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Community groups urge legislature to avert 'Promise Neighborhoods' and diaper‑bank funding cliff; food banks press for Cal Food restoration
Summary
Nonprofit and local‑partner witnesses told the Senate subcommittee that state investments in Promise Neighborhoods, diaper banks and the Cal Food program are expiring and that losing those funds would cut services to hundreds of thousands of Californians and risk local jobs and partnerships.
A broad coalition of nonprofit leaders, food‑bank executives and Promise Neighborhood coordinators urged the Senate Budget Subcommittee 3 to shore up several expiring state investments that they said support cradle‑to‑career services, diapers for families in need, and purchases of California‑grown food for local distributions.
Jose Midelez, speaking for SBCS Corporation and Promise Neighborhood initiatives in San Diego County, asked the subcommittee to prioritize $17,500,000 in one‑time funding to prevent a funding cliff for Promise Neighborhoods that the witnesses said would abruptly end services for more than 130,000 children and families and eliminate about 55 jobs. "Without the continued support, over 130,000 children and their families are at risk of losing critical support services at the end of this June," Midelez said.
Food banks and Cal Food: Several food‑bank representatives asked the committee to restore Cal Food baseline funding to $60,000,000 ongoing. Chris Carter of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank said the LA Food Bank had distributed the equivalent of 25,400,000 meals through Cal Food in the last three years and urged continued support. Becky Silva of the California Association of Food Banks described an expected Cal Food "funding cliff" at the end of the month and said the program had enabled distributors to buy 80,000,000 pounds of California‑grown food in the prior year.
Diaper banks: Witnesses described an existing diaper‑bank network that the state had funded in recent years and asked for $16,500,000 ongoing support. Elizabeth Espinosa, representing the California Association of Diaper Banks, said prior state investments allowed diaper banks to distribute about 160,000,000 diapers to over 1,000,000 families and warned that many diaper‑bank operations would cease if funding was not extended when one‑time grants expire on June 30, 2025.
Promise Neighborhoods testimony and outcomes: Multiple Promise Neighborhood leaders described local results they attribute to the programs: increased high‑school graduation rates, reductions in chronic absenteeism, expanded early‑childhood slots, and mental‑health services reach. Speakers including Edgar Chavez (Hayward Promise Neighborhood), Adriana Mata (Second Harvest Santa Cruz County), and Juan Diego Castro (Mission Economic Development Agency) urged preservation of state funding so local partnerships can maintain progress.
Advocates asked the Legislature to consider state funding or other revenue measures to maintain these locally delivered supports. Committee members did not take any votes at the hearing; witnesses requested prompt action in the budget process to prevent service interruptions.
