A council committee chair urged the Homelessness Planning Council to consider pausing its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee work inside the Continuum of Care after recent federal executive orders and ongoing litigation have raised concerns that DEI‑related activities could jeopardize federal funding.

Alyssa Fernandez, director of permanent housing at Oasis and chair of the DEI committee, told the council the administration’s executive orders “specifically target DEI” and that committee members are concerned the committee’s name and activities could affect millions in HUD funding. Fernandez said the committee recommended suspending the equity and diversity committee inside the Continuum of Care and instead exploring a new committee focused on carrying forward strategic plan goals and initiatives under a different name. She described one working title as “initiatives efficiency” and summarized objectives such as tracking metrics, identifying gaps, exploring creative resource streams and coordinating community needs and concerns.

Committee members and council participants expressed mixed reactions. Several members emphasized the value of the DEI work but also said they would follow the executive orders to protect funding. Pastor Steven Handy urged continued work under other language, noting long precedents of the same activities being done under different names: “Language is critical, but we’ve been doing this work in many of the communities I exist in. DEI was not the language we used, but it was the work that we were doing.” Another council member characterized the proposed suspension as painful but a pragmatic step while the legal environment evolves.

Council staff and legal representatives also briefed members on litigation that has stayed many of the orders’ effects and on the need to track federal guidance in real time. Members said the general membership will discuss the proposal at a March general meeting and at an all‑chairs session, and that more public discussion and written recommendations will follow.

The discussion did not produce a formal motion to suspend the committee during the recorded session; council members asked the DEI chair to bring a specific proposal to the general membership and the all‑chairs meeting for broader input.