CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - At the October 14 meeting, the Citrus Heights City Council held a public hearing regarding the allocation of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. Eligible uses for this annual award include capital projects, administration, and public services. For 2022, the City anticipates a CDBG award of approximately $600,000, of which $90,000 can be allocated to non-profits providing public services in the city.

In addition to the annual funding, the City also received a one-time award of $920,226 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES Act), which is administered through the CBDG-Coronavirus (CV) program. These funds are targeted to help local governments respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of these funds were already released to the City and allocated to eligible programs and services. A total of $322,583 is still available for public services in Coronavirus-Round 3 (CV-3) funding.

Many of the non-profits that request CBDG funds receive allocations each year. Currently funded agencies include Campus Life Connection, which offers the Sayonara After-school Program; Meals on Wheels, which provides local seniors with nutritious meals in their homes; Sacramento Self-Help Housing, which offers the Renters Helpline and housing counseling services, as well as supporting the City’s Navigator program to assist persons experiencing homelessness; Sunrise Christian Food Ministry, which provides ongoing emergency food to low-income and homeless populations; and Rebuilding Together Sacramento, which offers the Critical Repair Grant Program that helps many seniors and low-income families pay for essential home repairs.

The current round of applications also included two new funding requests, from Pride Industries and Eco-Apperformance—both of which offer local youth employment services.

Pride Industries (formerly operating as Crossroads Sylvan Job Center) requested $20,000 from the 2022 funds and $61,611 in CV-3 funding. Pride Industries offers a youth workforce development program for at-risk youth and those with disabilities. They provide their clients with employment assistance, career development, education, and training resources. The requested funds would be used for targeted outreach recruitment and intense case management services. The funding would also support the personnel costs to perform these services.

Eco-Apperformance requested $15,000 from the 2022 funds and $15,000 in CV-3 funding. Eco-Apperformance offers a youth employment and education training program to low-income youth. The program currently has just one employee providing services, so the requested funds would be used for personnel costs.

Serving on the Council’s Quality of Life Committee, Vice Mayor Porsche Middleton and Councilmember Jeannie Bruins met with staff to review all the funding requests and recommended the following allocations: In 2022 funding, $15,479 for Campus Life Connection; $16,640 for Meals on Wheels; $16,000 for Sacramento Self-Help Housing’s Navigator program; $23,403 for Sacramento Self-Help Housing’s Renter Helpline; and $18,478 for Sunrise Christian Ministry. The recommended allocations exhausted the available 2022 CDBG funding and met the full funding requests from these agencies. The 2022 funding requests from Pride Industries and Eco-Apperformance were not recommended for inclusion in the allocation.

The requests for CV-3 funding exceeded the total amount available, but the Quality of Life Committee recommendation was to meet as many of the requests as possible, with many allocations meeting or falling just short of the request. The recommendation was to allocate $28,932 for Campus Life Connection; $21,757 for Meals on Wheels; $96,445 for the Navigator Program; $10,000 for the Renters Helpline; $11,862 for Sunrise Christian Ministry; and $96,445 for Rebuilding Together Sacramento. Pride Industries’ CV-3 request was recommended for allocation at the requested amount of $61,611. The total allocations exhausted the available CV-3 funding. Eco-Apperformance’s funding request was not recommended for inclusion.

Staff didn’t recommend Eco-Apperformance for any funding at this time because they believed the agency didn’t seem ready to fully launch their program in the new year. Councilmember Bruins also explained that the proposed services would duplicate what Pride Industries is already offering, so the Committee felt it was “money better spent” on a more-established public service program.  

“Every year this is a difficult task because we always have more requests than we have money to give,” said Councilmember Bruins, so she was happy to see how close they were to meeting all the requests this time.

The City Council will hold their final vote on the funding allocations at the October 28 meeting.