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County hears urgent pleas from food banks and orders review after possible HUD funding cap
Summary
Food‑bank partners told supervisors that CalFresh delays and a sharp rise in pantry demand have strained the county’s charity network; supervisors directed the Office of Care Coordination to develop alternatives after warnings that a proposed HUD cap on HAP funding could push households back into homelessness.
During preliminary remarks at the Nov. 4 Board of Supervisors meeting, the county heard urgent reports about food insecurity and housing‑stability risks from local partners and Continuum of Care representatives.
Claudia of the Hunger Action Alliance told the board that local food pantries and food banks are seeing sharply increased demand. She said some distributions have "twice as many people as they normally do," and cited a 500% increase in 211 call volume over a four‑day span. The alliance is asking the county to support roughly 500 pantries countywide and to coordinate assistance with the Orange County Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank.
Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento flagged a separate but related federal change that could reduce renewal funding for households already housed through Continuum of Care programs. "The proposed federal change would cap the HAP funding for permanent housing at 30%, which would substantially limit the funding available to help formerly homeless households," Sarmiento said, urging a county directive to protect those households.
Doug Beck of the Office of Care Coordination clarified that Continuum of Care funds cover a suite of HUD programs and warned that without renewal funding "these folks will not only be at risk of homelessness, but will eventually fall back into it." Families Forward chief program officer Nishtha Mahendra told supervisors her agency supports up to 25 families on a rolling basis and said renewals are critical to preventing evictions; she estimated the county could see a 19% rise in homelessness if contracts lapse.
In response, the board — citing a recommendation from the Commission to Address Homelessness — directed county departments, led by the Office of Care Coordination, to prioritize preventing households that have been housed through Continuum of Care funding from reentering homelessness. The directive asks staff to develop alternative funding and program recommendations and to coordinate with the Continuum of Care board, all 34 cities, and county departments (HCA, SSA, and OC Community Resources) for a countywide approach.
Supervisors also described nearby counties’ responses (Alameda and Los Angeles dedicated $10 million each) and said they will explore similar emergency funding and resource sharing. Officials emphasized the urgency while noting partial state funds were already being used and that local food banks had pulled forward supplies in anticipation of a prolonged funding gap.
The board did not adopt an emergency appropriation at this meeting; instead it instructed staff to return with recommendations for alternative funding, program alignment and resource prioritization.
