More than $3 million in federal funding is now available for summer 2023 educational enrichment programs that address student learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and service providers can apply.

Program providers can apply until January 9, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. on the website www.SMCStrong.orgFunds will be distributed in March 2023. Grants will range from $15,000 to $100,000 depending on how many school-aged children – kindergarten through 12th grade – are currently served.

Two types of summer enrichment program providers can apply for a grant:

1) Local government and school district providers that offer programs for youth with annual family incomes of less than 80 percent of the area median income.

2) Local non-profit and for-profit businesses that provide enrichment programs to this same youth population.

All funded programs will revitalize student learning and promote emotional well-being. Additionally, grant program organizers encourage programs that provide meals, mental health services, and transportation to apply. Programs that will give local workers the opportunity to enter or remain in youth-serving jobs are also encouraged to apply.   

This is the second round of the Board of Supervisors funded Summer Enrichment Scholarships. 

Notably, the Board approved $3 million in funding for this second round after hearing the results of a third-party evaluation of the 2022 program. That evaluation showed that the majority of the 6,767 students participating in programs supported by the 2022 Summer Enrichment Grants significantly increased their social skills and development last summer. 

Applicants must, among other criteria, be located in and serve San Mateo County youth, be operational by summer 2023, provide at least 4 weeks ‒20 days‒ of summer enrichment programming, and offer at least 4 hours of programming per day.

In turn, it must serve school-aged children ‒TK-12th grade‒, while school district programs must primarily serve socially and economically disadvantaged youth ‒SED‒, while nonprofit organizations must attest to having experienced negative economic impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide summer enrichment programs for SED youth.

Similarly, local small businesses must attest to having experienced negative economic impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have 25 or fewer full-time employees, and provide summer enrichment programs to SED youth.

Applicants will be selected based on a weighted score that includes the communities they will serve, plans to serve more students by adding spaces and/or hours, whether they offer other supports for students and families, and whether they can hire additional staff and/or will use the grant to increase staff salaries.

For a complete list of application and scoring criteria and to submit an application, interested parties may visit the website https://www.smcstrong.org/apply-for-funding.

You may be interested in: Mental health care, the legacy that Don Horsley seeks to leave before retiring

Husband, father, and grandfather. Don Horsley, who lives in Emerald Hills, in the hills above Redwood City, and who was elected to the Board of Supervisors for a third term in June 2018, which expires on December 31, 2022, knows perfectly well how hard and cold a mental health hospital can be, he lived it with his grandmother, so his call to protect and promote decent mental health care is part of his legacy before he retires.

Years of experience and service, as well as a thorough understanding of the needs of the area, led Mr. Horsley to take on one of the most ambitious mental health projects in the county.

The opening of a $155 million campus built for some of San Mateo County's most vulnerable mentally ill residents brought back memories for Horsley and the importance of mental health in the area.

“I remember going to visit her — her grandmother — at Napa State Hospital. And Napa State Hospital was not much different than this,” Horsley said, “this” being the Cordilleras Mental Health Center that will be demolished once the new campus is completed.

“It was all concrete and slamming doors. So being a young kid, seeing a state hospital and women who are essentially locked in a concrete monstrosity, I think it touched something inside me, so I was always interested in making things better for people who have mental health issues,” he said.

“Making it better for people” is a theme that has run through the years for Don Horsley, a former teacher, police officer and elected sheriff of San Mateo County.

It is worth noting that, now that Horsley's third and final term on the Board of Supervisors representing District 3 is coming to an end, the local official has supported actions that have had a significant impact on the area, such as:

In San Mateo County's four largest cities—San Mateo, Daly City, South San Francisco and Daly City—a mental health clinician partners with police to respond to people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. An action that is showing promising results.

In Half Moon Bay, the city contracts with a local nonprofit, The Freedom Center, to respond to mental health-related emergency calls that are traditionally answered by fire, ambulance or law enforcement, from Devil's Slide to south Half Moon Bay. The Crisis Assistance Assessment and Response Team, or CARES, was launched in March 2022.

And among the oaks and forests in the hills above Redwood City, a new era in treating the county’s most vulnerable residents is taking shape. The 121-bed Cordilleras Mental Health Campus will replace a drab, decades-old concrete building — a site that prompted Horsley to recall visiting her grandmother in a similar facility.

Together, these programs — which receive county funding and support — and the $155 million project to build a new mental health campus represent a cultural shift in mental health treatment, one championed by Horsley.

His legacy includes the rebirth of parks, such as Tunitas Creek, which flows into the Pacific and will soon become a new park, the first beach park managed by San Mateo County Parks. 

“Don has always understood and valued the synergy between protecting open spaces and natural habitats with preserving and maintaining coastal agricultural lands,” said Ana Ruiz, general manager of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

“Their sponsorship secured Measure K funding to help Midpen acquire Cloverdale Ranch near Pescadero, which will become our 27th open space preserve, as a tangible and lasting example of their legacy of serving the Coastside community,” he added.

He has also spearheaded housing projects for the most vulnerable. As Board President in 2022, Horsley led what the Los Angeles Times called “a bold promise”: to end homelessness by the end of the year.

While the County has not declared an end to homelessness, significant progress is being made on several fronts, including the County’s first-ever Navigation Center, which will provide 240 safe, temporary housing spaces for individuals and couples along with intensive support services, and awarding $2.4 million in grants to launch or expand innovative initiatives to end homelessness. 

As well as purchasing five former motels/hotels to convert into permanent or temporary housing for people who are unsheltered or at serious risk of becoming unsheltered, investing a total of $254 million in Measure K funds to create and renovate affordable housing throughout the county.

“When we asked voters to approve Measure K in 2016, we specifically mentioned the need to provide affordable housing. We are delivering on that promise,” Horsley said.

“If we are going to thrive as a region and thrive as a caring community, we absolutely must ensure that working families and the most vulnerable among us have safe, clean, affordable housing,” he stressed. “We cannot have a community of haves and have-nots. That is not sustainable and it is not morally defensible.”

On the security front, Horsley has championed an initiative to take guns out of the hands of criminals, stalkers and others who are prohibited from owning firearms.

To that end, the Board of Supervisors pledged $2 million to the program over two years from the Measure K half-cent sales tax.

“Fewer guns means less chance of guns falling into the wrong hands,” Horsley said. “You can keep your family safer by getting rid of unwanted firearms. It’s tragic, but more than half of all suicides occur with the use of a firearm.”

Don also took action on fire safety and emergency preparedness, and helped communities of color voice their concerns at monthly Board meetings, where experiences were also discussed to incorporate the history and stories of the nearly two-thirds of non-white residents.

You may be interested in: Redwood City Police Chief Dan Mulholland retires after nearly 40 years of service

Children and young people from all over the Bay Area have already gone on vacation. With just a couple of weeks left until the end of the year, the resolutions to end and start 2023 are already well-reasoned: go to the gym, have a more balanced diet, take better care of your health, save a little more, and the list goes on. While you prioritize those wishes, here is the local news from December 9 to 15 that you should know to stay up to date.

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High school students in Redwood City had a quiet place to study on Sunday, Dec. 11, to prepare for their final exams, where they enjoyed coffee, hot chocolate and snacks provided by the High School Study Session.

The study session was held at the Red Morton Community Center located at 1120 Roosevelt Avenue in Redwood City from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., so students had at least 7 hours of dedicated time to study and review their subjects.

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Given the increase in respiratory illnesses and influenza throughout the state, the California Department of Public Health CDPH has expanded its free, one-stop COVID-19 and influenza testing program.

Starting this week, people showing signs of illness will be able to get tested at state testing sites for both COVID-19 and influenza. 

Test results will take about 30 minutes and will help people determine the best course of action to feel better. Those who test positive for COVID-19 can immediately see a telehealth provider to discuss necessary treatments.

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PG&E officials reported an increase in consumer-reported scams in the Bay Area that have at least doubled in 2022.

He noted that the holiday season has seen a high volume of reports of scammers impersonating the utility and trying to take advantage of customers in PG&E's Northern and Central California service area.

The number of reports increased from just over 11,000 in 2021 to more than 23,000 in 2022 through October alone. Utility officials anticipate that scammers will be even busier in December and January.

The largest number of scams in the Bay Area have occurred in San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland.

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Civic leaders and community members organized a protest in front of San Mateo City Hall on Monday, December 12 to demand that all Council members respect the City Charter and immediately vote for a Mayor and Vice Mayor. Later that evening, Councilwoman Amourence Lee was elected Mayor as she was due to serve as the City's rotating mayor.

The protest came after a 128-year tradition of peaceful transfer of power was broken during the San Mateo City Council's annual reorganization meeting.

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Giselle Hale, who served as mayor of Redwood City until December 12, left her post after completing her term of office amid applause and emotional words from council members who at times broke their voices when referring to her work and her quality as a person.

Hale, who also decided to leave her race to seek a seat in the California Assembly, was widely celebrated for her stewardship as mayor in the wake of the pandemic, but not before serving as deputy mayor when COVID-19 was sweeping the country.

Council members Elmer Martinez, Lissette Espinoza-Garnica, Diane Howard and Alicia Aguirre offered emotional words for Hale, who has previously said that she will seek to dedicate herself to her family, her two little girls and husband, who have accompanied her throughout her political career in the city where she also lives.

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On Monday night, December 12, Councilman Jeff Gee became Mayor of Redwood City for a two-year term, which will be accompanied by Lissette Espinoza-Garnica as Vice Mayor, after the motion for their positions was unanimously approved by the City Council.

Gee, who is serving in the role for the second time after serving from 2013 to 2015, was extremely excited to return to serving the residents of Redwood City.

The charges were approved after new councilors were sworn in and took their places on the City Council, such is the case of Kaia Eaki, Chris Sturken and the re-elected Diane Howard.

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The San Mateo Board of Supervisors on Tuesday awarded three cities in the county $2.4 million to help end homelessness.

With the grants, Redwood City and Millbrae will expand existing programs that bring homeless individuals and families to shelters and services, a county spokesperson said. Half Moon Bay, meanwhile, will provide a safe parking area, with hygiene facilities and outreach services for people living in vehicles.

According to the county, the funding will help only some of the 1,092 unsheltered residents living in San Mateo County. The money will help service providers to support people in transitioning to temporary or permanent housing. The grants will be matched with local funding, and each city will report on progress and performance metrics.

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This holiday season, Bay Area officials are calling for action in response to the rise in circulating respiratory viruses, including COVID, along with high levels of influenza (flu) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which are straining healthcare systems and impacting families.

The good news is that there are easy actions everyone can take to stay healthy this season, which is why all 12 Bay Area health officials recommend taking steps like getting vaccinated against flu and COVID-19, staying home if you are sick, getting tested before an indoor gathering or if you feel sick, and getting treatment if needed.

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The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has named Jorge Argueta of Daly City as the county's poet laureate, citing his ability to use poetry to build bridges between diverse communities.

Argueta's work reflects his heritage as a native of El Salvador with several bilingual books and poems. He teaches creative writing in elementary, secondary and college schools and works with youth in homeless shelters, hospitals and other challenging environments.

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You may be interested in: Redwood City Police Chief Dan Mulholland retires after nearly 40 years of service