Council reallocates $10,000 to CapSLO to fill homeless-prevention gap

The San Luis Obispo City Council voted 5-0 to reallocate $10,000 from Family Care Network to CapSLO, raising CapSLO’s human-services grant from $10,000 to its requested $20,000 to fund homelessness-prevention services in the city.

Council member Shoresman explained the rationale, saying the county grant process left the central part of the county — including San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay — without general-prevention funding and asked colleagues to "find $10,000 to fund CAPSLO to fill that service gap". Shoresman proposed taking the money from organizations that had already received larger awards from county funding and noted the trade-offs involved.

City staff told the council the $20,000 would likely provide direct rental-assistance for roughly 8–10 households or serve about 200 people through other prevention and screening efforts. A representative from the Slow Food Bank urged the council to preserve grant funding for direct nutrition and outreach programs that work in concert with partner agencies.

After discussion about funding sources and program targeting, Shoresman moved approval of the Human Services Commission recommendations with the amendment to transfer $10,000 from Family Care Network to CapSLO; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll call vote with the mayor and four council members voting yes.

The council’s action supplements county and other regional funding and is intended as an immediate, targeted measure while staff and council pursue longer-term funding and coordination with countywide prevention programs. Council directed staff to note the action in meeting minutes and to continue communication with the Human Services Commission and affected nonprofits.