San Benito County Community Service & Support Digest

Food aid is one of numerous competing priorities California lawmakers will have to juggle in the face of steep potential federal cuts.

A $5 billion pot of federal money set aside to help people on the verge of homelessness pay the rent is running out of cash — and no one has a plan to keep the roughly 60,000 renters, more than 15,000 of them in California — from losing their housing after the last dollar is spent.

Ruby Marichalar couldn’t get an in-person meeting after California’s crime victim compensation fund denied her claim. She wasn’t the only one.

Read on for details about a report on the 2-year Yolo County Basic Income Program which ended in April 2024.

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS ARE proving that they play a vital role when it comes to public safety in California. The California Reentry Institute, directed by Collette Carroll to help potential parolees, has graduated more than 230 incarcerated individuals in San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.

Learn more about the annual fundraising day on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, this year falling on December 3.

Beginning Monday, 150 households in Fresno County are expected to receive a $500 prepaid card to spend on anything they’d like — no strings attached. It will be the first of 12 monthly recurring payments those Southwest Fresno and Huron residents will receive as part of a guaranteed basic income program for low-income families.

Gov. Gavin Newsom launched the community school initiative with $4.1 billion in grants to connect students and their families to medical care, counseling and other services.

BenitoLink is processing applications for positions in its long running internship program, supported by Taylor Farms and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation.

Applications are open for the San Benito Leadership Institute program, designed to cultivate emerging community leaders.

In a public meeting, the founder of the Insight health care group said it would retain the current Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital executive staff and include community members on its board if Insight assumes ownership.

Central Coast Community Energy, which provides renewable electricity and community energy programs throughout a 5-county service area, released its annual impact report.

The Barragan family has funded more than $1.2 million for campus projects, with the latest donation going towards new bleachers, a press box and a custom sound system for the Ray Barragan Softball Stadium.

Artists sold chosen pieces in celebration of San Benito Agricultural Land Trust’s 30th anniversary.

Before the sun came up, county staff, law enforcement and volunteers gathered to perform the 2024 Point-in-Time count, which counts homeless people in the county every two years.

Danny Barrera Jr. has some very big shoes to fill: those of Paulina Valdivia, who co-founded Hollister’s Jovenes de Antaño Senior Center in 1975 and ran it until her death in September 2022.

Rancho San Justo Middle School held a grand opening of the Bronco Well and Resource Center with about 60 people in attendance, including school and district officials and students.

The Big Sur Food & Wine Foundation has awarded 17 grants worth a record $225,000 to local organizations with funds raised in 2023. Activities included the Big Sur Fashion Show, the Ferrari Event at the Barnyard, and more.

As the nonprofit Youth Recovery Connections completes renovations to open its new office, Executive Director Michael Salinas and his staff reflect on the progress they’ve made in their first year.

“Progress remains slow,” according to a recent report on faculty diversity at California’s community colleges. For Nikia Chaney, the sole full-time Black faculty member at Cabrillo College, the experience is personal.

Emery Unified took a targeted approach, including paying teachers extra to stay after school and tutor students.

State audits of the University of California and the California State University found both systems have failed to comply with decades-old state and federal laws mandating the return of Native ancestral remains and cultural artifacts. Only UCLA and Cal State Long Beach have returned a majority of their collections.

The financial aid application for undocumented students is cumbersome and confusing, and many students aren’t completing the forms. A new law streamlines the process.

Federal funding for domestic violence shelters and housing programs is declining. Advocates want the state to step in, but with a record projected deficit new spending is unlikely.

Despite a few improvements, results show students are still struggling on several fronts.

All but two California counties are delaying their implementation of a new law that makes it easier for a court to place someone in involuntary confinement if they can’t care for their own medical needs or personal safety.

Ever since Hollister High School senior Jake Varnes finished his time as a student at Cerra Vista Elementary School, he wanted to find some way to give back to the school. He found a path toward doing just that.

The Hollister Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9242 hosts its Christmas Potluck Dinner on Dec. 16 at the Veterans’ Memorial Building.

The California Faculty Association is seeking a 12 percent pay increase, while university officials counter with 5 percent in each of the next three years.

In 2020, the state agreed to a settlement in a lawsuit that claimed too many students were not learning to read. As part of that agreement, the state spent over $50 million on 75 schools with the lowest reading scores.

San Diego-area nonprofits and faith organizations struggle to provide for tens of thousands of migrants border agents have released on San Diego streets.

Most undocumented college students in California are not eligible for DACA anymore, creating new dilemmas for students and colleges around employment, financial aid and the threat of deportation.