Sunnyvale commission reallocates CDBG capital funds; approves mix of human-services and home-repair spending

The Sunnyvale Housing and Human Services Commission on March 26 approved staff recommendations to fund most Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and city general-fund human-services requests, and approved a motion to reallocate $160,000 in capital funding originally recommended for Upwards’ Boost program.

The commission voted 4–2 to direct $43,584 of the $160,000 toward the WorkFirst Sunnyvale program and to place the remainder into the city’s minor home repair program; Commissioners Friedlander, Weiss, Stewart and Rivera voted yes; Commissioners Davis and Duncan voted no. Commissioner Heyerman was absent.

The decision follows a staff presentation by Matt Hazel, the city’s housing programs analyst, outlining preliminary allocations for the fiscal year 2025–26 CDBG capital and human-services budgets. Hazel told the commission that Sunnyvale receives annual entitlement grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and must submit an annual action plan describing use of HOME and CDBG funds. He said staff expects about $730,000 available for FY25–26 capital projects before budgeting $150,000 for the city’s in-house Home Improvement Program and other set-asides.

Why it matters: the commission’s vote determines how federal CDBG and local general-fund dollars are distributed among local nonprofits and small-business support programs serving low- and moderate-income Sunnyvale residents, including job training, food assistance, counseling and small-business technical support for home-based child-care providers.

What staff recommended and what commission approved

- WorkFirst Sunnyvale (a partnership of Sunnyvale Community Services and Downtown Streets Team) asked for roughly $513,000 to serve 60 participants annually and place 15 participants in paid employment; staff recommended funding the program at about $470,000 (roughly an 8% reduction from the request) based on scoring and long-standing performance. Marie Bernard, executive director of Sunnyvale Community Services, said the program has “met and exceeded the metrics required by our very demanding CDBG contract” and argued the program’s services — including case management and housing navigation — depend on full CDBG support.

- Upwards’ Boost program requested about $264,000 to offer personalized business and technology support to low- and moderate-income microenterprise child-care providers. Staff recommended $160,000, noting the program is scalable in $8,000 increments and that $160,000 would support about 20 providers and an estimated six teaching-assistant positions. Melanie Forre, community impact manager at Upwards, said the program is scalable and that the $8,000 “breaks down to 8,000 per day care” of services and support; she also said the Boost platform provides training, digital tools and some in-person onboarding.

- For CDBG human-services grants, staff recommended funding four of five CDBG applicants using the human-services cap (staff said CDBG-funded human services are capped at 15% of the city’s CDBG grant, projected at about $156,000). The city also supplements human-services grants with $200,000 in general-fund support. Staff recommended funding Sunnyvale Community Services’ food assistance program with $150,000 from CDBG-CV (COVID-related CDBG funds received in 2020), which must be spent under HUD guidelines that require programming tied to COVID-19 response or preparedness.

Commission discussion and public comment

Commissioners pressed staff and presenters on funding flexibility and program details. Several commissioners asked whether money could be shifted across CDBG categories; staff said dollars are constrained by HUD rules and local caps (for example, the 15% cap on CDBG human-services) and that some reallocation is possible within categories but not across all buckets.

Commissioner Stewart said he had “very specific discomforts with, Upwards Care as a for profit company,” noting he could not review IRS filings for a private company and preferred municipal funds support nonprofit providers. Vice Chair Jared Weiss and others questioned program unit costs and whether the city should contract directly with local nonprofit providers instead of funding a for-profit platform. Weiss moved the reallocation that passed 4–2.

Public commenters included representatives of organizations that will receive or seek funding: Pilar Furlong, chief community resources officer at Bill Wilson Center, described reaching 36 Sunnyvale clients with 274 counseling sessions during the first half of a current CDBG contract; Marie Bernard (Sunnyvale Community Services) and Erica Laguna (Downtown Streets Team) spoke in favor of fully funding WorkFirst Sunnyvale; Melanie Forre (Upwards) described the Boost program’s scalability and language supports; Georgia Basile (Senior Adults Legal Assistance) urged continued general-fund support for her organization.

Clarifying details and constraints

- Staff estimated approximately $730,000 in FY25–26 capital funds before staff set $150,000 aside for the Home Improvement Program; that left roughly $630,000 available for capital projects. - WorkFirst request: ~$513,000 to serve 60 participants annually and place 15 into paid employment; staff recommended ~$470,000 (about $43,500 reduction). - Upwards request: ~$264,000; staff recommended $160,000 with $8,000 per participating microenterprise as the program’s scalable unit; staff said $160,000 would support ~20 providers and about six teaching-assistant positions. - CDBG human-services cap: staff said human services are capped at 15% of the city’s CDBG entitlement (projected at ~$156,000); in addition, the city supplements $200,000 from the general fund for human services. - CDBG-CV funds: staff said $150,000 remained from CARES-era CDBG-CV funding (received in February 2020) and that HUD rules require those funds be spent on COVID-19 response or preparedness; staff said these funds must be expended by June 2026 and could be deobligated back to HUD if unspent.

Next steps and implementation

Staff said the commission’s recommendations will be incorporated into the city’s Annual Action Plan and Consolidated Plan, which will return to the commission and city council on April 15 for final consideration. Staff reiterated that HUD-funded projects operate on a reimbursement basis and that some reallocations require adding line items to the action plan.

Votes at a glance

- Consent calendar (meeting minutes): motion by Vice Chair Weiss; second by Commissioner Stewart; unanimous yes vote of all six commissioners present; Commissioner Heyerman absent. - Capital/human-services funding reallocation: motion to reallocate $160,000 recommended for Boost, sending $43,584 to WorkFirst Sunnyvale and the remainder to the minor home repair program; moved by Vice Chair Weiss, seconded by Commissioner Friedlander; passed 4–2 (Friedlander, Weiss, Stewart, Rivera yes; Davis, Duncan no).

What the commission did not decide tonight

The commission voted only on the allocations discussed; final formal approval of the Annual Action Plan and any decisions to backfill HUD funds with general funds will occur at the April 15 meeting when the action plan returns to the commission and city council.

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Sources: staff presentation by Matt Hazel (Housing Programs Analyst), public comments from Sunnyvale Community Services, Downtown Streets Team, Upwards, Bill Wilson Center, and Senior Adults Legal Assistance; commission discussion; meeting transcript of the Sunnyvale Housing and Human Services Commission, March 26, 2025.