Grand Forks arts programs, homeless prevention services receive over $300,000 in combined tax-funded grants – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS – Two sales tax-funded grant programs are ready to administer funds to approved projects for their latest grant cycles, providing community housing and homeless prevention assistance and supporting local art programs.

The 2026 Arts ReGrant Program and Community Services Grant Program each received $159,135 for this year’s funding. Community Development Planner Collin Hanson and Economic Development Manager Andy Conlon both said those funding totals are in line with expected amounts.

“They’ve increased a small amount, I guess, over the past … three, four years,” Conlon said.

Funds for the two programs, which are approved by Grand Forks City Council members, come from the city’s 1% economic development sales tax, falling under the sales tax’s quality-of-life umbrella, according to Hanson.

Application approvals and funding recommendations for the CSG Program are made by the Community Advisory Committee, which includes community members from Grand Forks Public Schools, Grand Forks City Council, Grand Forks Public Health and more.

“The intent of the program is really to serve our low-income neighbors in the community and to support the agencies that are providing direct assistance, or services, or have different needs that maybe don’t rise to the threshold of being eligible for federal funds through our Community Development Block Grants,” Hanson said.

Approved projects to receive CSG funds for 2026 were mostly focused on addressing homeless prevention and related programs, like eviction prevention, utility-disconnect assistance and other emergency shelter funds.

Hanson said even though some of the organizations that applied have similar goals for the funding, the parameters of those projects differ, and many of the organizations — such as St. Joseph’s Social Care and the Salvation Army — have different funding sources.

“They have access to other funds that the other agencies don’t,” he said. “The Salvation Army does the Red Kettle Fundraiser, and there’s no other agency in our community that does that. Or if you’re St. Joe’s, you’re supported primarily by the large Catholic parishes in our community.”

Other local agencies approved for CSG funds include Homeless Helpers, United Way, Northlands Rescue Mission, Grand Forks Housing Authority and Hope Church CCC and Food Pantry, among others.

Applications for the Arts ReGrant Program are reviewed by a seven-person committee made up of community members who have experience with the arts.

“The mayor is trying to kind of have folks with a variety of backgrounds,” Conlon said. “Some have background in physical art, like sculpture; others have more, like performance art.”

The approved projects for the 2026 Arts ReGrant Program are more varied, with this year’s including funds for summer programming and administrative costs for Art Matters; performance rights and royalties, venue rentals and artist fees for the Empty State Theatre; funds for ArtFest 2026 for the Public Arts Commission; and more.

This year’s Arts ReGrant Program and CSG Program are both welcomed by the community for a number of reasons; both programs

were almost eliminated from the city’s 2026 budget

in the fall, but Grand Forks City Council members

agreed to continue funding both grants for at least one year.

The CSG Program’s funds are also helping to cover services that were provided by agencies that closed earlier this year, like Red River Valley Community Action.

“Demand for services has increased dramatically,” Hanson said. “It’s not like the clients who used those programs have disappeared; they still need those services.”