Funding originally awarded to a West Baltimore nonprofit food distribution and compost center will instead likely be used for a controversial Florida immigrant detention center known as the Alligator Alcatraz.
A joint Instagram post from President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently announced that the Everglades immigrant detention center would be “funded largely” with money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program.
4MyCiTy, a West Baltimore nonprofit that offers hundreds of residents free produce and compost services, was awarded $534,869 in a reimbursement grant through the program. In April, the award was canceled.
Dipnaraine said that, to try to fill the gap, he is personally supporting the organization, working on a fundraising strategy and reaching out to corporate partners and local organizations.
Tackling food insecurity
Thousands of Baltimore residents who live in food deserts without easy access to healthy food have depended on 4MyCiTy. The group helps address the city’s longstanding food insecurity problem, which disproportionately impacts Black residents, children and the elderly.
4MyCiTy says it aims to address Baltimore’s food insecurity with an environmentally focused approach, preventing food waste and uplifting the local community through mentorship programs and educational opportunities.
Because 4MyCiTy thought it would be reimbursed by the federal government as initially planned, the nonprofit’s leader said the organization spent some of its budget reserves. With the award canceled, founder and executive director, Christopher Dipnarine, 44, said, “now we’re kind of battling to get reimbursed on the funding we’ve already spent.”
4MyCiTy’s daily operations
On weekdays, food program participants wait in line with empty grocery bags before walking down a buffet of crates filled with vibrant fruits and veggies at the 4MyCiTy warehouse on Wilso Drive.
Janet Bailey, 62, takes food home from the warehouse to stock her food donation fridge, a part of the Bmore Community Fridge Network, which offers food-deficient communities constant access to fresh produce.
Bailey’s bags overflowed with produce as she left the center a week ago.
Roughly 300 people receive free fresh produce from 4MyCiTy each day. The organization collects food that would otherwise be tossed from licensed distributors and vendors, and gives it to people experiencing food insecurity.
Grant terminations
Under the Biden administration, The Department of Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded 4MyCiTy hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to support their work. The Trump administration canceled those grants, and communication from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA grants, has been limited, Dipnarine said.
Letters sent to Shelter and Services Program recipients notifying organizations that their grants had been terminated said that the grant programs “support, or have the potential to support, illegal immigration through funding illegal activities or support for illegal aliens that is not consistent with DHS’s enforcement focus do not effectuate the agency’s current priorities.”
The FEMA initiative previously arranged reimbursements for non-federal organizations supporting housing, food access, and other programs for undocumented immigrants awaiting their immigration court proceedings.
Dipnarine said 4MyCity was using the money awarded in accordance with the guidelines of the grant.
He said that 4MyCiTy’s relationship with FEMA was positive and it partnered with the Department of Homeland Security in various ways, such as distributing items from FEMA.
“When FEMA has excess merchandise that they cannot give out, like, just last week, we rescued, you know, like ointments and stuff that has a close by expiration date,” Dipnarine said.
An official from FEMA confirmed to The Baltimore Sun over email that new immigrant detention facilities would largely be funded by the Shelter and Services Program.
“The open borders gravy train is over, and there will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,” the official said.
The Trump/Noem Instagram announcement said the Biden administration used the Shelter and Services Program “as a piggy bank to spend hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars to house illegal aliens.”
4MyCiTy does not offer any housing programs, but it did receive grant funding to support food services for undocumented immigrants requiring food assistance under the Shelter and Services Program.
In spite of the funding cut, city residents still line up for food. 4MyCiTy’s food pickup and compost program has over 12,000 registered households, according to Dipnarine.
4MyCiTy is applying for other grants, Dipnarine said. But challenges remain as other organizations lose federal funding and the grant pool shrinks. He said the organization has had to cut back on hours and hold off recruiting more kids for their youth mentorship program.
“It’s been very, you know, a very difficult time over the last few months trying to navigate our situation,” Dipnarine said.
Have a news tip? Contact Gabriella Fine at gfine@baltsun.com.
from Baltimore Sun https://ift.tt/uR59dhY
via IFTTT
