January 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 27

local support needed to participate
in the program. As with many federal programs, each state has its
own process for applying for these
programs. More information can be
found by contacting your state's recreation or natural resources office.
Park and recreation centers are
one of the largest providers of summer meal programs for youth nationwide. Littleton is also a summer meal
program site through a federally
funded program, called the Summer
Food Service Program (SFSP), that
is administered by the United States
Department of Agriculture. During
the summer at two different sites,
this small town serves more than 100
meals a day to youth under the age
of 18, including the young counselors who work with kids.
Littleton proves that no matter
your size, SFSP is a great program
for your department to consider if
you have kids in your recreation
centers and parks throughout the
summer. Offering nutritional support to youth and even seasonal staff under age 18 allows the
communities you serve to stay active and healthy over the summer
months. However, SFSP programs
can only be set up in eligible areas,
so before contacting the state agency responsible for this program in
your state, visit www.fns.usda.gov/
sfsp/how-become-sponsor for initial details.

Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, on Washington's Puget
Sound, is home to an estimated
208,100 people. It may not be as
large as Houston, Chicago or New

PHOTO COURTESY OF METRO PARKS TACOMA

Youth play basketball at the new
Eastside Community Center in Tacoma,
Washington.

York, but this growing city, through
its Metro Parks Tacoma, has done
some amazing things with the help
of the federal government. One
special project is a $32 million
community center for the east side
community of Tacoma. The Eastside Community Center was the
idea of a young person whose life
was tragically cut short by gun violence (www.nrpa.org/blog/mak
ing-billy-rays-dream-a-reality/).
The community worked with Metro Parks Tacoma to push for funding for this center from all levels,
including the federal government.
After a meeting with U.S. Representative Denny Heck, the congressman suggested the community consider the New Markets Tax
Credit (NMTC) program. Established in 2000, NMTC allows individuals and corporations to invest
in community development entities in exchange for a credit against
their federal income tax. These
community development entities
then use these funds to provide
loans to communities and businesses in low-income communities. The benefit to the low-income
community comes in the form of
better loan rates and terms, along
with more flexibility than would

be provided on the normal market.
Metro Parks Tacoma was able to
use $7 million in NMTC funding
for the Eastside Community Center. This funding was just a portion
of the overall money needed, but
the department was able to leverage the federal funds to secure other funding streams.
Littleton and Metro Parks are
just a few examples of how departments of various sizes are making
federal dollars work for their communities. The available resources
don't stop at the examples mentioned here. Community Development Block Grants, FEMA Disaster Mitigation Fund and the Clean
Water State Revolving Fund are
just a few examples of other federal programs that may be available
to your department. It also doesn't
take a giant department with multiple people spending the entire day
looking for federal resources, but
it may take a bit of digging. The
NRPA Connect message board
and Public Policy team are great
resources for your department, as
is talking with others about the federal resources they've used.
Kyle Simpson is an NRPA Senior Government
Affairs Manager (ksimpson@nrpa.org).

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January 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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