Transcription Metadata
Whisper API Version 1
Generated 2024-08-10 04:58:40 UTC
Archive URI berkeley_9e03a0a1-0d85-11ef-b231-0050569183fa.ogg
Segment 1
It's 4.15 so now like to call to order the 4.15 special meeting of the Berkeley City Council for Tuesday May 7 2024 that the city clerk can please call the roll.Okay councilmember Casarwani is currently absent.
Taplin? Present.
Bartlett is currently absent.
Hahn? Present.
Wengraf? Present.
Nopara? Here.
Humbert? Here.
And Mayor Arreguin? Present.
Okay a quorum of the City Council's present thank you very much.
So this is a special meeting to take up one item which is on our action calendar to conduct a public hearing on the submission of the program year 2024 FY 2025 annual action plan containing allocations of federal funds to community agencies and recommendations of other local and state funding to community agencies for FY 25 to 28.
So this is a public hearing on our federal and general fund allocations to community agencies and so we are first gonna receive a presentation from city staff and then we'll open the public hearing to take any public testimony.
So I'll turn the floor over to the city manager to open on the item.
Thank You Mr.
Mayor I will be handing over the presentation for opening comments from our interim HHDS director Mr.
Scott Gilman.
Scott thank you.
Thank you.
Thank You Mr.
Mayor and honorable members of the council.
I'm so excited to have the honor of introducing today's agenda item on the community agency request for proposals or RFP recommendations and the fiscal year 25 annual action plan.
The community agency RFP is a high priority project for health housing and community services that will lay the groundwork for the continuation of key community priorities and services to our lowest income residents for the next four years.
While I'm coming in at the end of this process I have been so impressed with the dedication the city has to support its local community agencies.
These community agencies are critical partners helping deliver vital services for our community.
A little spoil alert I did get to have the pleasure of seeing previews of the staff and youth presentations and I have to tell you what I've seen is an impressive amount of work and commitment to process that has resulted in the recommendations you're about to hear.
I especially loved seeing the youth engaged in the process and have to say you're in for a real treat as you hear directly from them tonight.
Now I'd like to introduce our interim deputy director and manager of housing and community services Margo Ernst who will kick off the presentation.
Margo? Good afternoon Mayor Ehrgein and members of the council.
I'd like to thank and acknowledge the incredible amount of time and effort dedicated to this project over the last six months by the community agencies, the four review bodies which includes three commissions in the youth review panel, and the public participation of the community in developing the forthcoming funding plan.
I want to especially acknowledge and again thank our local community agencies who continue to provide critical services to Berkeley residents while navigating ongoing challenges throughout the pandemic and facing new challenges as we emerge from the pandemic with rising costs, a challenging labor market, and limited resources.
Now I'd like to introduce Riana Babka in housing and community services who has led and coordinated the team throughout this process and will kick off our presentation.
Thank you Margo and I also am joined by a host of colleagues tonight so I would like to first thank you Mayor Ehrgein and council members for having us here today on behalf of HHCS and to speak to the FY 25 or PY 24 as it were annual action plan as well as our community agency RFP recommendations.
So I'm joined tonight by my colleagues Jennifer Vasquez and HCS to speak about homeless services and Nina Goldman with HHCS office of the director with Berkeley youth equity partnership program and her colleague Katie Cobian.
We also have other members of the staff who work on this project sort of in the presence here as panelists in case we need to refer to their expertise.
I also want to especially thank our representatives from the four review commissions or bodies who are present here with us tonight.
We have from the HWCAC the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission.
We have Jose Lara Cruz Commissioner.
We have a group of youth reviewers that will be introduced by Katie Cobian who reviewed the youth equity panel recommendations.
We have Carol Morozovic from the homeless services panel of experts the chair of that Commission and we have Debbie Potter chair of the housing Advisory Commission with our colleague Mari Mendoza.
I'm now going to share my screen.
Wait a minute how do I share my screen? I don't see.
Thanks.
Can somebody quick help me how to oh there it is okay.
I'm so used to going back and forth with teams and zoom so here we go.
Okay is everyone seeing my main slide or my talking point slide? I just want to verify.
Main slide.
Main slide.
Okay excellent.
Thank you.
So we've gone over the welcome and introductions.
Here we have today's agenda that we're going to cover two significant topics.
First is the annual action plan for the city's proposed HUD funding and the second is the overview and recommendations of the community agency RFP.
We will be presenting all of the recommendations for tonight but tonight we're today we're really only asking that you take action on the federally funded allocation that is represented in the resolution.
So more specifically the purpose of today's meeting is to hold a public hearing to solicit input on community agency recommendations with both federal and other funding and to adopt the annual action plan.
Just a little bit of background.
Council may recall or for those council members and community members who are new to this process the City of Berkeley is an entitlement jurisdiction and we receive HUD funds from the programs of the Community Development Block Grant, Emergency Solutions Grant and the Home Investment Partnership Program.
In order to receive and release these funds the City of Berkeley must submit prepare and submit a five-year consolidated plan that has an annual update which we call the annual action plan and tonight we're in the fifth year of our five-year annual action plan so we are refining our allocations for the fifth year of the annual action plan.
First I will speak a little bit to the annual action plan tonight and or today and I really want to emphasize that we have these three programs CDBG, ESG and home and typically by this point in the year we have received our HUD allocation however this year we have not yet so the numbers represented here on this slide in your resolution and in the annual action plan are estimates however the numbers represented in the RFP recommendations would hold as we move forward.
So tonight we're asking that Council adopt the programming of the HUD funds and authorize staff to submit the annual action plan.
In order for us to make recommendations for for some of those specific activities that are funded by CDBG and ESG we specifically have to undergo a procurement process.
This procurement is also known for us as our community agency RFP and is facilitated by by our department and includes the youth equity partnership program in the office of the director.
So this slide here covers some high-level milestones as part of both the annual action plan and the RFP.
We're currently here today on May 7th requesting that Council adopt the annual action plan allocation of the home ARP funds to a specific agency for a specific program and authorization to work with the county on the HHAP funds.
You can see the rest of the timeline that is coming up for adopting the additional recommendations for community agency in the budget process here on the time on the schedule.
So this funding process the RFP just to give a little bit of context is a large coordinated community agency RFP that includes multiple sources of funding.
These are four-year contracts that have the opportunity to have lasting impact in the community and the impact of the investment is achieved through strong partnerships most notably partnerships with community agencies but also and really importantly our partnerships with our community members who volunteer their time as commissioners or review panelists.
It's a tremendous opportunity for the city to acknowledge the far-reaching impact of this work and I'm grateful for all of this commitment.
This cycle we had three review commission and one review body as I mentioned in the beginning of my presentation.
This slide represents all of the funding sources that were included in the RFP totaling nearly 11 million dollars and the actions that you are taking tonight are the ones that are related to the annual action plan and a couple of others so the home ARP and the HHAP funds and those are bolded on this table for you.
We divide the RFP into four categories based on like funding or focus area and we're going to hear from each of these focus areas in just a few minutes about their receipt of applications and recommendations.
This slide gives a snapshot of those focus areas the funding sources associated with them the available amount and the requested funding.
So thinking back to the timeline I shared with you a few minutes ago we know that in December we received applications and the application request if you look at it by dollar amount was over 26 million dollars when we have only about 11 million dollars available.
So the reviewers in this process were faced with the reality that there are simply not enough money to fund all of the requests and many requests and these requests reflect ever-increasing costs so many difficult decisions were made during this recommendation process and each application was thoroughly considered a review by staff and the Commission or review body.
This is an illustration of the prior slide in terms of available funds and requested funds by category area.
It's just another way to look at it but we see sort of the most dramatic impacts both in youth equity where they had requests over double the amount available and then homeless services that was a threefold request in available funds.
In reviewing the applications all reviewers used the baseline evaluation framework that you see on this slide and it was a particularly competitive cycle so it was important that we all had a common framework there for the different focus areas or review commissions there were different and additional evaluation framework that were layered on top as they considered for example funding restrictions or other city priorities.
This slide shows a snapshot view of the number of applications both new and returning and the proposed recommendation.
So we received a total number of 91 applications and today we are recommending that the city fund 68 of those recommendations or those applications.
So now I will begin walking you through some of the more specific recommendations for the focus area and I'm going to start with the human the health and human welfare program area.
These proposals were also reviewed by the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission.
This is noted on your the the summary of the recommendations the narrative portion is noted in your council packet agenda item page 117.
So we're going to reference some of these numbers for the page numbers and it's the page number at the top of the agenda item not the entire PDF packet.
So this is you can look at the narrative on page 117 or there's a chart at the end of the council item page 124 that reflects all of the recommendations for all four review areas.
So in this category area this group received 13 applications from 11 agencies requesting over 1 million dollars than available funds that we had.
Funding sources for this category include general fund measure E and community services block grant funds.
After considering sources and the restrictions and reviewing the applications with the universal criteria staff has identified a set of recommendations.
Staff has recommended to fund 10 of the third or the city manager has recommended to fund 10 of the 13 programs.
All of them are returning programs.
This table illustrates a large portion of the available and allocated funds are measure E funds for disability services and so these are available through measure E and will the recommendation is to allocate them to the applicant for the services provided by that funding source.
We see that the there's also health care services which are next in line and that is where we have the community services block grant funding that supports health care services for low-income but really specifically people living in poverty in Berkeley.
So with that I am going to turn it over to my colleagues Nina Goldman and Katie Cobian with the youth equity partnership and they have special guests to help do their presentation the youth.
Good afternoon my name is Nina Goldman and I have the pleasure of managing the city of Berkeley's youth equity partnership or YEP formerly known as Berkeley's 2020 vision.
YEP strives to create equitable opportunities and outcomes for African-American black and Latinx young people who live and or go to school in Berkeley.
One way that we carry out our mission is by overseeing 1.7 million dollars in community agency contracts each year that help black and brown children and youth in Berkeley to thrive.
This year YEP piloted a new approach to developing funding recommendations.
With the help of youth works we hired and trained 20 African-American black and Latinx students from Berkeley High School, Berkeley Technology Academy and Berkeley Community College to review and evaluate applications.
They then made hard decisions about how to allocate funding for YEP services.
In a few minutes presenters from YEP's youth review panel will share their experiences and their funding recommendations with council.
Next slide please.
This slide gives a quick overview of the youth equity funding area.
This information corresponds with pages 118 through 122 on the council agenda packet.
YEP received 28 applications requesting 3.4 million dollars per year, twice the funding available.
In addition to the baseline criteria for all proposed projects, YEP's criteria for evaluating applications prioritized alignment with YEP priorities and demonstrated commitment to support in the success of YEP's focal population.
Next slide please.
A total of 20 proposals are recommended for funding, 16 returning projects and four new ones.
Over a third of the YEP applications received were new.
Next slide please.
Recommended projects are well distributed across four YEP funding areas.
Together these areas represent YEP's objective that every African-American, Black and Latinx young person in Berkeley is kindergarten ready, successful in school, healthy, connected and resilient and college and career ready.
A detailed list of YEP's funding recommendations start on page 124 of the council agenda packet.
The youth review panel's recommendation memo can be found on pages 104 through 106.
Evaluating these applications, understanding the proposed services and negotiating group consensus is a very big job.
The 20 students on the youth review panel invested impressive effort and thoughtfulness into developing a set of recommendations that they determined will have the strongest impacts on the lives of Black and Brown young people in Berkeley.
YEP staff and the city manager affirm these recommendations.
Next you will hear from my colleague Jennifer Vazquez.
You're muted Ms.
Vazquez.
Please unmute yourself.
Thank you.
Good afternoon Mayor and Council.
My name is Jennifer Vazquez and I am the Homeless Services Program Manager in the Housing and Community Services Division and this afternoon I will be giving an overview of the city manager recommendations for Homeless Services.
These applications were also reviewed by the Homeless Services panel of experts.
Next slide.
This is a snapshot of the Homeless Services applications that were received and you can find the RFP funding sources on page 113 of the council item, council agenda item.
The, sorry, the city received 35 proposals from 14 agencies and while the city allocates a significant amount of funding to respond to homeless crisis in Berkeley, approximately 90% of agencies requested additional funds as shown on the prior slide.
This RFP cycle, the Homeless Services panel of experts reviewed the applications as I mentioned and they are also the advisory board for Measure P.
In past years the panel and staff submitted Measure P recommendations in May for council consideration.
These recommendations submitted this afternoon include both the RFP allocation and Measure P funding for a total recommendation of almost 10 million dollars.
The proposals were reviewed and prioritized on applicant responses in alignment with Alameda County's Home Together plan and All Homes Regional Action Plan, specifically the need to support housing retention grants to keep low-income Berkeley tenants from falling into homelessness, prioritizing interim housing to reduce Berkeley's unsheltered count and funding housing solutions such as rapid rehousing and shallow subsidies.
We also looked at ways to leverage county and state funds and lastly we wanted to balance the day-to-day needs of the unhoused community such as providing showers and laundry services with long-term housing solutions.
In order to fund the majority of projects that aligned with the goals no new programs are being recommended for funding and we had to take we had to make difficult decisions related to existing programs.
We are recommending funding for 24 existing programs and not to fund five existing programs.
The table with program level recommendations can be found on pages 123 and 124.
The majority of the funding, approximately 57%, is being recommended to maintain interim shelter beds in Berkeley.
This includes both congregate and non-congregate shelter along with the city's navigation center which includes housing navigation and rental assistance for participants.
We are also recommending to continue to fund the North County Coordinated Entry which in addition to conducting crisis and housing assessments also provides housing navigation to help people find housing and some tenancy sustaining services to support the city's shelter plus care program along with also providing a variety of rental assistance opportunities.
As you can see here we are also recommending close to $800,000 to continue to provide housing retention grants and lastly recommending funding to support housing case management connected to permanent supportive housing projects which also includes funding the city's shelter plus care case management.
Lastly we are recommending funding for traditional housing for families and transition age youth, drop-in services and support services.
Now I'd like to turn it back to Rhiana to talk about the housing and workforce recommendations.
Thank you Jennifer.
The housing and workforce recommendations were also reviewed by the Housing Advisory Commission and include public services as well.
So this group received a total of 16 applications from 11 agencies.
One of the agencies is actually the City of Berkeley.
The CDBG funds some staff and some programs that are delivered by City of Berkeley staff.
So CDBG is the primary funding source for this category with general funds being the sort of a supplement.
The 16 proposals were grouped into four categories housing services, public services, public and community facilities and workforce development.
With this group of funding we really had to think about ensuring that we were following the the caps that we had available for or the available funding for CDBG as well for sorry for general fund as well as the caps available for CDBG.
So overall we are recommending funding 14 of the 15 proposals including one new and one promising workforce development program.
After allocation of the best fit funding the new program is recommended to be funding funded with general funds.
Just as we have seen with the other sections today this slide represents the breakdown of recommendations by funding area, number of programs, total dollar amount and the percent.
So not surprising because of the available CDBG funds we see that the CDBG funds are laid up here in the housing development and rehabilitation category because those are areas of CDBG funding that are not capped.
So that concludes our staff portion of the recommendations and now we would like to turn it over to our different commission and review body representatives to give a brief presentation on their end.
So I am going to stop sharing and I am first going to pass it to Jose Lara Cruz from the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission.
Good afternoon.
Thank you for passing it over.
Again my name is Jose Lara Cruz.
I am the commissioner here with the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission.
As a recap this commission is tasked with providing recommendations for a variety of different services here in the city including disability services, legal services, health care services and services that fall under other.
These services are funded through the general fund, some community service block grant funding and measure E funding that goes through mostly through the emergency disability services.
As Rihanna mentioned for this funding cycle we reviewed 13 proposals coming from 11 different organizations ranging from all these services.
We discussed these proposals over three meetings to find ways in which we could best recommend ways to best serve the community through the programs that were being offered.
If all 13 programs were fully funded that would amount to about 3.2 million dollars but in terms of estimated available funding as was mentioned we had about 2.2 million dollars.
So we did have quite a huge gap to fill there and see what things were actually going to take place to be able to select services that would best serve the community.
The recommendation that's included in the packet that was approved by the commission aimed at trying to keep funding consistent with the previous funding cycle.
We were unable to fully fund any one program but we did try to again keep that funding consistent to what was before.
There were a few areas that we decided to increase funding due to increased costs or increased services that were going to be offered from different groups.
That included increased funding of the grant size for the Family Violence Law Center to allow them to expand their work with domestic violence victims.
With increased funding for JSA to continue their funding their senior services.
Increased funding to Through the Looking Glass for their Parenting and Disability Project.
And an increased funding to the Berkley Community Guardian Collaborative which asked for quite a substantial increase from the previous grant as they want to expand the availability of green spaces and community gardens throughout the city especially in low-income areas.
Given that we did feel we did have to make some hard decisions and not funding any of the new proposals that came in.
Although they were great proposals we weren't able to fund those.
And we did also make the difficult decision of not funding a previous organization that we were funding with Juanita House for the Berkley Wellness Center.
We just believe that this organization did have the funding or could secure the funding elsewhere.
But I welcome any questions or any other comments.
But it was very difficult decision but we we came up with these numbers here.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And now I will pass it to Katie Cobian who will introduce the youth who participated in the youth review panel.
Hi Rihanna.
I'm just trying to get the slideshow up.
Oh you're videoing.
Yeah.
Great.
I'm sorry.
Can you see my screen Rihanna? We.
Segment 2
see your room.That should work.
Okay, there we go.
There we go.
Can you see now? Yes.
Good afternoon.
My name is Katie Cobian and I am the Community Partnerships Coordinator with the Berkeley Youth Equity Partnership, or YEP.
It is an honor to be here today.
Today, representatives from YEP's Youth Review Panel will share the recommendations on how to allocate YEP's funding over the next four years.
They'll also talk briefly about their experiences being part of this pilot.
They are here representing all 20 students who contributed to this project.
Before I hand it off to representatives, I'd like to acknowledge Ina Bendig, who did a wonderful job facilitating this project.
Now, I'll hand it off to the YEP Youth Review Panel representatives.
Good afternoon and thank you so much for the opportunity to present to you.
We are here on behalf of the larger Youth Review Panel and during our presentation, we will share how we got involved, some of what we did, as well as our funding recommendations and the reasons behind them.
My name is Abby Schwartz.
My pronouns are she, her, and I'm in the 11th grade.
And I'll pass it to Tamar.
Hi, everyone.
My name is Tamar McKee.
My pronouns are she, her, and I'm in the 10th grade.
Hello.
My name is Lydia Millikit.
My pronouns are she, her, and I'm in the 12th grade.
Hello.
My name is Israel Minkidimos.
I use pronouns she, her, and I'm in the 11th grade.
Good afternoon.
My name is Lucia Segovia Merlos.
I go by any pronouns, and I'm in the 12th grade.
And my name is Lucas Jannivason.
My pronouns are he, him, and I'm in the 11th grade.
Rihanna, can you see that I changed the PowerPoint? I still see your first slide.
Give me a second.
I'm so sorry.
Yes, that's working.
We are a panel of 20 African American, Black, and Latinx Berkeley students who are chosen from a pool of 50 applicants.
We are critical thinkers who are committed, dedicated, and motivated to promote equity for youth of color in Berkeley.
This intensive panel position was a big commitment of time.
We prepared for presentations from community agency applicants and juggled all of our other activities to participate.
I got involved because I wanted to be involved in a leadership position that benefited my community.
So a little bit into why we got involved is because many of us have participated in community programs that we have a vested interest for, the opportunity to be a part of something that promotes racial equity, the opportunity to be accomplished for our work, and the opportunity to be a part of something bigger that impacts our communities.
And a little bit into why I got involved is because I wanted to help others find their sense of community and to meet new people.
We were first interviewed and selected in November and December 2023.
And we attended weekly in-person sessions after school and on weekdays through February of this year.
We all attended at least 10 in-person sessions totaling more than 40 hours per participant.
And our tasks included reading and analyzing five to nine agency proposals each for a total of 28 applications to the group.
In addition, we attended online sessions to prepare for 23 community agencies to present to us at America on Saturday event.
And we would like to shout out and thank YouthWorks for helping us get hired and paid for our work on this panel.
In this experience, we honed our skills in assessing and comprehending budgets, dissecting intricate proposals with precision, navigating negotiations with peers by engaging in collaborative dialogues to reach consensus, and learning how the city supports programs focused on youth of color.
Furthermore, this process taught me the immense value of collaboration and teamwork.
Working closely with my peers, I gained a deep appreciation for diverse perspectives as I learned the importance of fostering a supportive and cohesive team environment.
Our goal was to recommend the equitable allocation of 1.7 million dollars in city funds to expand opportunities and improve outcomes for African-American slash Black and Latinx youth in Berkeley.
It was extremely important that we outline some general guidelines for the allocation of our funding.
We really wanted a strong alignment with the YEP goals and we also wanted to see a very high proportion of African-American, Black, and Latinx youth being served.
We also wanted to see a very effective and organized program structure and then obviously we wanted to see track records and results showing that these programs improve the educational outcomes for African-American, Black, and Latinx children and youth.
These are our recommendations for Kindergarten Ready.
We recommend these five programs to support kindergarten readiness for a total of $485,956.
These are our successful in school recommendations.
We recommended these seven programs totaling to $396,381.
These programs will support students' academic success.
These are Healthy, Connected, and Resilient recommendations.
These four total programs were $253,000 and these are all, three of these are new programs.
Here are our recommendations for College and Career Ready.
We recommend these four programs totaling $548,656 to improve college and career access.
One of our recommendations is a new program.
In our evaluation, we identified several key factors leading to the decision of not recommending funding for certain programs.
These encompass limited alignment with YEP goals and objectives, a lack of clearly demonstrated measurable outcomes, and insufficient data or evidence-based justification.
Furthermore, programs offering too few services per participant with inconsistencies in enrollment, unclear budget narratives, or disproportionately high cost to participant further influence our decision.
Thank you for listening.
We are happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Katie, Koby-Ann, and team.
I am now going to pass it to Carol Morozovic, the Chair of the Homeless Services Panel of Experts, and I believe that Carol will be presenting in person.
Thank you, Carol.
Thank you.
The Homeless Services Panel of Experts reviewed independently 36 very detailed proposals.
We were reviewing them for, with a number of different stakeholders.
Reviewed independently 36 very detailed proposals.
We were reviewing them for, with 16.3 million in proposals submitted and only 4.
What am I? I'm trying to refresh my memory here.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
16.3 with only 4.8 million in funding available.
We met after our independent reviews for 36 proposals.
We met as a whole at one meeting and discussed our recommendations.
At a second meeting, we learned the City Manager's recommendations.
So, but our recommendations were very similarly aligned.
We made slight adjustments and then we again reviewed them at a third meeting and made our final recommendations.
After these meetings, we did Measure P recommendations, which although we're not discussing them tonight, this is actually critical also to this process was Measure P addresses gaps.
So, had we had more Measure P money, we could have potentially pulled from that money for some of these programs.
But unfortunately, our Measure P money is down from 10 million to 6 million.
It's down one third.
And in addition, the one we aligned with the City Manager on the Measure P recommendations with the exception of one critical recommendation, which is the 5150 transport, which has been a constant subject of discussion that these monies shouldn't be coming from Measure P, although they are permissible by the language of the law.
And in this funding cycle, 20% of the Measure P funding is going to the 5150 transports, which otherwise could have been used to fund some of these programs under the community agency allocation that we couldn't because of the incredible limitations of our funding.
Essentially, as I said, we did align with the City Manager with the exception of that the City Manager did not want to recommend any new programs.
And there's one new program we believe very strongly needed to be funded, at least in part, and that's the Pacific Center for Human Growth.
It's for LGBTQ housing.
This is a critical need.
It's been reported just recently that 40% of the hate crimes in Berkeley are homophobic.
And this is a population that has a very, has serious difficulties in the general shelters, very specific needs.
It was an excellent funding proposal.
We are funding the Pacific Center with Mental Health Services Act monies now for trauma.
And so there would be this cohesive type of support for persons who are frequently bullied and harassed and threatened in shelters.
This can be life-saving for the LGBTQ homeless residents, homeless persons.
And also, it wants to serve, this program wants to serve all the populations from transition age youth through seniors.
Excellent proposal.
And so we recommended funding it at least in part with other funding being leveraged.
That was the one place that we differed from the City Manager.
But we did have discussions about a couple of other concerns, although again, we didn't vote to fund these.
We have coordinated, the coordinated entry through Bay Area Community Services for singles is being funded, but the coordinated entry for families through the Women's Daytime Drop-In Center is not receiving funding from the City.
And the rationale of the City Manager for that was that they would be new funding.
It would be a new program, but they're actually providing those services for the last two years.
So it's not a new program.
It's just that they have not been funded by the City when we last went through these recommendations five years ago.
So there was discussion about that.
There was also discussion about the lack of cost of living increases.
These providers have not had an opportunity to request cost of living increases for five years.
They've been at the same salary.
Now, excuse me, not the same salary, the same funding from the City of Berkeley.
Moving forward now, if they are kept at the same level is an additional four years.
And these are extremely inflationary times.
With the limited monies we had, we couldn't identify a way to fit that in there.
Had we had more Measure P monies, have we not perhaps had not funding the 5150 transports? If there was another source of funding for that, that's $1.3 million.
These other needs could have been met.
So that's where we stood, and thank you for your time.
Thank you, Carol.
Now I would like to turn it over to the Chair of the Housing Advisory Commission, Debbie Potter, and her colleague, Mario Mendoza.
Thank you, Rhianna, and good afternoon to the Mayor and Council members.
I'm Debbie Potter, Chair of the Housing Advisory Commission, and I am joined by Mario Mendoza, who is the Vice Chair of the Commission.
We, along with Commissioner Truman-Braslaw, served as the HAC's subcommittee tasked with reviewing the proposals received for CDBG and Federal Fund-funded housing services and workforce development programs, and making recommendations to the full HAC, which in turn has made its recommendations to the Council.
I would like to start by giving a big thanks to Rhianna and to Barb Amaro for their help and guidance to the subcommittee as we navigated this once every four-year process.
And similar to Carol's comments, I'm going to focus my comments on a key aspect of the HAC's recommendation regarding the General Fund-funded housing services and workforce development programs, and that is that the annual General Fund allocation of $423,000 does not provide the same level of service delivery that it did four years ago when the last funding cycle occurred, and it will permit even fewer services four years from now when the next four-year funding cycle concludes.
In other words, if the City Council does not increase its General Fund commitment to housing services and workforce development, it will lock in funding levels that at the end of this funding cycle will be the same as eight years ago.
A key HAC recommendation is that the General Fund budget for housing services and workforce training programs should be increased by $208,000 annually for the next four-year funding cycle.
The City Manager's report states that if General Fund funding remains flat during the next funding cycle, it is likely that agencies will achieve lower program outcomes as each new year of their contracts unfolds.
Her report proposes that one solution would be incorporating an annual COLA or other adjustment to better preserve the current level of high-quality services.
It should be noted that the City-administered programs have salary and overhead increases built in, and that is reflected in larger program budgets in this funding cycle compared to the last funding cycle.
The same acknowledgement of increased costs should be extended to the City's non-profit partners.
The HAC recommended $208,000 annual increase in the General Fund commitment will allow the City to fund the Bread Project, the Multicultural Institute, Bananas, and Rising Sun Centre for Opportunity at their requested funding levels for the next four-year cycle, and to fund the inner-city services at its current funding level, as well as fund Rebuilding Together's Safe at Home program at double its current budget.
Without this funding increase, HAC's recommendation provides funding for a new initiative to train people to become home-based childcare providers, fund all existing workforce training providers at levels less than requested, and cuts funding to the important Safe at Home program.
The City Manager's recommendation would eliminate funding for Rising Sun Centre for Opportunity, the only training provider who trains residents in a union-sponsored program for placement in high-paying union jobs.
The City Manager's recommendation would also train, would also fund training for home-based childcare providers, but at $20,000 less annually than recommended by HAC.
Her proposal also funds the Safe at Home project at a higher level.
Without a funding increase, both the HAC's and City Manager's recommendations will result in less residents being served and or more limited services over the next four years.
A small increase of $208,000 annually for the critical delivery of workforce training and housing services will go a long way to achieving the City's key goal of a healthier Berkeley.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chair Potter.
I'm going to share my screen again just for a couple of remaining slides.
So thank you for your consideration in one, adopting the Annual Action Plan and two, considering the City Manager and Commission Community Agency recommendations.
We realize that the recommendations presented tonight do not fund all of the proposed funding and that the Commission wishes to provide for its low-income residents.
That being said, we do want to highlight that today's recommendations do propose nearly $11 million of community programming into the City of Berkeley community and that is exceptional.
So after tonight, for us the next steps in this process is to submit the Annual Action Plan for CDBG, ESG, and HOME programs and then for the City Council and the City Budget Office to come to the conclusion for the next cycle's Community Agency recommendations through the budget adoption.
And this last slide here just highlights the elements that are in the resolution on page 11 of your Council Agenda Item for the actions that you are specifically taking tonight related to the Annual Action Plan, HOME ARP, and the AHAP funding.
So with that, I will conclude my presentation and turn it back over to Council.
Thank you.
Just a clarifying question.
So those agencies that are proposed to be funded through General Fund, we're not approving those allocations tonight? Those are being referred to the budget process? Correct.
Okay.
Thank you.
So with that, I now want to open the public hearing on Item 1, the submission of the FY25 Annual Action Plan and recommendation for Community Agency funding for FY 2025-2028.
And we'll ask people to line up on this side of the room.
And in no particular order.
Thank you, Mayor and City Council for giving me the opportunity to speak.
My name is Andrew Crispin and I'm the Executive Director of the Berkeley Food Network.
The Berkeley Food Network is the largest direct food assistance organization in northern Alameda County.
We provide food to seniors, children, families in need, the unemployed or underemployed, those that are housing insecure, low-income residents, and anyone who lives, works, or studies in Berkeley who is in need of support.
Berkeley Food Network is preventing our neighbors from falling through the cracks by providing healthy food.
Monthly, we're preventing over 40,000 pounds of edible food from entering waste streams and distributing over 200,000 pounds of food to organizations and community members in need.
In the month of April, we hit a milestone.
We provided food to 1,063 households through one distribution program alone.
This is not something we celebrate.
Every community member who visits our pantry is receiving over 40 pounds of food per visit.
These record levels are in addition to our network of mobile pantries, our home delivery program, as well as the community organizations that we support.
We partner with over 30 organizations in Berkeley and beyond to provide food to their own communities and neighbors, representing thousands of individuals each week that benefit from BFN's warehouse and food banking efforts.
We provide food to BUSD and the Berkeley Public Schools Fund to support vulnerable students and families.
We partner with the City of Berkeley to provide food at the Family Wellness Center and the South Berkeley Senior Center.
We distribute food across Berkeley in partnership with schools, community centers, senior housing complexes by providing convenient access points for Berkeley residents.
It is critical that the Berkeley Food Network receive ongoing support from the City of Berkeley to maintain these increased levels of need in the community.
Thank you for your time.
Hello, Mayor, City Councilmembers, and City staff.
As you know, as Andrew mentioned, the Berkeley Food Network did not receive any funding from the Human Welfare, Health, Welfare, and Community Action Commission in their recommendations to Council.
So, I understand that there is no formal appeal process for this recommendation, so I'm here now to just communicate three important things.
First, the current HWCAC five-year strategic plan identifies as their number one core service to be provided by the City and community agencies to be accessed to nutritious food.
Of the 11 agencies that applied for City funding through the HWCAC, the BFN was the only one that aligned completely with this top priority of addressing food insecurity, and we were completely denied funding.
Second, as you know, this commission is functioning with only four commissioners, which means that half of the City Council districts, and therefore half of the entire city, was not represented in this process.
And lastly, if this recommendation is implemented, the BFN will be unable to reapply for City funding for four years, and it is hard to overstate the impact that this will have on both our own ability to function and the ability of the It is hard to overstate the impact that this will have on both our own ability to function as well as that of our 30 agency partners as well.
So, thank you very much for your time.
Hello, everybody, Mayor and Council Members.
I'm here on behalf of BFN.
As you all know, Dorothy Day has been serving the community meals for 33 years, and five years ago we started serving lunches, and we estimate that the community meal program alone relies on BFN food, and I want to paint the picture.
If we don't have the support of BFN, I'm afraid for what community meals will look like in the future.
It's heartbreaking that 250 people who have nowhere to eat and rely on the life-saving nutritional support of Dorothy Day House are going to go hungry, and that's heartbreaking.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.
My name is Lisa Corona.
I'm the Chair of the Board of the Bread Project, and I'm here first to thank the recommendations and the Mayor and Council for supporting the Bread Project over many years.
This is one of our many funding sources, and we would not be able to have our program were it not for the funding from the City of Buffalo.
We train and get jobs for 100 people annually in 10 separate cohorts of five weeks of training in the food and baking industry, and we follow them for 12 months after that.
Additionally, we support startup businesses who are able to use our commercial kitchen for starting their own programs for their own brick and mortar.
I also want to thank the City of Buffalo for supporting our commercial kitchen for starting their own programs for their own brick and mortar.
I also want to reiterate what's been said.
The Bread Project also relies on the Berkeley Food Network for the source of food for not only our program and training our people in culinary skills, but it also provides the food that they then can bring home to their families, which is part of our program, to feed those who are extremely low income and food insecure.
So we are a collaborator and partner in many ways with the Berkeley Food Network as well.
Thank you very much.
Unfortunately, some of our students had to leave because it's a school night, so their parents are picking them up and, you know, we're getting close to final exams.
Come behind, look at all the beauty I brought with me today.
My name is Adriana Beti.
I am the Executive Director for RISE, and I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about our allocation.
First, I want to thank the City for supporting us.
You've been supporting us since 1975.
We've been doing this for a long time, First, I want to thank the City for supporting us.
You've been supporting us since 1976.
RISE was founded by Berkeley high youth seeking educational equity.
One of those students was the late Calvin Fong.
While I was a part of Latinos Unidos, we partnered with PCAT, Parents of Children of African-American Incent, and we formed United in Action.
We recognized the educational inequities.
We worked with the City and the school district to develop the 2020 vision now called YEP.
Sorry, I put my glasses on.
I had cataract surgery.
I can't see.
I keep forgetting that.
Anyway, so yeah, we helped to form what's now called YEP.
I am a former math teacher in the district and a teacher trainer for the University of California in math.
I've been in this position here as a director since 1998.
Until July of last year, I was receiving a salary of $63,000 and have not garnered retirement.
I've worked hard to diversify our funds, garnering BSEP funds, Berkeley public school funds, chancellor's grants, city festival grants, and finally last year, for the first time in the 47 years we've been here, a matching grant from the Berkeley school district of $216,000.
We survived the economic downfall of the early 200s, meaning that all my staff received below a BUSD teacher's salary.
Berkeley, by the way, is one of the lowest paying school districts in California.
If you look at my staff, my staff is STEM staff of color, electrical engineering, UC Berkeley, myself, math and computer science, UC Berkeley, architecture and urban planning.
My Javier from San Francisco State.
We are thankful for the increase that's being recommended and it will be the first since I took this position.
When I started receiving funds in 1998, it was around $400,000 from the city.
We have gone from six case managers to two case managers, helping 300 kids to now 100 kids.
All staff have been receiving below teacher salaries and we are still helping the Berkeley youth.
So what is the impact of our program? Well, one of the things returning from COVID, we are a case management program.
We're not a tutoring program.
So we look at the obstacles and the problems that children are facing to be successful.
We have great kids, but they have horrific obstacles.
Mental health, of course, coming back from COVID was a huge obstacle.
So we created healing through our stories workshops, which were led by our students.
And that workshop led to the development of this book called healing through our stories.
I'll leave this.
It's not an easy read.
This is not something you want to read before you go to bed.
Sexual assault, depression, witnessing a poem about witnessing a senior kill himself.
These kids rightfully just wrote their stories in this book.
Segment 3
We have also taught our parents math so that they could pass the GED.We supported families with their immigration status, their U visas.
Just this week, a parent told me she finally got her Social Security, working Social Security card.
We've been doing research for the last two years.
Some of the kids behind me are on our research team.
We're doing research on BIPOC students in public schools.
That research is being led by San Francisco State Professor Dr.
Fillingham, who is a RISE We will be presenting our second year research findings on May 14th, and I can send you an invitation.
It'll be at the high school.
And that led to the development of what we call our youth leadership team.
Our youth wrote a book about the impact of immigration and went to DC for March for America.
One of our students was chosen to speak on the National Mall.
That student now will be a medical doctor this summer.
When Colin Bynum high school shootings took place, we biked with 17 of our youth and the California Police Athletic League to Santana High School, the site of the last high school shootings.
We have housed and nurtured the Native student youth group since 1998 in our program as their fiscal agent and just supporting them morally, emotionally and physically with some of the changing things, even our kids going up to Standing Rock.
Fast food workers are now getting $20 an hour.
The workers that are molding the next generation should at least have the comfort of a 12 month teacher's salary, even if it is a Berkeley salary.
As they work year round, we don't work 10 months, we are nonstop and we work more than 40 hours a week.
When a parent calls, we just have to go.
We are asking to bring this increase to bring our salaries to professional levels and not to support our college tours, our mental health and other needed services.
I lick the ground to find funding for every single one of these things.
We try fundraisers, we try every creative means.
We just got a $15,000 donation of chairs that we needed chairs for a really long time.
We lick the ground to find every single piece to make this happen.
They just tell me we need this.
I didn't want to do another one of these because I was about to have surgery and when the senior committed suicide, the kids go, Miss Betty, we got to have one more, we got to talk about this.
I didn't want to get COVID before my surgery, so we did it.
That's what I mean by case management.
We respond to what the kids need.
We're asking for this increase to bring salaries to a professional level and not necessarily for all of these services.
None of these services matters if you don't have a caring professional adult being paid a fair wage.
We did make a mistake when coming up with the salary because I took the teacher salary not thinking teachers are 10 months.
I need to pay my staff 12 months.
Not only is it two months low of a salary, but there was also a 6% increase to Berkeley Unified.
I would like- I appreciate your comments.
If you can please wrap up.
Okay.
With wrapping up, I would like to consider our original request.
My goal would be to retire in the year of 2031 summer, I'll be 71, and I would like to leave a strong legacy that the Berkeley youth created here that's sustainable and healthy.
We are being flexible with the time.
Given the number of speakers, our rules prescribe that the time is a minute, but we are being flexible, so please proceed.
Dang, your mayorship, soon as I get up here.
I have been given time by Tanisha and Mansoor.
Good to see everybody.
Glad you're well.
My name is Ayanna Davis.
I'm Deputy Executive Director of Healthy Black Families, and this is year nine of our organization receiving funding from the city.
Thank you for the funding, but I must advocate for Healthy Black Families and all of our community-based organizations, particularly in West and South Berkeley.
The city has got to figure something out so our programs can be fully funded.
Healthy Black Families got one third for our new program, Village Cultural Academy, which we expect to bring forward young people that will be community leaders from the time they're in elementary school through adulthood, as we continue to do.
As you may well know, our step-leaders have become commissioners and organizational leaders, and we continue to bring forth community to support the city of Berkeley.
As we build toward equity for Black Berkeley, we have to understand the needs for community benefits, community infrastructure, and community needs as our community returns under the right to turn, return, and right to stay as our city builds, what, 9,000 units in the next nine years, and the work that must be done.
When we talk about Mansoor's work, or Tanisha's work, or Corrine's work, this work is extremely important as we talk about the work for food sovereignty and food security, housing the unhoused, and all the work that's going to have to go into creating the development of the Adeline Corridor and making sure our people are cared for as we build the San Pablo Avenue Corridor and the Sacramento Avenue Corridor.
We know there are plans as we work to fight displacement.
When Link 21 comes through our city with this rail plan, our organizations, our people, the most vulnerable, need our programs fully funded.
And we encourage you as our leaders to find ways to make that happen.
And we know that you can do it.
And as you hand off, some of you are leaving your seats to others.
We encourage you to make that a priority for them.
Thank you.
Good afternoon to everyone.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you.
I also want to thank Ayanna for what she said.
We're looking at the same community, revitalizing, ensuring they have a healthy space, a place where they can get nutrition, a place where the elders can be cared for.
And we don't want to leave anyone out.
I also want to give kudos to the youth groups who spoke just before us.
I'm so inspired and amazed at what they've done.
I, too, want to do the same thing with that community and with the youth.
There are never enough people to take care of our youth.
And I want to be a part of that, and so does the Berkeley Community Garden Collaborative.
So I'm asking you, and first of all, let me also thank the commission for increasing the amount of funding.
I got a third of what I need, and I, too, would like to see an increase.
It won't be frivolously wasted.
I make $18 an hour, right? So just asking that you look at my needs are real because the community's needs are real.
Thank you, each and every one of you.
Good evening.
I just wanted to add, Ayanna wanted me to share that the urgency behind getting this funding to the agencies as quickly as possible to prevent any funding gaps.
So I just wanted to add that piece to her testimony.
My name is Julia Hatton.
I'm the CEO at Bay Area Nonprofit Rising Sun Center for Opportunity, and I've had the chance to be part of our ongoing partnership with the City of Berkeley since 2012.
And that's included funding for Rising Sun's union-backed training and employment programs for a clean energy future.
I'm here to respectfully request that the Council preserve the funding recommended by the HAC for Rising Sun.
And I'll share a little history.
Rising Sun got its start because of the City of Berkeley 25 years ago when our staff were teaching a class on climate change at Berkeley High.
And the students in that class created a residential energy efficiency program led by youth that now operates in 10 California counties and serves thousands of hard-to-reach residents each year.
It was the City of Berkeley that grew that program and helped Rising Sun develop training programs for adults, including Opportunity Build, which the Commission recommended for funding.
Opportunity Build helps adults break barriers to employment and secure sustainable careers in union construction.
It's one of only three programs of its kind in all of California that caters specifically to women.
And Opportunity Build offers hands-on and classroom training and essential wraparound support services, providing a true pathway into the middle class.
The City has invested in programs to decarbonize Berkeley homes and build new housing while providing high-quality careers to local, diverse workers.
And Rising Sun provides that workforce.
Members of this Council have seen Rising Sun's work and impact in action and can be proud of the City's role in that work.
I promise you that our program graduates pay it forward every day, building their own futures as they build this community from the ground up.
Thank you for your consideration and for your legacy of meaningful support.
How you guys doing? My name is Becky Rodriguez.
I've been a resident, a Berkeley resident, for all 23 years of my life.
From Berkeley High School to Berkeley City College, I've found invaluable support systems and diverse communities.
These connections have not only enriched my education, but have also provided long-life friendships and professional networks.
In the face of rising living costs, Berkeley remains a reliable hub of support and opportunity that I'm grateful to call home.
With that being said, Rising Sun is one of those great opportunities that I couldn't pass up.
Rising Sun's Center of Opportunity is a great resource for people in Berkeley to help youth learning about climate change as well as helping the bays, homeowners, and renters with energy and water efficiency services, which is called Greenhouse Calls Program.
The most recent program that I'm so proud to say that I was a part of was Women Building the Bay, which helped me who want to be in construction and get a foot in the door into a field that can be a little intimidating.
They helped me and my colleagues obtain my MC3, my OSHA 10, my J-PRO certificates, along with other certifications that I never thought I would be able to obtain.
Not only was I able to receive these resources, but I was also able to network with other women who are also in the field.
Completing this program not only made me proud to be a Bay resident, but now I feel I can actually be a resource for Berkeley, the city I grew up in, to become a better place for future generations.
Thank you.
Good evening, everyone.
Mayor, City Council, my name is Marlon Jeffries.
I'm the Director of Opportunity Deal at Rising Sun Center for Opportunity.
I'm a servant of the people.
I want to talk to you about what our program does and the impacts it has.
Our program connects people to quality jobs and family-sustaining wages.
Our program is a pathway out of poverty.
I talked about the family-sustaining wages.
It also offers our participants and alumni an opportunity to stay in the Bay Area, to stay in some of these cities that they grew up in.
Our average start in wage last year was about $27 an hour for an apprentice entering a union trade across the trades.
There's 28 trades in California.
Other impacts of our program is that we work with our participants to remove any barriers they may have to employment.
We have a mental health provider.
We also, they talked about the certifications that they get, but the most important part is the hands-on job training skills that they get in our program that are similar to the day-to-day job that you would be in if you're an apprentice or a journey-level worker in any trade.
Our goal is to serve 80 to 90 individuals and improve their quality of living for Berkeley residents, local residents, women, justice-impacted individuals.
It's an alternative to high school for people who may not want to go to college, and just an overall better opportunity and quality wages.
Our program saves lives, and I can attest to that.
I was someone who did 26 years in prison.
I came home in 2017, and Rise and Sun was located on Ashby and San Pablo.
I didn't know anything about no trades, really, but I went through the program.
I joined Local 304, and I came back to the program as a program manager, and I'm able to spread, raise awareness about our program and share the information about the program with people like me or people who have similar experiences as I have.
Thank you.
Good evening, Mayor and City Council members.
I'm Angela Upshaw, COO for Insight Housing.
I'd like to thank City of Berkeley staff and the Homeless Services Panel of Experts for their due diligence in making very difficult decisions with limited funding.
We are thankful and grateful for the consideration and recommendation for Insight Housing's critical programming.
However, it is important for us to point out that we are being recommended for less than half of the funding that we requested for our 64 interim shelter beds.
It's imperative for us to express that stagnant funding is problematic for several reasons.
Increased demand, stagnant funding does not keep pace with the increase in demand for homeless services due to factors such as population growth, economic downturns, or rising housing costs.
This can result in insufficient resources to meet the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness.
Limited capacity.
Without adequate funding, homeless services programs may struggle to maintain existing services due to increased operations or expand capacity to meet the community's growing needs.
I forgot to mention our CEO, Colleen Negans, on the call, so I'm going to borrow her a minute.
This can lead to long wait lists for shelters, limited availability of affordable housing options, and to reduce access to essential support services such as mental health and job training.
It affects the quality of care.
Insufficient funding may compromise the quality of care and support provided to individuals experiencing homelessness.
This can result to lower staff-to-client ratios, reduced availability of case management services, or decreased access to essential resources such as food, clothing, and transportation.
Insufficient funding also affects staffing.
Paying low wages for staff working at homeless shelters can be problematic for several reasons.
High turnover.
Low wages and wages that do not increase with the rise of the cost of living may lead to high turnover rates among shelter staff as they may seek better paying jobs elsewhere.
High turnover can disrupt services, reduce institutional knowledge, and undermine the continuity of care for individuals experiencing homelessness.
It also affects the quality of care.
Low wages and wages that don't increase with the rise of the cost of living can impact the quality of care and support provided to individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
Staff who are underpaid may feel undervalued and unmotivated, leading to decreased job satisfaction and morale.
This can in turn affect the level of engagement, empathy, and professionalism exhibited in interactions with program participants.
It affects burnout.
Staff working in homeless shelters often face challenges, emotionally demanding situations.
Shelter participants are often at the height of their crises, experiencing mental health emergencies, and needing support from energized and motivated care teams.
Low wages coupled with high job demands can increase the risk of burnout among shelter staff.
Burnout can result in decreased job performance, compassion fatigue, and diminished ability to effectively support individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
Finally, it affects the retention of skilled staff.
Low wages and wages that don't increase with the rise of the cost of living make it difficult to attract and retain skilled and experienced staff members who are essential for providing effective services to individuals experiencing homelessness.
Skilled staff members bring valuable expertise, knowledge, and professionalism to their roles, contributing to the overall effectiveness and success of homeless services.
Thank you.
Hello, I'm Stacey Burmaster, also with Inside Housing.
I am our Regional Director of Residential Services.
And I would like to echo Angela's thank you for the continued funding of our program and also implore you to add a word as asked so that we can cover the increased vulnerability and needs of our staff.
The homeless population in Berkeley is an aging population.
This means that we're seeing longer shelter stays.
Older adults are experiencing homelessness and may require longer stays due to the complexity of their needs and the lack of suitable housing options.
This increases the demand for shelter beds and puts additional strain on shelter resources, staffing, and capacity.
The increased vulnerability of older adults experiencing homelessness means that they have health complications, injuries, premature death, compared to younger individuals.
They may have pre-existing health conditions, disabilities, or age-related impairments that require extra support and resources to address effectively.
As a population, we serve ages, their care, ADA, and reasonable accommodations, support with their activities of daily living, et cetera.
Older adults experiencing homelessness may face challenges in accessing affordable housing options that meet their needs, such as accessible housing, senior housing, or supportive housing with on-site services.
These challenges increase the length of stay for older adults, further exacerbating the shortage of available shelter beds.
Additional funding to expand affordable housing opportunities and provide rental assistance to these older adults experiencing homelessness is needed.
There is an increased demand of services as our population ages.
The number of adults experiencing homelessness is expected to rise.
This will increase the demand for services and support tailored to the unique needs of our older adults, including health care case management, social services, and legal assistance.
I would also like to add that our women's shelter sees the highest average age of women experiencing homelessness in Berkeley, and their needs are complex and they are presenting with more vulnerabilities.
So, thank you again for your time and for your consideration.
Good afternoon, honorable mayor, mayors, members of the City Council.
My name is Jose Gladwell, and I am the program director for the Multicultural Institute's key signature program, the Life Skills, Day Labor, and Domestic Worker program.
Since 2001, the program has successfully offered the Berkeley, Day Labor, and Domestic Worker community the resources and the support they need to, one, gain better employment opportunities, two, obtain the health, immigration, and legal services they need, and three, to gain the skills and the competencies to help them become better prepared workers and to advance their educational opportunities, all offered through our unique, culturally relevant, on-the-street outreach service model.
I am here to ask that you consider approving the Housing Advisory Commission's general fund housing services and workforce development funding recommendation for our programs to receive continued support.
Your approval will help us continue the comprehensive and impactful programming that is very much needed in our Latino and Berkeley immigrant community.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Good afternoon, honorable mayor, and members of the City Council.
My name is Maria de Los Angeles Caloca-Rivas, and I am the Educational Program Manager for the Multicultural Institute Mentoring for Academic Success Program, also known as MASS.
Since 1999, the MASS program has offered tutoring and academic support to 3rd grade to 9th graders in all subject areas with a focus on reading and math.
Our program is open Monday to Thursday.
After school, it has a summer writing component called the June Youth Writing Festival.
Each year, we serve Latinx and diverse students, parents, and their families through our tutoring, parents' workshops, and weekly STEM activities.
Our tutors are currently a diverse group of college students from UC Berkeley, Berkeley City College, and St.
Mary's College.
We change our students' lives each day, and with your help, we can continue to create positive change.
Please consider approving the Youth Equity Partnership Youth Review Funding Recommendation to receive continuous support.
This funding recommendation will continue to grow and provide much need for support to Latinx immigrants' families.
Thank you so much for your time.
Good afternoon, Mayor Arreguin and members of City Council.
Thank you for your time today.
My name is Myrna Cervantes, and I'm the Executive Director of the Multicultural Institute.
We're a regional nonprofit organization that has been providing cultural and linguistic appropriate services to the Berkeley immigrant community since 1991.
We have been in partnership with the City of Berkeley in various capacities since then and are very grateful for years of support to our mission of accompanying immigrants in the various stages of their life.
We are best known for our work with the Latinx day labor and domestic community, but also provide comprehensive services to Berkeley immigrant families, low-income residents, and our unhoused West Berkeley neighbors.
I appreciate the opportunity to apply for the RFP and would like to thank the HAC and YEP commissions for their recommendations.
I would like to ask that you approve the recommendations, and with that approval, continue to support the Berkeley immigrant and low-income communities, helping us to continue enhancing our programming for years to come.
Thank you for your consideration and partnership with the Multicultural Institute.
And if I could just have a few more seconds.
I'm also a very proud board member of the Berkeley Food Network, and I just want to add that it is absolutely critical that the City of Berkeley find a way to fund the Berkeley Food Network.
They are providing thousands of individuals food to where they need it, and if it wasn't for the Berkeley Food Network, we ourselves, the Multicultural Institute, would not be able to provide food, nutritious and fresh produce food, may I add, to over and nearly 100 families in the City of Berkeley.
So please take that as a priority and find a way to fund them.
It is so, so important for our families.
Thank you.
Hello, Mayor and members of our City Council.
My name is Emma Martin.
I work as the Program Director at the Center for Independent Living, a local cross-disability advocacy and direct services organization that some of you might be familiar with and that recently applied for CDBG funds through the City of Berkeley to fund a residential access program as it has for the last 30 years.
Our residential access program provides free home assessments and modifications for low-income people with disabilities and older adults with the goal of keeping them living safely and independently in their homes.
It prevents displacement from their homes as their access needs change or they age into disability.
Our program also helps prevent houselessness or institutionalization as a result of inaccessible housing.
We know that it is much more expensive and far less dignified and humane for our city and county for people to be in institutional settings versus the communities of their choice, and that's also what disabled communities in Berkeley have fought for for years.
We wanted to come today to advocate for you to approve from HAC to increase CIL's funding for our residential access program this year.
It's the first time in over a decade that we've asked for an increase in our funding to be able to provide more services for people, so thank you very much for your support.
Hi, Mayor and hello, Council.
My name is Ilse Lund, and I'm here representing Larkin Street Youth Services.
We took over operations from Fred Finch of the Turning Point Transitional Housing Program for youth experiencing homelessness.
I'm here today, first, to say thank you for your longtime support of Turning Point and also for welcoming Larkin Street to Berkeley.
I stand here, you know, really honored to know that we'll be able to serve some of the city's most vulnerable youth when we reopen Turning Point very soon after some much, much needed CDBG-funded rehabilitation to the facility.
I'm also really humbled to be here with this incredible network of other service providers and young people who are here advocating as decision-makers themselves for the programs that impact them and to be here in community with other organizations who are talking about the increasing costs of doing this incredibly hard work and the hard decisions y'all have to make in service of our future leaders.
So, thank you.
Good evening, everybody.
I know one of the last times I was here, it was two minutes to talk, but, I mean, inflation is real, so it makes sense.
So, my name is E.J.
Seier.
Most of you know me in my daytime role, but my nighttime role and one of my true passions is as a board member, a member of the Board of Directors of Rising Sun, Center for Opportunity out of Oakland.
And I gotta tell you what, you all did it again.
Rising Sun, something that's in multiple counties making such an impact on hundreds of lives every single year, started in Berkeley.
But why does everything have to start in Berkeley? That ends up being good.
I'm okay with it.
I'm just saying, if you could spread the love to other people, that would be great.
This program really is something that, when you look at an organization that's going to go out and fight for disadvantaged, underserved, underrepresented communities, folks that are having all these barriers to employment that society as a whole just generally will not provide, Rising Sun is there.
Afterwards, after the program, when folks are looking at what I'm going to do next, Rising Sun is there.
And there's so many local trades that are going to be helping the middle class career, where they're successfully in the middle class.
They're comfortable.
They're not relying on state and county-funded healthcare programs anymore.
They have employer-funded healthcare.
They have benefits.
They can retire with dignity.
Rising Sun is a program that'll do that.
So, whether you fund it tonight, in the near future, whatever you're able to make happen, I think it's definitely worth the effort and discussion.
And we're here tonight, happy to have any further conversations necessary.
Thank you for your time.
Hello, Mayor and Council.
And I wanted to take this minute to invite everybody to an opening for the West Berkeley Urban Garden, which is an equity-based, universal-access garden for food-insecure people to be able to grow and cook healthy food in this community.
I've followed up with some of your offices.
And I'll continue to do that to give additional outreach for you to be part of the speaking and discussion.
So, I'm going to turn it over to Sandy to talk about that.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mayor.
And I'll give the floor to Sandy.