5 organizations are set to receive Measure K funds in San Mateo County

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte will use this tranche of funding to buy the Next Gen medication Inventory Control System that lets staff have real-time access to all inventory, making service more efficient and alleviating possible mistakes. Dianna Zamora-Marroquin, senior director of Public Affairs for the organization, said the equipment will allow for three more patients to be treated a day, increasing service by more than a thousand a year. 

“The upgrades will afford Planned Parenthood Mar Monte with the ability to more efficiently serve patients, particularly in light of a rise in out-of-state and out-of-country patient load due to the evolving legal landscape for reproductive care,” according to the staff report. 

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte has three clinics in the county — in South San Francisco, San Mateo and unincorporated Redwood City — that provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care, gender-affirming care, behavioral health and family medicine services. 

Other family medicine initiatives were supported through one-time district-discretionary Measure K allotments for dental health and early-life care initiatives. 

Supervisors Dave Pine and Warren Slocum evenly split an allocation of $190,000 to Sonrisas Dental Health to meet the countywide need for dental services for children, families and seniors facing barriers to such care. The money will also go toward purchasing a van to transport portable dental equipment directly to patients. The nonprofit has clinics in San Mateo and Half Moon Bay that prioritize serving low-income patients throughout the county. 

A grant of $350,000 to First 5 San Mateo County for the Baby Bonus pilot program aims to positively impact the health of children ages 0-5 and their families. The program provides a monthly unconditional payment of $300 for three years to 400 residents that receive Medi-Cal benefits who have given birth during the 18-month program enrollment period. Supervisors Noelia Corzo and Ray Mueller will evenly split this allotment between their districts. 

Individual residents in county long-term care facilities will also be supported through a grant of $100,000 to Ombudsman Services, which provides on-site monitoring, complaint investigation and resolution services. It is the only service in the county “dedicated to advocating for the dignity and quality of life of people living in licensed residential care facilities,” according to a staff report. 

Funding will go toward existing and essential services such as the training and placement of ombudsman staff and volunteers with its facilities through the county. Slocum and Mueller are evenly splitting this grant between their districts. 

Mueller also used district-discretionary funds to allocate $150,000 toward the Coastal Resilient Infrastructure Strategic Plan to analyze and evaluate infrastructure within his district  vulnerable to wildfires, storms and sea-level rise. The funds will secure a grant writer who will seek further funding sources to maintain roads, evacuation routes, power supplies, water services and more.