An East Bay social justice organization is asking the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors to spend millions of remaining federal COVID-relief money on food and rental assistance.
On Tuesday, supervisors will be asked to give county staff directions about how to spend more than $9.7 million remaining in the county’s COVID-19 FEMA fund.
Organizers from the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy are asking the county to spend $5 million of that on food assistance and $3 million on rental assistance, said Betty Gabaldon, organizing manager at EBASE.
The need is particularly high in the county’s immigrant communities, given the federal government’s immigration crack down and aggressive mass deportation policies.
“We know that they’re targeting the Latino community right now,” said Gabaldon, who is also founder of Todos Santos Tenants Union in Concord.
As a result, people are losing hours at work, losing income and are afraid to go about their normal business, she said.
Gabaldon also said EBASE conducted a survey of 102 people from Concord’s primarily Spanish-speaking Monument Corridor neighborhood and found that 80 percent experience food insecurity and 76 percent reported employment insecurity.
“We started with that open-ended question, ‘what has been the impact on you and your family with this current administration,’” Gabaldon said.
Sixty-seven percent said they are struggling to afford rent or utilities and 81 percent reported declines in mental and physical health.
County officials said in a report to be presented to the Board of Supervisors that, based on community outreach, people throughout the county have said public safety, education, environmental concerns and affordable housing are among their top priorities.
The supervisors are expected to discuss what to do with the money at their 9 a.m. meeting Tuesday.