Dear Mayor Taylor, Vice Mayor Combs, and Honorable members of the City Council,
My name is Laura Fanucchi, Director of Programs at HIP Housing. Menlo Park has funded our programs initially through Redevelopment funds since 1995 and with Community funding support since 2012. The funding enables our Home Sharing, Self-Sufficiency, and Housing Readiness Program staff to ensure any Menlo Park resident or individual who works or attends school in Menlo Park receives housing and community resource support to improve their housing stability.
Examples of services include:
* Answering housing-related questions from the community
* Providing affordable housing resources and follow-up support
* Matching individuals in affordable Home Sharing arrangements
* Case managing older adults who need support with applying for housing
* Offering 1-5 years of housing and coaching support to low-income families with dependent children and single transitional-aged foster youth whose head of household is enrolled in school or vocational program
* Referring individuals to HIP Housings low-income housing properties in Menlo Park on Chilco, Coleman, and Willow.
The Citys Community Funding grant is flexible and allows us to serve the needs of residents and those who work or attend school in Menlo Park. Funding sources like CDBG are highly restrictive on who is considered the client and require intensive reporting and income documentation. For example, we could report on the Home Seeker and Home Provider applicants in our Home Sharing Program for years. Both parties benefit from the program; housing costs remain affordable for the Home Seeker while the Home Provider has extra income to support their basic life needs. Housing is stabilized for both. Yet, CDBG regulators ultimately did not recognize the Home Provider as a client, and we were no longer eligible to count them as a client served.
While HIP Housing previously received CDBG funding from the five eligible jurisdictions, individuals who contacted our agency for support were disgruntled by the onerous nature of requiring so much income documentation for their participation. When we began to see a trickle effect on our staffs ability to serve the needs of our community, we ended up stepping away from CDBG. Four of five jurisdictions found other flexible funding sources to support our work.
We thank the City of Menlo Park for championing HIP Housings work and supporting us through the Community Funding Grant program. We appreciate the solid cross-referrals and collaborations with many of the other recipients, such as the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula, CID, CORA, Jobs for Youth, Job Train, Junior League of Palo Alto/Mid Peninsula, Legal Aid, Life Moves, Live in Peace, My New Red Shoes, Ombudsman, PCRC, Peninsula Volunteers, We Hope, Rebuilding Together Peninsula, Samaritan House, Service League, Star Vista, Upward Scholars. The City can be very proud of all of our work in supporting the basic human needs of residents.
Warm regards, Laura
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Laura Fanucchi | she/her
Director of Programs
(650) 348-6660 ext. 303
800 S. Claremont Street, Suite 210, San Mateo, CA 94402
HIPhousing.org
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