Thumbnail: Del Norte County service providers worry about the fate of federal dollars that fund nutritious meals for senior citizens, advocates for foster youth and easier access to healthcare for those who are homeless. | Photo by Persephone Rose
Charlaine Mazzei says the uncertainty surrounding whether or not the federal dollars her organization relies on is more worrying than a freeze itself.
Mazzei is the executive director for the Del Norte Senior Center and Del Norte Mission Possible. Part of the Community Action Partnership of Del Norte, those organizations rely on federal dollars to feed and house the elderly and provide access to healthcare for individuals experiencing homelessness.
All told, the Community Action Partnership receives $2.15 to $2.4 million in federal dollars annually to provide those services. Without more definitive information about the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze federal grant funding, Mazzei says it’s difficult to plan for their potential loss.
“If you told me your program’s going to get a 20 percent cut, I can plan for that,” she told Redwood Voice Community News last week. “If we say this program’s going away, it’s not going to be fun, but I can plan for that. I don’t know how to plan for, ‘We don’t know what’s going on.’”
The Community Action Partnership of Del Norte isn’t the only nonprofit organization in limbo over federal dollars. Even Crescent City and Del Norte County elected officials and the staff who manage those federal dollars say they don’t know what’s going to happen.
On Tuesday, District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey and her District 3 colleague Chris Howard brought up the uncertainty. Starkey, who participated in a “coffee and conversation” event hosted by the Del Norte County Democratic Party about a week ago, said all eyes will be on Washington D.C. this weekend with Congress expected to vote on a bill that avoids a government shutdown.
She said everything’s still “a what-if” as local service providers wait to see what happens.
Howard, who attended National Association of Counties activities in the U.S. capitol last weekend, said that the potential of $850 billion in cuts to federal funding was part of NaCO’s agenda. Medicaid could take a substantial cut, he said, adding that 60 percent of Del Norte County residents receive assistance through those federal programs.
“The other thing to pay attention to is some willingness at least [from] the red members of Congress that I’ve spoken to, to do a continuing resolution to ensure there are no government shutdowns moving forward in the next couple of weeks,” Howard said.
On Tuesday, NPR reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson said GOP representatives have the votes to approve a bill that avoids a shutdown, which is when federal grant dollars expire.
But as it stands, locals like Howard, Starkey and others are waiting to see what the impacts will be.
Last week, Crescent City Manager Eric Wier said he and his staff have no certainty regarding the federal dollars the city receives.
In addition to receiving CDBG dollars, the Crescent City Housing Authority is almost completely federally funded, he said. However, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has stated that the federal funding freeze wouldn’t impact city’s housing vouchers, Wier told Redwood Voice.
Crescent City is also relying on federal Economic Development Administration grants for its Downtown Master Plan project and the regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Wier said those projects are still in a holding pattern.
“Those are still in that conditional offer state, but we have sent all the required documentation,” he said. “Our regional CEDS, which is a partnership between the city, county and the Harbor District, is one we were expecting to have some word on a little bit earlier.”
The Crescent City Council in January 2024 allowed staff to submit an application to the Economic Development Administration for $50,000 to update the 2019-2024 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. The Council also approved an application for $200,000 in EDA dollars for the city’s Downtown Master Plan.
CDBG funding is another primary funding source for Crescent City, which usually comes in the form of reimbursement dollars, Wier said.
“As we submit those reimbursement requests, we’re waiting to see what exactly is going to be the timing of that funding coming back,” he said. “We have several different grants, a $1.5 million business loan program that we were very excited about and that would hopefully give resources to our local businesses. That’s an application that’s out right now that we haven’t heard back on, though we’re still in the window we weren’t necessarily expected to hear back yet.”
Wier said other projects the city will be watching closely include $3.3 million for the next phase of the Front Street reconstruction project.
“We have not heard that those funds will be delayed, but it’s something we’re watching closely as we proceed with that construction and are uncertain about the timing of reimbursement,” he said.
At the county, Administrative Services Manager Toni Self manages Del Norte’s CDBG allocation. Currently, Del Norte only receives those dollars to fund public services, which have historically been the Senior Nutrition Program and Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, of Del Norte.
The last CDBG award Del Norte received was for 2021, Self said. The county’s waiting to hear back on an application for $600,000 it submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development late last year.
According to Self, as far as HCD knows, there won’t be a negative impact on existing CDBG contracts or applications that have been submitted at this time. The state department, she said, is saying it’s business as usual, though they continue to advocate for the program, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.
“HCD also has said they’re being proactive in advocating for the program and the funding and communicating the value of the CDBG program with HUD,” Self said. “And they’re doing it on a regular basis — they’re doing their job in order to keep it on the forefront of how important this funding is to small rural communities and low income communities.”.
Del Norte County received a total of $24,742,929 in federal dollars that get filtered to a variety of programs, including CDBG-funded programs. Auditor-Controller Clint Schaad said that dollar figure comes from the most recent audit report Del Norte received from certified public accounting firm Harschwal & Company as of June 30, 2023.
Schaad said he and his staff are working on the current audit report and will have it submitted to Harschwal & Company this month. Del Norte County has not been notified about any funding freeze at the federal level, he said.
Still, CASA of Del Norte Executive Director Christine Slette said she has yet to learn whether or not her organization will receive its CDBG allocation.
“We don’t get any communication,” she said, adding that she has to rely on the news for information. “We literally have to wait to find out if Del Norte County gets funded or not. If Del Norte County gets funded with a CDBG grant, that means CASA gets funded.”
Currently, 17 CASA advocates work with 28 children who are in the foster care system. They are officers of the court and their job is to advocate for the child’s best interest. About 85 children are under the jurisdiction of the court in Del Norte County and CASA volunteers are constantly needed. Each advocate undergoes several hours of training.
Slette said her goal is to find a CASA for every child who needs one, but it’s hard to recruit volunteers. Nine kids are currently on the organization’s waiting list.
CDBG funds account for about 60 percent of CASA’s budget, totalling around $235,000 over three years. Slette said those funds pay her salary and much of the organization’s general operations. CASA also receives about $52,000 from the Judicial Council of California as well as support from Victims of Crime Assistance, which are restitution dollars that are allocated from the state, Slette said.
CASA of Del Norte also relies on its two largest fundraisers, its Crystal Ball gala and its golf tournament, to help bridge the gap in funding cycles, Slette said. Without local support — the Crystal Ball often generates about $40,000 to $50,000 — Slette said she would have to lay off staff.
“This program is in a very rural community,” she said. “And with high levels of poverty and we have approximately 180 other nonprofits all vying for funding from our community, we’re constantly asking for funding and support. Getting CDBG funding is really a big part of our local program’s funding source.”
Mazzei said her concerns go far beyond the CDBG. According to her, 80 to 90 percent of the Del Norte Senior Center’s base funding comes from federal dollars. For example, the base funding for nutrition at the center comes from Title III and is filtered through the State of California to the Area 1 Agency on Aging.
“I just got an email yesterday saying we’re out of federal funding for that program, so the freeze is not my biggest worry,” she said. “I have to hope that the [Trump] administration is going to comply with what the courts have said are [its] Constitutional responsibility to release that money. Some of it has been released for some programs, and it may just be that they’re firing so many people that they don’t have the people to get the job done. How much of that is an administration bottleneck and how much is intentional is not clear.”
Another concern Mazzei has is what happens if the current resolution the federal government is operating under expires on March 14 and Congress fails to authorize more money.
“As of that date, there is no more money frozen or not,” she said. “If they don’t do more spending authorizations there is no more money. That’s what I’m worried about. We don’t know what they’re going to do.”
Mazzei is also trying to educate Del Norters on how much the senior center and Community Action Partnership relies on federal funding.
In a breakdown posted on the Del Norte Senior Center website, Mazzei said that of the $2.15 million to $2.4 million the organizations receive in federal dollars, $250,000 is CDBG funding. The Senior Center receives $123,000 in Title III Older Americans Act Elderly Nutrition Program, $750,000 in Low-Income Household Energy Assistance Program and $211,700 in Community Services Block Grant dollars.
HUD’s Supportive Housing for the Elderly program provides $373,000 to house 39 seniors at Redwood Cove Senior Apartments. Mazzei said that for many of those residents, Social Security is their only source of income.
Mazzei, who is also the executive director for Del Norte Mission Possible, said that organization uses $668,000 in CalAIM MediCal Transformation for Enhanced Care Management and Community Support dollars. About 50 percent of those funds come from Medicaid, Mazzei said.
“You’re going to have people who were accessing healthcare because we were able to get that barrier removed going back into the emergency room and back into a higher level of care,” she said.
Mazzei pointed out that those dollars also support 42 jobs, $1.6 million in payroll invested in the local economy and $1.3 million in goods and services purchased from local and regional businesses.
Those jobs also generate $274,000 in state and federal taxes, Mazzei stated.
Mazzei said she posted that information because she wanted to encourage Del Norters to reach out to their elected officials and to illustrate just how much the community needs those federal dollars.
“We get far more state and federal funding here in Del Norte County than we send in taxes, but I don’t think people realize that,” she said. “If we try to do what we do at the senior center without federal funding … maybe we could have one driver go around and deliver a few meals depending on how many donations we could get in.”
