Nonprofits urge assembly to preserve SSAB/Hope funds as demand rises; speakers warn 30% cut would reduce services

A large group of social‑service leaders used the March 9 public‑comment period to press the assembly to preserve the Social Services Block Grant (Hope/SSAB) funding level in the next budget.

"A 30% reduction in this grant funding would force programs like ours to scale back," Tina Rice, speaking for school counselors, told the assembly, explaining that Friday food bags and emergency weekend food programs would be curtailed if funding shrinks. Dan Parks, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Food Bank, said the organization has seen public‑pantry use rise from roughly 300 to 500 people per week in recent years and said cuts would reduce capacity at a time when demand remains high.

Kaia Quinto of the Juneau Housing First Collaborative detailed the Glory Hall’s numbers: the nonprofit operates 99 units, operates emergency shelter and soup kitchen programs that serve tens of thousands of meals annually, and warned that loss of city support would jeopardize federal and state matching funds. Erin Walker Tolis of Catholic Community Service, Heather Parker of Alaska Legal Services and others described similar operational risks and argued that local grant dollars often function as match to leverage additional federal funding.

Why it matters: Social‑service grantees told the assembly the programs operate as a coordinated safety net: cuts risk shelter closures, reduced food distribution and job losses at frontline agencies, which in turn could raise demand on emergency response and downtown services. The assembly did not adopt program‑level budget cuts at the March 9 meeting; budget deliberations and public hearings will continue.