Santa Barbara City Council voted to approve funding for 46 programs and projects using community development and human services grants, despite the current uncertainty over whether local governments will be receiving the federal money.
Each year, the city awards over a million dollars’ worth of grants, funded in part by federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. These include programs that provide housing assistance, mental health services, legal representation, and support for low-income households or disadvantaged groups.
More than 50 organizations applied for grants for 2026, totaling nearly $3 million in grant requests. The city’s Community Development and Housing Services Committee narrowed this list down to 46, bringing the total under the $1.8 million the city is estimated to have available in the upcoming year.
But nearly half of this money has not officially been cleared by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The city is expecting to receive more than $840,000 in CDBG funds in 2026, but the recent push to slash federal funding has forced city staff to consider the possibility of using a backup plan to dip into the general fund to fill the gap until the city comes up with a long-term solution. This contingency plan, city staff explained, would keep the programs funded for at least the next two years.
Councilmember Mike Jordan asked city staff how much the presidential election factored into the conversation over the community development grants, and whether there was an effort to adjust and provide more funding to groups that could use the extra dollars given the recent challenges.
City Administrator Kelly McAdoo said that much of the application review process was done before the inauguration, and the city would be “hard-pressed” to make any changes so late in the planning process.
“Like everybody else, I think I’m just hyper frustrated with the way the world has changed since January,” Councilmember Jordan said. The city council did not make any changes to the recommended list of grant recipients, and the funding plan was approved with a unanimous 6-0 vote. The approved human services grants range from $9,000 toward People’s Self Help Housing to $63,000 for Transition House. Capital and economic development grants were approved for larger sums, ranging from $75,000 toward Habitat for Humanity’s home repair program to $312,000 for the Plaza de Vera Cruz community building restoration.
