City of Gonzales
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: September 5, 2023
FROM: Carmen Gil, City Manager
THROUGH: Carmen Gil, City Manager
SUBJECT: Accept Grant from the Community Foundation for Monterey County for the Gonzales Cares Program
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve and allow the City Manager to accept a new grant from the Community Foundation for Monterey County and the County’s VIDA Program in the amount of $55,000 for the Community Health Worker aspect of the Gonzales Cares Program.
BACKGROUND
The City of Gonzales through its partnerships with the County of Monterey and the Community Foundation for Monterey County (Foundation), have been working together for the past three years. First on the comprehensive fight against the pandemic, and then on supporting community resilience. Through this partnership, the City was able to bring in much needed services and supports to the local community, and through the Community Health Worker (CHW) program was able to connect with hard-to-reach segments of the population to ensure that they had the resources they desperately needed.
Now that we are past some of the hardest times of the last three years, the County and Foundation have recognized the significant impact that the CHWs made in communities and thus wish to continue supporting their work; this time at a much broader scale that supports community wellbeing and addresses things like:
• Supporting the development and delivery of services and programs designed to meet the identified needs of the community.
• Establishing community programs and activities that provide the community information and access to services.
AGENDA
ITEM
5 • Partnering with trusted organizations in the community to implement effective outreach and service activities.
• Disseminating clear, accurate, and consistent information to target audiences in English, Spanish, and other appropriate languages.
• Reaching culturally diverse and historically underserved populations to increase awareness of relevant available services.
• Maintaining a database that collects, tracks, and reports outcomes on outreach and service efforts to assess the effectiveness of different outreach and service strategies. • Increasing access to existing services for the community by expanding and maintaining the capacity and infrastructure of existing and new community resource centers programs through the:
1. Establishment of new community resource
2. Extension of hours of operation; and
3. Improved recruitment and retention of high-quality staff and volunteers.
REVIEW & ANALYSIS
The intentional connection with the community continues to be an important factor for our work. Through the last few years of our CHW program, we have learned how important it is to have an extensive community outreach arm as the work of the CHWs has been critical to many of our programs, including the Gonzales Community Center, the COVID-19 response, our Housing Element, and much more. As we move forward, key projects like the Gonzales Community Center and especially our Housing Developments, community outreach is going to continue to be crucial. The CHWs can play a major role in this as we begin to prepare the community for future growth.
Duties and Commitments
The additional support of the CHWs is also essential as City resources are limited. By continuing with a CHW program, the City will commit to continue to support and work of the County’s VIDA program and thus will have increased capacity to respond to emergencies where outreach and additional resources are needed.
The City will be responsible for the continued collection of data and the provision of summaries and narratives regarding the CHWs navigation efforts, their challenges and lesson learned as well as any opportunities they identify during their interactions with the public.
The City’s Recreation Coordinator/Administrative Analyst has been overseeing and coordinating the CHW project for the last eight months, and will continue to coordinate their efforts in the City and with the County.
Explain Recommendation and How it Supports the Vision
Gonzales will continue to be a safe, clean, family-friendly community, diverse in its heritage, and committed to working collaboratively to preserve and retain its small town charm.
Explain: The continuation of this program, although on a smaller scale, will also allow us to continue to build in equitable practices into our City projects, primarily housing. Without it, the support the City could provide would be limited and the current community connections that have been built throughout the last few years, could be lost.
Explain how the Recommendation Directly Implements the Mission The City Council and Staff of the City of Gonzales will realize our Vision by providing the leadership, commitment and resources necessary to provide excellent services that enhance the quality of life of our diverse community. X Yes _____No _____ NA
Explain: Please see explanation above for the Mission.
Strong fiscal policies allow us to provide appropriate infrastructure for:
• Public Safety X Yes No N/A
• Housing X Yes No N/A
• Recreation X Yes No N/A
• Environment X Yes No N/A
• Education X Yes No N/A
Explain: Please see explanation above for the Vision.
ALTERNATIVES
If the City Council does not accept the new grant in the amount of $55,000, we will not be able to continue with any aspect of the CHW program. Our outreach strategies will have to change as we will not have folks available that could continue to provide the “boots-on-the-ground” approach that the CHWs have been able to support us with, which would mean that the level of engagement will shift. The community would have limited access to resources available to them since they may not be aware of how to access them or may be stopped short of accessing them due to a lack of understanding the requirements and criteria.
BUDGET IMPACT
There is no adverse impact to the current budget. Support for this program is coming from a grant from the Community Foundation for Monterey County through the County of Monterey, specifically to extend the operations of our CHW program through December of 2023. If approved, our 110 Fund would increase in revenue by $55,000.
CONCLUSION
It is recommended that the City Council approve and allow the City Manager to accept a grant from the Community Foundation for Monterey County in the amount of $55,000 for the Community Health Worker program.
Attachments:
1. Agreement with Community Foundation for MoCo