$200,000 in community response grants will be going out in varying amounts to several local nonprofits in an effort to bolster organizations’ work in responding to childcare, food, mental health and direct assistance needs.
On Sept. 7, 2021, the Healdsburg City Council approved several budget amendments primarily related to the city’s receipt of $2,833,576 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and Measure T local sales and use tax. One of these budget amendments was to set aside $200,000 for a one-time grant program that could support local nonprofits with an emphasis on pandemic recovery.
At the Nov. 1 council meeting, city partners Healdsburg Forever and the Healdsburg Healthcare Foundation recommended an invitation based approach for garnering applicants for the grant program.
The foundation and Healdsburg Forever also decided to use the ARPA funding guidelines in order to narrow down grant recipients.
Kim Bender, the executive director of the health care foundation, said they interviewed 12 different organizations and based on guidelines and interviews, narrowed down the recipients from there.
In a 4-0 vote on Monday, Feb. 7, the Healdsburg City Council unanimously approved the grant amounts for the recipients who applied and were suggested for the grants. Vice Mayor Ariel Kelley had to recuse herself from the discussion and vote due to a financial conflict of interest with Corazón Healdsburg, one of the grant recipients.
Grant recipients include:
– Redwood Empire Food Bank: $50,000 to support food insecurity.
– Healdsburg Community Center preschool program: $30,000 to fund scholarships for low-income families participating in the upcoming preschool program at the community center.
– Community Childcare Council (4 Cs): $20,000 for stipends for in home daycare operators to stabilize care for up to 72 children.
– Corazón Healdsburg: $50,000 for direct financial assistance and case management for families struggling with the impacts of the pandemic.
– Side by Side: $50,000 for a 16-week program of mental health workshops for youth and parents, drop-in support and family counseling.
“These are funds from the city that will go out to support nonprofits who are serving folks in need and areas of need in the community. You’ll recall that one of our collective goals when we started down this path was to move swiftly, and so our hope … is we’d be proceeding in a way that would allow us to get some money out the door quickly,” said Healdsburg City Manager Jeff Kay.
Councilmember David Hagele asked about the safeguards in place to ensure that the funds are going to help residents of Healdsburg and not others.
Claire Burdett of Healdsburg Forever explained that the grant application had a local requirement and each recipient’s application followed those parameters.
Councilmember Evelyn Mitchell wondered when the community center preschool program would open.
The city’s community services director, Mark Themig, said there are two request for proposal (RFP) finalists for the operation of the day care and once they’ve selected a provider, they hope to open by summer, if not before the start of the new school year.
He said preschool registration would likely take place late spring or early summer. The program would be a year-round program for children ages 2 to kindergarten age.
On Sept. 25, the city issued an RFP for preschool program providers who could operate a low-cost full day program at the community center, which already has preschool classrooms and play spaces ready to go.
“These funds will be critical for equity. Preschool is becoming more and more expensive all across the nation, and having these funds to help support our working families will be significant,” Themig said.
Mayor Ozzy Jimenez congratulated the grant recipients and said this will be meaningful and impactful for the organizations involved.
