The Washington County Commissioners have given approval of seven suggested projects for American Rescue and Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

Washington County Emergency Management Director Kary Cox says six of the projects are for Washington County IT, while the other project is for Ray of Hope. Cox says they are eventually going to look at projects for the Sheriff's Office. He says they are looking into HVAC systems and laptops for the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

ARPA funding for projects suggested by Washington County IT would go towards Fortinet Firewall, HP Servers, VMWare, laptops and port replicators, WiFi, and live streaming. Cox says these projects are important to Washington County's infrastructure.

The funds for Ray of Hope would go towards providing emergency safe shelter to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and harassment as well as relocation assistance and transitional housing. Ray of Hope also has a goal to create and increase awareness of its emergency crisis line and resources for survivors while continuing its legal partnership with Legal Aid of Oklahoma to ensure survivors have continued access to legal protections following domestic violence.

In total, all of the combined projects are projected to cost $894,900. Below is a breakdown of each project:

Ray of Hope:

Total Annual Budget: $110,300.

3-Year Project Budget Request: $330,900

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ray of Hope has provided services and resources to more than 1,099 adults and children across five counties in Oklahoma. Ray of Hope provided 457 nights of shelter since March of 2020 and assisted 26 clients with relocation.

From the initial stay-at-home orders, Ray of Hope facilities remained opened and fully staffed to meet the needs of child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking survivors. Ray of Hope provided access to emergency resources and shelter, access to trained advocates, and sexual assault nurse examiners to ensure that even in the State of Emergency - survivors of abuse could find safety, hope, and healing.

In its application, Ray of Hope staff stated that their emergency shelter needs have almost doubled from this time last year, and so far, this year, they have had a 10-percent increase in the number of children and adults served. They say they have seen an increase in crisis calls and applications for assistance to file emergency protective orders.

COVID-19 Impact on Ray of Hope:

March 1 - February 28: Pre-pandemic -- 143 clients per quarter = Total 572

March 1 - February 28: Pandemic -- 198 clients per quarter = Total 792

March 1 - February 28 -- Post-pandemic (YTD) -- 288 clients per quarter = **

** For the current year, Ray of Hope served 384 clients since March, which would project to about 288 clients per quarter or 1,152 annually if they stay on the current trend. This date range was selected because of the pandemic timeline.

Emergency Protective Orders - 69-percent increase

Emergency Shelter Nights = 172-percent increase

Total Clients Served Pre-pandemic to Current Year - 101-percent increase

Funding Impact: 

The initial support to nonprofits due to COVID-19 was high (in part due to economic stimulus packages to families and small businesses). This year, Ray of Hope has seen a decrease in funding and other support as companies and individual donors are starting to feel the long-term effects of the pandemic. They are unsure whether they will be able to host their annual fundraising event in November. Hops for Hope generally raises approximately $50,000.

YTD: 36-percent decrease in general contributions since the previous year.

Washington County IT:

Fortinet Firewall:

An integral part of allowing employees the ability to work from home if needed. The firewall is also responsible for the traffic that allows the public to access the Sheriff's office data, like the inmate roster, and the Assessor's office land data. Without this, the deputies cannot use their laptops in the field to access internal programs.

Cost - $90,000.

HP Servers:

These hold servers that provide public access to Sheriff's Office information such as the inmate lookup. They allow the public to access the assessor's server to look up land information. Added space for virtual desktops is planned to all employees to work from home.

Cost - $300,000

VMWare:

This would be the software they use to control the virtual desktops.

Cost - $90,000

Laptops and Port Replicators:

Cost: $62,000

WiFi:

Guest access during regular business hours.

Cost - $15,000

Live Streaming:

Provide further public access to meetings.

Cost - $7,000

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The Washington County Commissioners unanimously approved the seven suggested projects on Monday morning.