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Previously:

• With CDBG Funding Unreliable, Senior Center Is Seeking Help To Keep Its Nutrition Program Going

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The executive director of the local senior center is calling a $250,000 donation from the Del Norte Healthcare District to the nutrition program a lifesaver.

The Healthcare District Board of Directors agreed to the donation at its Aug. 27 meeting, Del Norte Senior Center Executive Director Charlaine Mazzei told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Friday.

It comes at a time when senior center leaders were searching for a source of funding that’s more reliable than the Community Development Block Grant. They’re still pursuing CDBG dollars, Mazzei said. If they’re successful those dollars will likely kick in next fiscal year.

“That’s going to get us through this fiscal year,” Mazzei said of the Healthcare District’s donation. “That’ll keep everything steady.”
In an Aug. 16 letter to the Healthcare District Board, Mazzei said the Senior Nutrition Program was facing a $250,000 deficit for fiscal year 2024-25.

According to a Healthcare District representative, while the district’s Board of Directors did agree to donate $250,000 to the senior nutrition program at its Aug. 27 meeting, they haven’t actually signed any final paperwork. That will likely come up at the district’s Sept. 24 meeting.

For years, the Senior Nutrition Program was one of two public service providers the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors has allocated CDBG funds toward. The last time Del Norte County received a CDBG allocation, in 2021, the Board of Supervisors awarded $232,000 to the Senior Nutrition Program for up to 36 months.

The Senior Nutrition Program spent the last of those dollars in January and hadn’t had any additional funding to backfill it, Mazzei told the Outpost in July.

According to her, in order to be eligible a CDBG award in 2022, the county had to have spent 50 percent of its 2021 allocation. The state didn’t release a Notice of Funding Availability in 2023, Mazzei said.

This year, a new Notice of Funding Availability was released on Aug. 30, however Mazzei told the Outpost in July that if Del Norte County receives a grant, the Senior Nutrition Program likely won’t see that funding until the 2025-26 fiscal year.

On Friday, Mazzei said senior center leaders are cautiously optimistic.

“What happens is the county is committed to including the Senior Center and CASA [Court Appointed Special Advocates of Del Norte] in their application to the state,” she told the Outpost. “But it’s still competitive at the state level, so we have to get through that hurdle and the state is notorious for taking its time to make funding decisions.”

According to Toni Self, Del Norte County's administrative services manager, while California came out with the NOFA at the end of August, the application process won't start until the end of October.

The county held a community design meeting ahead of the NOFA being released and received proposals from the Senior Nutrition Program and CASA, Self said. The deadline to submit applications to the state Department of Housing and Community Development is Dec. 31, she said.

In her letter to the Healthcare District, Mazzei said the number of individuals and meals the Senior Nutrition Program has increased over the last six years. In 2018-19, the program served 781 individuals 42,503 meals and in the 2023-24 fiscal year 873 individuals received 67,706 meals.

“Del Norte has an aging population and we do not see the need for these critical services decreasing over time,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, costs for food, fuel, packaging and staff have increased. For example, according to Mazzei, the Senior Nutrition Program has recently increased its minimum wage to $20 an hour to compete with the minimum wage increase for fast food workers.

On Friday, Mazzei told the Outpost that two people have resigned from the program.

“We’re not going to refill those position, but we can still keep the service at the same level,” she said. “We’re very appreciative to the Healthcare District. And we’ve had people really step up in the community and give us donations, so we’ve really really been thankful for the support we’re getting.”

People can still donate to either the senior center or the nutrition program by visiting the Senior Center’s website. The Del Norte Senior Center also encourages people to reach out to their elected officials at the state and federal level to ensure the programs offered at the Senior Center continue.

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