During the Covid-19 pandemic, volunteers and staff at Interfaith Food Ministry (IFM) found themselves faced with a barrage of challenges to feed the region’s food insecure.
Overnight, IFM had to make the switch from being a walk-in food distribution center to a strictly drive-through facility.
With a statewide lockdown in place and masking and social distancing standard practice to protect the most vulnerable populations, IFM’s mostly senior volunteer work force dwindled by 60 percent. Major delays and shortages in the international food supply chain further complicated IFM’s mission to feed families in Western Nevada County.
Yet, the nonprofit was able to keep the doors open for the thousands of people in need of food assistance each month.
“We pushed our sleeves up and made the adjustments that were needed to happen to continue to operate. We were really struggling operations wide,” said Executive Director Phil Alonso.
In April, 2021, IFM became the recipient of a Community Resiliency Grant through Nevada County.
Funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars from the Federal government, grants were awarded to eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, for-profit businesses and special purpose districts. The grants were designed to increase resiliency, support recovery and provide relief to community-serving institutions and programs responding to the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The County allocated 26 percent of the funding to support Safety Net and Youth Organizations like IFM who provided free, wholesome, nutritious food to low- income families and individuals during the pandemic.
The money allowed IFM to purchase pallets of nonperishable foods like pasta and canned goods and source fresh fruits and veggies directly from local farms. This provided supplemental bags of groceries for the 3,224 – 6,103 individual client visits IFM saw monthly during the grant period that ended in June 2022.
“We were able to leverage and multiply the dollars we received,” said Alonso. “That’s how the grant really, really helped us. It came at a time of uncertainty. Every bit helped,” said Alonso.
Creating a Resilient Community
Nevada County Board of Supervisors allocated 30 percent of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation, $5.8 Million, for Community and Economic Resiliency projects. This included four grant programs and one loan program.
Of the $5.8 Million total, the Board approved $2 Million for “Community Resiliency Grants” to fund 32 local nonprofits, small businesses and special districts.
“Our nonprofit organizations are so important to the health, strength and vitality of our community. I am so happy that we were able to support them during this challenging time to continue to help families and I’m so proud of the work they’ve done to emerge even stronger,” said Sue Hoek, District 4 Supervisor.
During this competitive process, the County received 73 eligible applications, in the first round of grants, totaling $4,967,963 in requests.
Qualifying applicants met federal guidelines to “respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts, including assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, or aid to impacted industries such as tourism, travel and hospitality.”
In rural sectors of Western Nevada County, the grant helped fight isolation and foster healthy communities. The San Juan Ridge Community Library, a nonprofit community library that operates separately from the County’s library system, kept its doors open, providing internet connectivity, online classes and collaborations with partners to create free and safe family activities such as movie nights.
Even though gathering was taboo, connection was needed more than ever. League of Women Voters was able to create and produce online educational events with Nevada County Media and provide scholarships to low-income members and provide Spanish and hearing-impaired translation services.
A grant to Community Beyond Violence helped fund emergency housing and motel stays for women and children actively fleeing domestic violence situations.
In 2023, 133 individuals stayed at the organization’s shelter and an additional 81 clients (70 adults and 11 children) received assistance for hotel rooms.
“I would say emergency shelter is one of our biggest requests,” said Allison Bischofberger, Deputy Director at Community Beyond Violence. Eighty percent of the people who use services are women.
“Many of the people we help have children,” said Bischofberger.
She recalls, after a few months into the pandemic, after people were cut off from the world and stuck at home during lockdown with their abusers, calls for help began to skyrocket, almost tripling that of pre-pandemic levels.
“That was kind of surprising for us. More folks were requesting shelter and housing than we had the capacity to help,” said Bischofberger. For a variety of reasons, including not meeting eligibility criteria, 147 people were turned away.
Funding from the Community Resiliency Grants, helped maintain services, augment programming and ultimately saved lives.
The money provided cash flow to keep clients safe and independent – basic needs like food, shelter, rental and utilities assistance, car repairs and accompanying people to court and medical appointments.
“We were really appreciative of the grant. It was really helpful for us in the moment to have more flexible funding. When things like a global pandemic strikes you have to be flexible and you have to pivot,” said Bischofberger.
The gift of music in schools
Isolation can take a serious toll on youth and their mental health. The Community Resiliency Grant helped thousands of young people turn to artistic and creative activities through the power of music, proven to have a transformative impact on one’s health and well-being.
In the local schools, students negatively impacted by Covid received the gift of music through Music in the Mountains (MIM). The organization received an economic jolt reviving youth programming that had stagnated prior to the pandemic.
“We didn’t have the funding to expand crucial education programs,” said Jenny Darlington-Person, Executive Director Music in the Mountains.
The grant funded three different programs, and in two years served approximately 3,500 people. For one program, it allowed MIM to partner with schools and supplement what schools could pay to expand programs and grow from serving five students to 1,000 today.
“One of the things we are noticing post Covid is teachers and students want art programs,” said Darlington-Person.
But teachers often don’t have the extra bandwidth or the skills to teach music in the classroom. By partnering with MIM trained instructors, teachers got a break and the students got the benefit of music in their lives. Through the program, MIM was able to bring music to 40 classes per semester in one of the three programs. In partnership with the schools, MIM is now offering low cost and free after school programs to children who might not be able to afford private music lessons.
The grant also provided opportunities for students and families to attend professional concerts in theaters.
“Before Covid we were really concerned about music education. There wasn’t a school in Nevada County with a full-time music teacher. With this money, approximately 3,500 people received a music education because of the grant,” said Darlington-Person.
Support network for homeless youth and beyond
With funding from the Resiliency Grant, Bright Futures for Youth (BFFY) has been able to expand programming and employ a new case manager to meet the needs of youth experiencing homelessness. This helped to provide relief from stressors of the pandemic like social isolation and connect youth to resources for substance abuse, learning loss and health issues like depression.
“We thank Nevada County for this effort. We’ve been able to increase our capacity and serve more kids,” said Jennifer Singer, Executive Director of Bright Futures for Youth.
Currently, through the organization’s program known as SAFE (Stability, Access, Foundation and Empowerment), Bright Futures for Youth serves 76 young people between the age of 12 and 26 who are at risk or experiencing homelessness. BFFY works closely with Child Welfare to stabilize situations and encourage family reunification, when possible.
Case workers provide intensive Case Management in the SAFE program to help mitigate the impact and trauma of homelessness and the pandemic and act as a bridge to help Transition Age Youth (18 – 24 years) receive much-needed help to secure housing and ensure access to basic things like clothing, grab-and-go food, hygiene supplies, health care, counseling and peer support. With support from the grant, case workers could also assist youth apply for government benefits, employment opportunities and college and career education opportunities.
“If you don’t address basic needs deficiencies you can’t get to those next levels. With support from the County of Nevada and our community partners, we can meet this need,” said Kaitlin Bisdee, SAFE Program Manager.
Learn more about the Community Resiliency Grant program at: https://nevadacountyca.gov/3652/Community-Resiliency-Grants.
Laura Petersen is a freelance writer living in Grass Valley. This is one of a series of articles written on behalf of Nevada County. She can be reached at laurapetersenmedia@gmail.com.
Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a series examining the impacts of Nevada County’s Community Resiliency Grants four years after the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic lock down.