Omaha Mayor proposes funding shift to support tornado relief

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert will ask the Omaha City Council to approve $100,000 in assistance for families impacted by the April 26 tornadoes.

A press release stated the funds, set aside and approved by the council in the 2024 budget, were to be distributed through the annual Neighborhood Grants Program.

“I have decided to forego the neighborhood awards this year and reallocate the funds to organizations that are providing direct and immediate aid to families,” Stothert said in the press release. “Omaha is a community of caring and we all want to help. That has been very apparent in the last week.”

The resolutions on the City Council’s agenda for the May 7 meeting at 2 p.m. will authorize the reallocation of the Neighborhood Grants funds to two tornado relief funds for $50,000 each, one administered by the Elkhorn Public Schools Foundation, the other by Relevant Community Church.