Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
San Benito approves FY2025–26 CDBG allocations; CASA and Sunshine Haven receive awards
Summary
The San Benito City Commission approved allocations of FY2025–26 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, awarding $29,442 to CASA and $20,000 to Sunshine Haven after the citizen advisory committee recommendation; one longtime subrecipient was not funded for failing to meet CDBG performance criteria.
The San Benito City Commission on June 17 approved the city's Fiscal Year 2025'26 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocations, endorsing recommendations from the CDBG Citizen Advisory Committee to fund CASA and Sunshine Haven while withholding funding from another recurring subrecipient that did not meet CDBG program requirements.
The commission voted to award $29,442 to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and $20,000 to Sunshine Haven, a nonprofit special care facility. The committee recommended directing the remainder of CDBG funds, historically used for park and street projects, strictly toward street improvements for the coming program year.
The grants were based on the committee's review of three applications. Diana (city staff) told the commission the committee met June 4 and ranked the applicants, noting that several prospective subrecipients who had attended a workshop later determined CDBG was not an appropriate funding source for them. The staff report said one recurring subrecipient did not meet CDBG's requirement to increase the number of individuals served and therefore was not eligible for award this cycle.
Edward Camarillo, executive director of Sunshine Haven, urged the commission to support the recommendation and described his organization's local role. "Sunshine Haven is a nonprofit special care facility that provides compassionate end of life care at no cost to patients or their families," Camarillo said. He noted the organization has served more than 1,800 patients and provided care last program year to seven San Benito residents for a total of 21 nights of care, which Camarillo said had a notional value of $11,151.
Dora Martinez, executive director of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for Cameron and Willacy Counties, outlined CASA's recent activity and caseload. Martinez said that as of May 2025 CASA had served 25 children in the current fiscal year, completed 82 home visits, seen one adoption and two reunifications, and obtained custody for five children by relatives.
Commission discussion emphasized compliance with federal CDBG rules. Diana told the commission that federal guidance requires subrecipients to leverage CDBG funds, demonstrate expanding service reach and not rely on CDBG as the sole funding source. Commissioners discussed whether the available funds could be split differently; staff said they could reallocate but the committee's recommendation reflected the CDBG criteria and the applicants'demonstrated capacity.
Mayor Pro Tem Galvan moved to approve the committee recommendation; Commissioner Navarro seconded. The motion carried.
The action directs city staff to implement the contracts and to use remaining funds for street improvements while using previously set-aside balances for park projects.
