Omnibus Appropriations Bill Means Funding For Rochester Area Projects
By: Dave McKinley
Updated: December 28, 2007
Catholic Family Center runs its entire operation on a budget of less than $180,000. So the infusion of $238,755 in Federal grant money from the Omnibus Bill signed into law by President Bush Wednesday was, as one could imagine, welcome and thrilling news.
"We are obviously delighted," said Mary Penet, Program Manager of the for the Center's "Kinship Care Resource Network" , the program for which the money was earmarked.
The network provides assistance on a variety of levels for people who are raising the children of their relatives. Some 11,000 children in Monroe County are currently being being raised by relatives other than their parents, according to Penet.
The lion's share of those children, some 9,000, are being raised by grandparents.
Some people refer to the earmarks contained in the Omnibus Bill as "Pork Barrel" spending. And while you needn't be a rocket scientist to figure out what that means, you might have to be one to understand some of the programs being funded locally, as many are high tech endeavors being launched by colleges and universities.
Click on the video icon to watch our entire story, and find out who got what.
