Council advances human services funding priorities, designates Impact Award to address food insecurity tied to gun‑violence prevention

The Finance Committee considered ordinances to establish the city’s human services funding priorities for the first year of the biannual fiscal 2026 budget and to designate an Impact Award focused on food insecurity as a component of the city’s broader gun‑violence prevention work.

Mika Owens (referred to in the transcript as council member Owens) submitted an ordinance that sets allocations and priorities for the Human Services Fund. Under the ordinance’s described allocation framework, 10% of the fund would be reserved for a large‑scale social innovation Impact Award; 26% for comprehensive workforce development support; 26% for youth gun‑violence prevention and reduction; 26% for securing and stabilizing housing for high‑risk populations; 10% for emergency wraparound services through Project Lift; and 2% for overhead. The ordinance also folded…