The Community Services Agency was the big winner when Los Altos allocated $24,177 of its $32,374 in Community Development Block Grant public service funds to the Mountain View-based agency.
The $24,177 will be divided among three CSA programs: $5,157 for senior nutrition; $9,510 for senior services; and $9,510 for the Alpha Omega Shelter that serves area homeless.
These awards are up slightly from the $24,068 that the agency received last year from Los Altos.
At the city council's March 9 meeting, in addition to CSA, the council awarded block-grant money to three other public service agencies.
San Jose-based Catholic Charities received $2,000 for its long-term care ombudsman program, which is down from the $2,529 that Catholic Charities received last year.
The Mountain View-based Support Network for Battered Women received $3,000, which is down from $3,631 last year.
And St. Joseph the Worker Center in Los Altos received $3,197, a first-time award for the center.
"We are so delighted," said Elizabeth Keller, executive director of the worker center. "Los Altos has taken the effort to consider this so thoughtfully. The attention they have brought to this has really impressed me," she said.
Board members of the worker center had told city council members that when they approach other agencies for funds, one of the first questions they hear is, "What does your city give to the center?"
An answer of "Nothing," does not help the center in its fund-raising efforts, board members said.
The council did not award any money to the Social Advocates for Youth Safe Place program. Last year, the project received $2,000.
And the council was unable to fund a request from the YWCA Rape Crisis Center.
Requests totaled $57,965 for the available $32,374.
Community Development Block Grant Funds are federal moneys from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, distributed through the county, which passes them along to cities.
The funds must be used to serve the needs of lower-income people, either with the construction and acquisition of housing or through providing public services, said Los Altos senior planner Jim Mackenzie in a staff report.
The $32,374 in public service money is part of a total of $166,543, which includes $15,000 to administer the funds.
In years past, the city has set aside significant chunks of the block grant capitol funds for the eight low-income rental condos that are part of the Tree Farm project on El Camino Real. Currently $238,424 is available from past allocations.
The capitol funds may also be used for handicap-accessibility improvements. In the works are plans to add audio-beeping to three traffic lights in town, cost $20,000, to aid those with impaired vision, Mackenzie said.
A second project calls for a handicap ramp at the Garden House in Shoup Park, cost $25,000.
A third project under consideration is to remodel an existing bathroom at Garden House to make it handicapped accessible, cost 10,000.
The remaining funds are to be used for curb cuts and possibly replacing playground equipment. The curb cuts will be focused on San Antonio Road at a cost of $2,000 each, Mackenzie said.