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Nonprofits warn of funding cuts; city says opioid settlement funds routed to county
Summary
Speakers from North County Connection and Lumina Alliance told the council recent grant cuts threaten local recovery and shelter services. Staff said the city deferred opioid settlement funds to the county and estimated the city share as 'low five figures.'
Speakers from two local nonprofit providers told the Atascadero City Council they face funding losses that could reduce recovery and domestic-violence services in the area.
Susan Warren of North County Connection said the group’s recent grant that supported two recovery navigators was cut. “We were notified that Sierra Health, which is where we got our grant, has had their funding pulled,” Warren told the council, adding that the navigators intend to continue volunteering while seeking replacement funds. She asked whom in the city could be contacted about opioid-settlement funds to apply for additional support.
Jennifer Adams, CEO of Lumina Alliance, described broader funding erosion for her countywide provider of sexual-assault and domestic-violence services. “47% of our $5,000,000 budget comes from federal funding sources, 2 of which… those grants which we've already lost,” Adams said, adding that the agency has launched a fundraising campaign to offset projected cuts that will affect shelter and transitional-housing services.
On the opioid-settlement question, city staff said the city has deferred its allocation to the county to allow countywide coordination of the funds. Staff member (Miss Rangel) told the council: “That is correct. We have deferred our our those opioid funds to the county because they are better able to use those more efficiently than we would here.” City Manager Jim Lewis added that the annual share for the city was modest: “It was low five figures. It was really it was gonna take us more to process it, frankly, which is why we submitted it back to the county.”
Council members and the mayor thanked the nonprofit speakers and urged staff to follow up with information on county processes and potential application opportunities for local providers.
