During their regular monthly meeting on Dec. 12, the Marshall County Council heard a presentation from Viki Brown regarding a request to expand services for her organization Dustin’s Place.
The not-for-profit was established in 2019 to provide children 4 to 18 peer grief support after the loss of a loved one free of charge. The name honors Brown’s husband Dustin Cullen who died in a single-vehicle accident in 2016. Brown and her children attended such a program then and Brown felt that it was a service that should be offered to all.
Currently, the group is only able to meet two days a week but recently was able to secure a large space in the Lifeplex for the rent of $1 a year.
Dustin’s Place will have to renovate the space to their needs with 10 private meeting rooms for counseling and a dining room that could seat 100 for special meetings and events.
Brown told the Commissioners that the project would cost in the neighborhood of $750,000, much of which she has raised through matching grants and donations. She secured a $425,000 matching grant through the state United Way program that requires the community to match that money for the project.
Brown has grant requests, pledges, and donations of $325,000 and asked the Council to consider monetary support for the free service. Brown told the Council she plans to approach the communities of the county to ask for their support as well but started with the Council since they represent all of the county and felt the communities would be more likely to pledge support if the Council were on board.
President Jesse Bohannon stated that the council had several other such support arrangements that were usually funded at 40 percent of the cost. He moved that the Council provide an initial pledge of $75,000 with an additional pledge of $55,000 depending on the groups other fundraising efforts.
The Council agreed unanimously to the motion.
