San Mateo County has exhausted 96 percent of its $10.6 million immigrant relief fund at its inception, meeting only half of the demand, county supervisors were told.
County management analyst Sophie Mintier said in a presentation that 10,156 grants - at $1,000 each - had been approved out of a total of 22,745 grant applications submitted by Sept. 28 of the current fiscal year.
The Migrant Support Fund provides financial assistance to low-income and undocumented residents of San Mateo County who are unable to access unemployment or federal assistance programs. The fund is administered by the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County and the nonprofit Mission Asset Fund.
With a $5 million contribution from the Sobrato Organization, $2 million allocated in early July by the Board of Supervisors, plus other donations, the fund was able to accumulate a total of $10.6 million.
Still, it's not enough. Mintier said additional funds are needed to support the remaining applicants, 46 percent of whom have no fixed monthly income.
Many applicants have also been directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic: 34 percent had contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus or know someone who had the new coronavirus.
It is important to know that the majority of grant applications come from North Fair Oaks, Redwood City, San Mateo and East Palo Alto.
John Sobrato, a real estate developer and founder of the Sobrato Organization, asked the board of directors to inject an additional $3 million to match his $5 million contribution, which he had originally requested in July.
"We're not done meeting demand," Sobrato said. "However, the private sector can't do it alone. We need leadership from the board to set an example of how to encourage the private community."
Jose Quinñnez, founder of the Mission Asset Fund, also asked for the board's support and acknowledged partner organizations such as Faith in Action, which helped immigrant communities and provided one-on-one support to more than 600 applicants. They are also working with Casa Samaritana to provide follow-up services to households.
The supervisors supported the fund and ultimately agreed that they would be willing to provide an additional $2 million.
Supervisor Don Horsley said it's time for the board to stretch its funds. "It's worth remembering that all that money is not going elsewhere," Horsley said. "It's going directly into our local economy and we expect its multiplier effect."
Supervisor David Canepa said that for immigrant communities, programs like this are their only option. "We live in open-ended times. Making these kinds of decisions is not easy, but I think this justifies us going all in," Canepa said. "People are making do as they can. They live in fear. If there's any way I can help with it, count me in."
Board Chairman Warren Slocum challenged the Sobrato Organization to raise an additional $5 million.
Sobrato said it has been difficult to get the business community to make a donation and called on employers to lead by example, since many of their office buildings are closed because they previously had some of the people on staff who now depend on the fund.
The board requested that county staff prepare an agenda item making a recommendation for an additional $2 million contribution to the migrant relief fund, which will be given on October 20.
[With information from BNC]
