CHATSWORTH : Interfaith Council to Lose 7% of Funding

Due to state cuts and a surge in the number of minority and low-income senior citizens in other parts of the city, the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council will lose about 7% of its nearly $2 million in government funds, according to officials.

Most of the cuts will be offset by the planned layoffs of five staff counselors and social workers and reduction of hours for about as many more at the Bernardi, East Valley and Pacoima multipurpose senior citizen centers, said Controller Irma Nielsen. The three centers employ 26 people, she said.

The Los Angeles Department of Aging made the cuts based on state reductions and a formula for sharing senior-citizen resources citywide, said department Assistant Director Tony DeClue. The city will continue to ask that the state legislators restore the 5 1/2% that they shaved from the senior-citizens budget, DeClue said.

“It’s almost like asking us to get the moon, because in today’s economy it’s very difficult to get more money,” Nielsen said. “It’s sad because (the layoffs) will affect the clients and everybody at the centers, and it’s sad to have to cut staff who have been with us for a long time.”

Meanwhile, the Chatsworth-based coalition will have to rely increasingly on private grants, corporate donations and volunteers to provide help with shopping, transportation, medical problems and information on social events to senior citizens throughout the East and mid-Valley, Nielsen said.

The council, with a total budget of nearly $2.7 million this year, has been relatively unscathed in recent years by cuts at all levels of government, which have forced many social service agencies to tighten their fiscal belts. The council receives 74% of its funding from the federal, state and local governments.

The center’s nutrition service providing meals to low-income senior citizens may be cut by 10%, Nielsen said. But the privately funded Meals on Wheels program, which provides about 6,000 meals a year to homebound seniors, will not be directly affected by the cuts, she said.