City keeps service running

Dave Brooks

For more than a decade, Project Self-Sufficiency has had to scramble

for a small amount of federal dollars to fund the program that helps

single parents find housing, job training and education.

Now, after years of uncertainty, a recent decision to put the

nonprofit program’s funding in jeopardy could finally bring financial

stability to the group.

On July 18, the City Council voted to shift 62.5% of Project

Self-Sufficiency’s funding -- about $25,000 to partially pay the

salary of the group’s only staff member -- to the Community Health

Care Clinic. While the unexpected move created some uncertainty, city

officials said the shift has opened the door to finding more

permanent funding sources for the popular program.

“We’re going to look at putting it into the ... [2005-06] budget,”

City Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft said. “It would have to be

picked up by the General Fund. The [City] Council could decide not to

pick that up if they wish, but most likely it will be covered in the

General Fund.”

Project Self-Sufficiency is a 20-year-old social service that

provides assistance to single parents. Participants in the program

can receive help with housing, child care and other needs if they

agree to participate in job training and education programs. The goal

is to get the participants off government assistance and into jobs

that allow them to fully support themselves.

The program was founded in 1985 by the federal government as an

experimental way to hand out housing vouchers to needy families.

Hundreds of cities across the country offered similar programs to

allocate the rental credits.

Federal funding for the program was ended in the early 1990s and

nearly all local programs closed -- except in Huntington Beach.

“I think the city realized what an asset this program was and

determined a way to keep it running,” Project Self Sufficiency

board-member Judy Lotion said.

The county took over the allocation of the housing vouchers, and

without much federal money, Project Self-Sufficiency at first had

little to offer. To help raise money, a nonprofit foundation was

formed and the program eventually secured a six-unit apartment to

house a handful of clients. To pay its director, Susan Edwards, the

group decided to apply for a chunk of the city’s Community

Development Block Grant -- an annual allotment from the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund programs to help

the needy.

Lotion said the group was happy at first to secure the money, but

it became a hassle each year to reapply for the grant, especially

while dozens of other nonprofits were competing for the money. During

some of the more contentious budget debates, handfuls of Project

Self-Sufficiency clients would attend City Council hearings and

testify why the program deserved to be funded.

“Many requests come in, but there are always not enough funds,”

said Luann Brunson, who helps coordinate the annual allocation

process for the city.

The decision to reduce federal funding for the program surprised

many, but the program now has a chance to lock in a more secure

funding source, Edwards said.

While about a third of the money for her salary will still come

from the block grant, a bulk of the money will now likely come from

the city’s general fund. Edwards said she sees the shift as a

validation of her efforts by the City Administrator.

“She stepped up to the plate,” Edwards said. “I feel very

confident under her leadership.”

Edwards said the move to use city money to pay for her position

also validates the support she enjoys in the community, which last

year donated $50,000 to the project.

“I think it’s a little jewel in terms of what the city has to

offer,” she said. “It comes from all over the community and shows

that they are happy with where their dollar is going.”