Several Citrus County nonprofits and service providers made appropriations requests and described community needs at the delegation meeting.

Livestream Behavioral Healthcare asked the delegation for $2 million in capital funds to help complete a Citrus County Behavioral Health Center project that the group said would include psychiatric and Baker Act beds. Livestream representatives said local counties and the state have already contributed, and that rising construction costs increased the funding gap from their initial budget to a current $16 million estimate.

Jesse’s Place, the Citrus County Children’s Advocacy Center, requested approximately $150,000 for design professional services and construction management services as the first phase of a planned 7,500-square-foot expansion to an existing 5,000-square-foot facility; the center reported a therapy wait list (about 16 children at the time of testimony) and provided 3,000 hours of therapy in 2024.

The YMCA of Lecanto requested an additional $1.2 million to complete an ongoing expansion of the Lecanto facility; the YMCA described strong membership growth since opening in 2016 and said earlier state support delivered a $1 million allocation last year.

The Mid Florida Homeless Coalition asked delegation members to maintain current staffing grants (homeless housing assistant grants), keep the Base Challenge Grant funding steady, and convert a one-time $10 million allocation for homeless services into recurring funding to support unsheltered individuals. NAMI Citrus and other mental-health advocates requested state funding for family-and-peer support programs, education and evidence-based provider training; NAMI representatives said it is part of a nine-county regional appropriation push.

Why it matters: Testimony highlighted local gaps in behavioral-health capacity, children's trauma services and homelessness prevention. Nonprofit leaders argued state funding would leverage local matches and existing county or philanthropic contributions to close funding shortfalls.

Budget and timing: Livestream and the YMCA cited multi-million-dollar capital needs; Jesse’s Place sought a first-phase design appropriation under $200,000 to be followed by construction funding in a later year. The homeless-coalition request seeks policy and recurring funding changes rather than one-time grants.