Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Social Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mid Iowa Community Action reports rising demand for food and energy assistance; warns of federal funding threats
Summary
Mid Iowa Community Action told the Story County Board that emergency food and crisis energy assistance requests have risen sharply; the agency warned about proposed federal cuts to LIHEAP, Head Start and CSBG that could affect services.
Robin Belden, Story County director for Mid Iowa Community Action (MICA), told the Story County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that the agency saw a sharp increase in demand for food pantry and energy-assistance services during the most recent reporting window.
Belden said the agency’s emergency food pantry helped roughly 500 more unique individuals and 244 more households in the latest comparison window, and that in a recent month more than 500 families used food pantry services. She said the agency’s mobile pantry — launched last year with AmeriCorps support — helped reach households that were previously unaware of MICA services and that a home ARP grant will fund staff to run the mobile pantry this summer.
On energy assistance, Belden said MICA’s crisis-approved applications rose from about 58 in the prior comparable period to more than 500 in the recent window, an almost fourfold increase. She attributed rising need to higher food and housing costs and changes in eligibility for programs such as WIC and SNAP.
Belden also told the board she is tracking federal budget proposals that would significantly reduce or eliminate programs that MICA relies on: she said the president’s “skinny budget” proposes zeroing out LIHEAP (the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program), Head Start and the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), and that the agency had seen federal LIHEAP staff let go. Belden said she and MICA’s advocacy team are engaging state and federal lawmakers and that local municipal contributions remain a critical backstop for crisis assistance.
The board had no formal action on the report; supervisors expressed concern and offered to help amplify advocacy to congressional offices.
