In the coming weeks, Charlotte City Council will cast its final votes on the city's budget.
While elected officials are coming up with a spending plan, a coalition of community leaders have a plan of their own.
From Block Love Charlotte, to Roof Above, to the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union, more than a dozen nonprofits and advocacy groups are weighing in on the budget.
One of the community leaders spearheading the effort is Robert Dawkins.
"There's already line items in the budget," Dawkins explained. "We’re lobbying for who gets included, so, our idea was to bring together most of the advocacy groups, large and small, to work on one particular budget ask."
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That ask includes increasing the city's Housing Trust Fund to $100 million to pay for emergency shelters and fund nonprofits helping the homeless, another $34,000 for the Save Our Children Movement, after-school and mentorship programs focused on youth and more money to raise the minimum wage for city of Charlotte employees to $25 an hour.
The requests seem to be in line with what elected officials already identified as top priorities.
“People want our city to be safe, we also want our city to be vibrant and able to move around for work," Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles back in January when city leaders gathered to discuss priorities in the year ahead. "We want economic development."
Back in 2021, a research group recommended piloting “a team of nonspecialized civilian responders” and involving local stakeholders as the city develops and implements helpful programs.
It’s part of the reason WCNC Charlotte continues to cover Alternatives to Violence, a program in Charlotte focused on further connecting with the community in efforts to help put an end to youth violence, and its place in the city budget.
"We have three to four case workers on the ground," City Council District 2 Rep. Malcolm Graham said. "It pays for salaries. It pays for program overhead but mostly salaries."
He said he’ll work to make sure funding continues for crime prevention, specifically the Alternatives to Violence program in the Beatties Ford corridor. City documents show $500,000 is set to continue crime prevention work in that area, but that allotment is just a draft.
As for the rest of the budget, in certain aspects, the spending plan will have to increase just to keep up with Charlotte’s growth. But there's one thing all Charlotte city leaders are considering.
"A return of investment," Dawkins said. "And I think that what we’re asking for gives the city the return on the investment they’re looking for."
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