Oxnard to Share Grants With Nonprofit Groups

Oxnard officials say they are now willing to share federal grant money with community agencies that provide services to the poor, reversing a policy of spending those federal dollars only on city-managed projects.

The City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to set aside 15% of next year’s Community Development Block Grant budget for nonprofit groups providing social services to Oxnard’s down and out.

Even though most nonprofit groups will have to wait a year before applying for the funds, representatives of the cash-strapped agencies say the new policy will allow them to help the needy by providing everything from low-cost housing to legal assistance, gang prevention and weaning addicts from drugs.

“I think this is a major victory for a number of community organizations that have long provided these basic services in the city,” said Marcos Vargas, executive director of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, a Latino advocacy group.

Oxnard has been the only city in Ventura County that has refused to share its block grant money with nonprofit groups, Vargas said.

“This kind of local support is becoming a key element of El Concilio’s ability to continue and expand its services,” he added. “Without it, our programs would be cut and the level of service would be cut.”

The federal block grant funds are allocated to local governments to erase blight, assist low- and moderate-income residents and meet other urgent community needs.

Taking an early step toward their new policy, council members agreed Tuesday to consider sharing a small portion of this year’s $2.6-million federal allocation to outside agencies that steer youngsters away from gangs and drugs.

“It seems to me we should be able to find those funds somewhere,” Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez told the leaders of nonprofit social welfare groups.

On Tuesday, representatives of 14 nonprofit agencies urged council members to abandon their traditional method of directing the dollars to city-run programs. The agencies asked for a $1.1-million slice of Oxnard’s block grant allocation.

El Concilio, for example, requested $61,000 in federal funds to create a program to counter youth violence and alcohol and drug abuse in Oxnard’s La Colonia neighborhood.

“We believe the city of Oxnard for the first time should allocate meaningful funds to outside agencies,” said Bernardo Perez, a Moorpark councilman and president of El Concilio’s board of directors. “You have a great opportunity to issue an important and meaningful public policy statement.”

The largest request, $870,000, came from Somis-based Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., a countywide nonprofit housing agency.

Cabrillo, chosen last year by Oxnard officials to lead an effort to build low-income housing, requested $50,000 for pre-development expenses, $320,000 for construction of a proposed 32-unit apartment project and $500,000 for future land purchases.

Other funding requests included $25,000 from Casa Pacifica for a crisis care center for children; $20,000 from FOOD Share, which feeds the poor, and $12,000 from Casa Latina, a recovery program for women addicted to alcohol or drugs.

“We have more clients and less money to do our work,” said Carmen Ramirez, executive director of Channel Counties Legal Services, which requested $15,000 to beef up legal aid to the city’s poor. “We are just inundated by demands for service. We have to do a lot of triage.”

But the City Council decided that a small portion of the $2.6 million in block grants would be available this year only to nonprofit groups offering to help youngsters stay away from gangs and drugs.

So far, El Concilio is the only nonprofit group to offer a gang violence prevention program.