s about 12% of the $14.5 billion spent in the main federal social programs that qualify for faith-based grants. White House officials expect the total to grow.Many of these groups have entirely secular missions, and some organizations were surprised to find their names on a list of faith-based groups provided to the Associated Press by the White House.“Someone has obviously designated us a faith-based organization, but we don’t recognize ourselves as that,” said Stacey Denaux, executive director of Crisis Ministries, a homeless shelter and soup kitchen in Charleston, S.C.Other grant recipients are religious, offering social service programs that the government may have deemed too religious to receive money before Mr. Bush took office.Visitors to TMM Family Services in Tucson, Ariz., which received $25,000 for housing counseling, are greeted by a photo of Jesus and quotes from the Bible.“We believe that people being connected to the faith of their choice is important to them having a productive life,” said Don Strauch, an ordained minister and executive director of the group, which offers a variety of social services. “Just because we take government money doesn’t mean we back down on that philosophy.”The list of 2003 grant recipients provided to the AP is the first detailed tally of the dollars behind this “faith based initiative.”In New York, Catholic Charities was awarded a three-year, $2.4 million grant in 2001 to run ProjecTruth, which goes to schools, community centers, and hospitals urging students to abstain from sexual activity.The grant is one of 140 awarded to New York organizations last year.A handful of those grants were technically awarded to state agencies like the Office of Mental Health, but state officials said that money was really part of a Housing and Urban Development program that passed the money on to local groups providing care to the homeless.In a few instances, the faith-based program allowed New York groups to launch or expand community work that the government had refused to fund before Mr. Bush’s program.Memorial Youth Outreach in Roosevelt, on Long Island, received $275,000 as part of a Justice Department “Weed and Seed” program designed to keep kids out of gangs in neighborhoods rife with drug dealers.Coordinator Clara Gillens-Eromosele said the group runs a tutoring program in a Presbyterian church – something for which they could not have received federal funding before Mr. Bush’s 2001 policy initiative.“We’re very conscious of not having any religious information on the walls or that type of thing,” she said. “But certainly there are other activities going on in the church if they want to attend.”Ms. Gillens-Eromosele said one aspect of the program troubles her: Faith-based groups can recruit many unpaid volunteers from a pool of church parishioners, making it harder for nonreligious nonprofits to compete for federal dollars.“You’re going to have a lot of nonprofits that aren’t going to survive, and then the churches are in a better position to do the work,” she said.Elected with strong support of religious conservatives, Mr. Bush came to office promising to open government’s checkbook to religious groups that provide social services. Often, Mr. Bush says, religious groups do a better job serving the poor.Civil libertarians fear the government will wind up paying for worship, eroding the constitutional separation between church and state.Jim Towey, who directs the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, said the Bush administration has been clear that “government money is not to fund religious activities.”“This is a culture change in the way government provides social services,” he said. “There’s always going to be a very delicate balance.”

New York Leads Nation in Getting Faith-Based Funds

New York Leads Nation in Getting Faith-Based Funds

More from the New York Sun

Blakeman Welcomes Mamdani’s First Campaign Event With Hochul

Trump Will Never Give Up His Free Enterprise Policies to the Democrats

Trump Kicks Off Southern Swing in Florida, Warning Voters Against Returning to ‘Dark Age’ of Democratic Rule

Exclusive: The Green Card Holder Who Proves New Jersey Democrats Haven’t Cleaned Up Voter Rolls

France’s Blame Game Begins

Mike Tyson, the Middle East, and Fashion’s Skewed Moral Standards

Israel Is on High Alert After Terror Attack Amid Fears War Will Disrupt Election

Truth and Consequences Out of Tulsa Return To Torment Ethan Hawke in ‘The Lowdown’

More from the New York Sun

Blakeman Welcomes Mamdani’s First Campaign Event With Hochul

Trump Will Never Give Up His Free Enterprise Policies to the Democrats

Trump Kicks Off Southern Swing in Florida, Warning Voters Against Returning to ‘Dark Age’ of Democratic Rule

Exclusive: The Green Card Holder Who Proves New Jersey Democrats Haven’t Cleaned Up Voter Rolls

France’s Blame Game Begins

Mike Tyson, the Middle East, and Fashion’s Skewed Moral Standards

Israel Is on High Alert After Terror Attack Amid Fears War Will Disrupt Election

Truth and Consequences Out of Tulsa Return To Torment Ethan Hawke in ‘The Lowdown’