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GREENSBORO — As the city considers budget reductions for next year, a group of homeless people and advocates are asking that the budget not be balanced at the expense of services for the poor.

About half a dozen people brought their pleas directly to the City Council on Tuesday night. They asked the council to reconsider a proposed 4 percent cut — $20,000 — in money for the 11 local agencies that serve homeless residents.

The council will review that budget in May.

“It is pressing that we do try to make those funds available to those who are homeless because we are all just one paycheck away, including myself,” Brantley Grier, who runs the local homeless day center, told council members Tuesday night.

The board that helps guide spending assistance for the homeless is scheduled to deliver its recommendation today. That recommendation is expected to include a 4 percent decrease in funding.

“A lot of years, our cut is larger,” said Andy Scott, director of housing and community development and interim assistant city manager for economic development.

Last year, the city’s budget for funding local agencies was cut 20 percent.

This year’s decrease will be offset by $200,000 that will go to rent assistance, said Gwen Torain, the grants division manager for housing and community development.

But local organizations that provide emergency aid will still take a hit, Scott said.

Homeless residents and advocates marched to City Hall on Tuesday before speaking to the council.

The group gathered at 3 p.m. at Lee and Eugene streets, a well-known gathering point for homeless people, then walked to City Hall accompanied by Cakalak Thunder, a drum corps that often accompanies marches and protests.

Liz Seymour, an advocate for the homeless, organized the march, which drew about 20 people.

“Traditionally, it’s agencies who speak out to City Council, but it’s the people who are affected who have the biggest stake in it,” Seymour said.

“We just need to march through the streets of Greensboro and let people know how many of us there are and how difficult it is to be homeless,” Seymour said.

Marcher Norbert Smith became homeless when the trucking company he worked for went out of business. Despite years of experience, a criminal conviction from 10 years ago has made it difficult for him to get another job.

He has been staying at the Urban Ministry shelter and looking for work.

“At least don’t cut the funds,” said Smith, a 52-year-old who has been homeless for two months.

“Since the two months I’ve been out here, I’ve seen the situation and it’s real hard out here.”

 Staff writer Amanda Lehmert contributed to this report.

 Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com