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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 11305 City of Palo Alto (ID # 11305) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Informational Report Meeting Date: 5/18/2020 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Summary Title: Summary of Emerging Needs Fund Allocations to Assist with COVID-19 Response Title: Summary of Emerging Needs Fund Allocations to Assist with COVID-19 Response From: City Manager Lead Department: Community Services This is an informational report. No Council action is requested at this time. Emerging Needs Fund Allocations to Assist with COVID-19 Response Background The Human Services Emerging Needs Fund (referred to as HSRAP Contingency Fund) is an ongoing annual allocation of $50,000 intended to assist nonprofits serving Palo Alto residents with short-term and/or urgent human service needs. Per guidelines approved by City Council on 3/27/17, the Community Services Department, Office of Human Services utilizes these funds to offset costs that occur outside of the HSRAP grantee cycle, potentially including both new grantees and special hardship cases for existing grantees that would otherwise preclude them from continuing their service to the community. There are four application periods per year. This is the fourth application cycle for FY20 and aims to fund needs and expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically providing food, shelter, medical care, mental health care and transportation. There was $33,300 remaining in the HSRAP Contingency Fund at the time of this grant cycle. Discussion Funding requests were received by ten applicants (Attachment A). The maximum amount of funding that can be requested is $10,000 per applicant. Typically, applicants are not eligible for funding if they have received Emerging Needs funding in the last two years. However, given the critical need of services provided by many of Palo Alto’s nonprofits during the pandemic, an exception was made for this grant cycle. City of Palo Alto Page 2 Applications were reviewed by a committee consisting of Human Relations Commissioners Steven Lee and Patti Regehr, and Community Services Manager Elise DeMarzo. The Committee made their initial funding recommendations based on the fund balance in the HSRAP Contingency Fund. The two applicants who were not recommended for funding by the committee include Magical Bridge Foundation and My Digital TAT2 because their funding requests were not for essential needs (food, shelter, medical care, etc.). The Committee offered a secondary recommendation that all of the applicants be fully funded if an additional funding source is identified. Staff agreed with this recommendation for those applicants providing essential human needs and identified a funding source from Community Services Department (CSD) operating cost savings to fully fund the requests of these nonprofits. The savings identified by CSD are the result of cancelling community events and classes, in compliance with Santa Clara County Health Department’s Shelter in Place Order. Attachment A includes the amount that each applicant received in funding through the Emerging Needs Fund. Resource Impact In addition to the $33,300 remaining in the Emerging Needs Fund (HSRAP Contingency Fund), additional funds from cost savings were identified to assist with funding the full amount of those nonprofits providing essential needs to the community. These funds were drawn from a variety of program areas in CSD that experienced class and event cancellations due to the Shelter in Place Order and therefore were able to be reallocated to HSRAP activities. Policy Implications The Emerging Needs Fund Policy was approved by City Council on March 27, 2017 (Staff Report #7802). A revised Policy was approved by City Council on August 19, 2019 (Staff Report #10497). Stakeholder Engagement Applications to the Emerging Needs Fund were sent out to over thirty nonprofits addressing the human services needs of Palo Alto residents, primarily from a list that Human Services staff had created from past HSRAP Request for Proposal periods and checked against a list of Palo Alto based nonprofits. Attachments: • Attachment A: Funding Allocations COVID-19 Attachment A COVID-19 Emerging Needs Fund Applications Agencies Grant Description Grant Request Amount Awarded Avenidas Avenidas Rose Kleiner Center – services to home-bound seniors. $10,000.00 $10,000.00 Downtown Streets Team Food Closet - funds for stipends for Team Members due to food costs and decrease in volunteers and supplies. $10,000.00 $10,000.00 Heart & Home Collaborative Increasing shelter services by 6 weeks and allowing shelter residents to shelter in place 24 hours per day. $10,000.00 $10,000.00 LifeMoves Client assistance & emergency assistance - grocery gift cards, housing emergency assistance, cleaning supplies, thermometers, and administration $10,000.00 $10,000.00 Magical Bridge Virtual concerts $7,500.00 0 My Digital TAT2 "Coping with Coronavirus” podcast for teens in Palo Alto $9,040.00 0 Palo Alto Housing Grocery gift cards for low income families $10,000.00 $10,000.00 Peninsula Healthcare Connection Telehealth - online virtual visits- 2 computer systems, speakers and devices for patient log-in $5,000.00 $5,000.00 Project WeHope Funds would be used to reinstate the showers at the Kurt Kumli Resource Center to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 $9,600.00 $9,600.00 Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired Virtual wellness & counseling support - phone counseling (medical care & mental health), direct assistance for food resources & medicine and technology training $10,000.00 $10,000.00 $91,140.00 $74,600.00