CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - The Citrus Heights City Council during its Oct. 9 meeting considered the fiscal year 2024-2025 allocations for the Non-Profit Community Support Fund, which offers limited one-time funding to organizations serving Citrus Heights residents.

The Non-Profit Community Support Fund has $150,000 available this year, and the city received 12 applications for a total funding request of $440,031. Staff scored the applications according to the city’s rubric and then the Quality-of-Life Committee (currently staffed by Mayor Jayna Karpinski-Costa) reviewed the applications and recommended five for approval, with a focus on accommodating some organizations that had not previously requested city funding.

The committee’s goal was to promote inclusiveness, address the diverse needs of underserved populations and enhance community engagement in a broader range of residents through these allocations: $22,000 to Campus Life Connection for the Sayonara Center after-school program, including tutoring, mentoring, sports programs and nutrition; $40,000 to Citrus Heights Homeless Assistance Resource Team (HART) for rental assistance to vulnerable households at risk of homelessness; $70,000 to Meals and Wheels to support vulnerable seniors with meal delivery; $10,000 to the San Juan Education Foundation for individual school site grants for K-8 schools in Citrus Heights; and $8,000 to United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Sacramento for sensory movie night and roller skating events.

“I think it’s a great allocation of the limited funding that we have,” Councilmember Porsche Middleton said.
“There’s always going to be more asks than what we actually have funds for. So good job for the Quality-Of-Life Committee for really taking a chance on some newer nonprofits and finding creative ways to allocate, to really spread that money around.”

During Public Comment on this item, Tara Taylor, founder and executive director of Single Mom Strong, thanked City Council for their past support but said she was disappointed that their application was not recommended for funding this year. Single Mom Strong requested $13,276 for the creation of a school contact database and marketing of existing programs.

Taylor said their funding applications were approved in the three previous years and those requests led to long-term benefits: “Every time, we’ve come through with the outcome that we’ve promised.”

Taylor said they “can’t really afford marketing” without an outside investment, and as a regional organization, Single Mom Strong is seeking closer connection with Citrus Heights residents.

“We really were thoughtful about this request and about our ability to further serve City of Citrus Heights residents. And I think it’s unfortunate to have an organization such as ours that’s doing really important work but not connect with your local residents.”

Mayor Karpinski-Costa said, “There’s no doubt that your organization is valuable to our community.”

With the number of requests and the limited amount of funding, Karpinski-Costa said, not all requests can be met.

“You’ve been getting funding from us year after year and you’re doing wonderful things with it,” Karpinski-Costa said and added that the council has to balance the needs of all the organizations submitting funding requests.

“This is a tough one,” Karpinski-Costa said. She explained that the city encourages all nonprofit organizations serving the city to apply for funding and that City Council “can’t just approve the same groups over and over. We lose our credibility in the community, I think, if we don’t come forth with what we’re offering.”

“We love you dearly,” Karpinski-Costa said, “and the needs for the other groups, I think, outweigh yours.”

City Council voted unanimously to approve the recommended funding allocations for the Non-Profit Community Support Fund.

The council also considered implementing a Conference and Workshop Attendance Policy to ensure Neighborhood Improvement Partnership (NIP) Grant funding is allocated consistently. The city sets aside $10,000 in Neighborhood Improvement Partnership funding each year to encourage neighborhood engagement by beautifying public spaces, improving safety, enhancing aesthetics and fostering robust community connections. The funding has also been used to cover attendance at conferences and workshops that support building and strengthening neighborhood organizations, such as Neighborhoods USA (NUSA).

Last fiscal year, Karpinski-Costa expressed concern that the city didn’t have a policy in place to guide allocation for conference attendance, which could end up taking up most of the Neighborhood Improvement Partnership budget, thus leaving insufficient funding available for other neighborhood projects.

Based on prior years’ conference costs, staff recommended $5,000 of Neighborhood Improvement Partnership funding be set aside to support Neighborhoods USA attendance for two Citrus Heights residents. Applicants must be active members of the Residents’ Empowerment Association of Citrus Heights (REACH) or serve on their respective Neighborhood Area Board. Priority would be given to applicants attending a conference for the first time. And after the conference, attendees would be required to submit a report to City Council, detailing what they learned and how they would apply this knowledge to city projects.

Since the city can only afford to send two applicants, Councilmember Tim Schaefer asked how they would make the selections if more than two applicants applied. Staff suggested that the Residents’ Empowerment Association of Citrus Heights could review the applications and make recommendations to the council.

Councilmember Porsche Middleton suggested that the city could implement some type of rotation schedule among the various neighborhood areas. 

Karpinski-Costa said she would support selection based on first come, first served, since conference attendance is cheaper if you register early.

During Public Comment, Residents’ Empowerment Association of Citrus Heights Vice-President Kathy Morris said the suggested allocation amount is reasonable, and that Residents’ Empowerment Association of Citrus Heights can “absolutely” offer recommendations to guide the selection of attendees.

The council consensus was to give the Residents’ Empowerment Association of Citrus Heights time to make guideline recommendations and to review those for possible policy inclusion at a later date.

Karpinski-Costa repeated her worry that there isn’t enough Neighborhood Improvement Partnership funding for neighborhood projects. City Manager Ashley Feeney said that no projects were submitted for Neighborhood Improvement Partnership funding in the prior fiscal year. If any large-scale projects were submitted, Feeney said, the council could choose to increase the Neighborhood Improvement Partnership funding by reallocating funds from other undersubscribed sources in the Economic Development & Community Engagement budget.

The next meeting of the Citrus Heights City Council is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 23 at Citrus Heights City Council, 6360 Fountain Square Drive.