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Local AmeriCorps members, providers urge city support after funding cuts; council issued proclamation for Fair Housing Month
Summary
Multiple AmeriCorps members and United Way representatives told council the program faces federal cuts that will affect 21 members in Santa Barbara County and asked the city for support and proclamations; council also proclaimed April 2025 Fair Housing Month and recognized the city’s Rental Housing Mediation Program.
At the April 29 meeting, multiple speakers during general public comment described recent cuts to AmeriCorps funding and asked the council for local support. Leon Martindale, director of the AmeriCorps program at United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County, told the council federal cuts of about $400 million were affecting programs statewide and locally, and said 21 AmeriCorps members serve in Santa Barbara County, eight of them in the city.
"The federal government has made massive illegal cuts of $400,000,000 to programs across the country that will impact countless lives of the most vulnerable," Martindale said, according to the meeting record. Other AmeriCorps members and supervisors described casework that led to permanent housing placements, referrals to shelter, benefits assistance, and services to veterans and youth.
Melissa Horton, who identified herself as an AmeriCorps member placed at Santa Barbara City College, described assisting vulnerable students and said the loss of stipend income would jeopardize her ability to continue. Another member, Anna (last name in record: AR C/Anna RC), described housing 18 families and connecting clients with social services during her service year.
United Way and others asked the council to consider a proclamation urging support for AmeriCorps and to use city channels for outreach and coordination as state and federal developments unfold.
Separately, the meeting opened with a ceremonial proclamation by Mayor Randy Rouse declaring April 2025 Fair Housing Month and recognizing the city’s Rental Housing Mediation Program, which the staff said offers no-cost mediation and eviction-prevention services and has existed since 1976. Andrea Bufano, Rental Housing Mediation Program supervisor, accepted the proclamation and was joined by program staff and volunteer mediators.
Council did not take an immediate formal action on AmeriCorps funding at the April 29 meeting, but multiple speakers urged the city to provide letters of support, proclamations and city-level outreach to amplify the program’s needs.
