The co-founder of Elevate Branson issues a statement after recent discussions with the City of Branson in seeking additional funding for projects.

At that meeting May 9, Elevate Branson co-founder Bryan Stallings faced some questions from the Board of Aldermen about progress on some of the projects that have been underway for several years as he was requesting additional grant money for more projects. After the discussions, the aldermen voted against issuing letters of support for the two projects. 

As part of the statement as well as comments made during a previously scheduled interview on KRZK's "The Upside" Program on Monday, Stallings said that there was some misunderstandings between Elevate and the Aldermen on the process and that guidelines in the grant process which doesn't automatically send the money to Elevate after a grant has been awarded. Questions posed during the meeting asked about the slow progress on the development where grant money was awarded in 2021. 

As part of the statement, Stallings said he did appreciate the ongoing partnership with the City of Branson and to continue to work with them in working on the housing issues facing Branson and the region. 

The complete statement released from Elevate Branson is below:
Recent work documenting the living conditions of our community is staggering. The poverty level in Branson is nearly double that of the rest of Missouri (22.4% v. 12.8%). According to DESE, Branson’s 2022-2023 free and reduced lunch rate is 51.7% - almost 5% above the State average. In April 2023, the Comprehensive Housing Study for Taney County revealed Branson has a shortage of 2251 housing units to meet the current demand, with more than 1500 people, including 300 children, living in sub-par housing that includes weekly and extended stay motels.

These are not just numbers. They reflect the lives of real people - many of whom are children - desperate to meet their minimum needs. As a faith-based organization, Elevate Branson is urgently guided by a Gospel ethic that calls us to respond to the struggle of our brothers and sisters. What started as a collection of people feeding thousands of meals to individuals living on the margins of our community, has blossomed into an organization now responding to various needs of our community by bringing workforce development training to hundreds of front-line workers; designing a viable, affordable transportation option; and most recently, working to create affordable housing for single parents with children. 

In 2021, Elevate Branson was awarded a (nearly) two-million-dollar grant in partnership with the City of Branson through a Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) to build a 48-unit tiny home community for those whose income is at 50% below the area median income. Recently, the Co-founder of Elevate Branson, Bryan Stallings, appeared before the Branson Board of Alderman to request additional CDBG funding to continue our work in the affordable housing space. Our request was denied and during the meeting, we faced several direct, and we believe misguided, comments and questions about our affordable housing project. For example, during the meeting, a comment was made by a board member who shared that she had, “concerns with the money that was already collected... It’s been promised for quite a while, and people ask how come, how come? I know there’s certain reasons, but if there’s money there to complete a phase of the project, it seems like it would be a good idea to show the community to show completion [of one phase] rather than keep extending the [entire] project.”

Following that meeting - and perhaps because of that meeting - we became aware of more comments/questions in our community about the length of time spent on the project as well as how the grant money is being used. With those questions in mind, we hope to clarify our vision and our work on this affordable housing grant project.

To understand Elevate Branson’s work in the space of affordable housing, it is important to understand the funding process of CDBG. First, in order to use the grant, we were required to have a comprehensive review of our building site performed. This review included but was not limited to, a detailed investigation of endangered species, trees, historical Native American settlement(s), waterways and more. We value the interests protected by these reviews; however, it is important to note that they were extraordinarily detailed, time-consuming and entirely out of our hands. The award of money to Elevate Branson on this project was always contingent on our organization following the strict guidelines of the state of Missouri. No contracted work could occur until all reviews were completed and the project was cleared for approval by CDBG.

Second, Elevate Branson does not directly receive any money from CDBG or the City of Branson for funding our affordable housing project. Elevate Branson is a sub-applicant of the City of Branson, which is the primary applicant. When an expense is incurred, that invoice is submitted to the City of Branson, which in turn submits it to CDBG for reimbursement. No CDBG money was, is, or will be passed to Elevate Branson for work on the affordable housing project.

Lastly, it is important to note that there are two parts to the funding of the proposed project. The first part was satisfied by the award of (nearly) two million dollars for public infrastructure, roads, water, sewer lines, etc. The second part is a private match of that of over four and a half million dollars which Elevate Branson committed. This amount is for the cost of small homes, the private utility lines to those homes, private streets and community buildings. One of the revenue sources Elevate Branson is using to raise the money for its match is the private sponsorship of these homes. Sponsorship gives people and organizations a chance to partner with us and become part of the creative process by naming the home, picking out the colors of the home, and even hanging a sponsorship sign on the home.

For years, we have walked alongside individuals, couples and families in our community who are living in highly distressed and unsafe conditions due to a lack of affordable housing. With over 300 children living in local motel rooms, the opportunity for funding through recently available CDBG grants offered more help to close on our vision of providing safe, affordable housing directly located adjacent to the Elevate Branson campus where children residing in our housing would have also had access to after-school programming, an all-natural playground, a sensory room, therapy dog and more. Unfortunately, the Board of Alderman declined our application for two and a half million dollars in funding that would have allowed Elevate Branson to purchase and renovate a motel in the adjoining parking lot to our campus, which has been shuttered since 2019.

We have made significant progress toward the goal of creating affordable housing. We are thankful for our existing partnership with the City of Branson and look forward to working together on our affordable housing work. We thank all of you who have supported our mission “to elevate our community by empowering our neighbors to reach their full potential.”

If you have additional questions or comments, please contact us at 417.335.9915 or visit our website at ElevateBranson.org.