Half Moon Bay invests in safety net services

The program promotes a more coordinated and integrated approach among coastside nonprofits, allowing them to work together on grant funding and providing resources to the coastside’s most vulnerable residents.

“Over the last two years since we implemented this cohort model, we’re seeing more collaboration among agencies, which is one thing we were really looking for,” Acosta said. “Hearing from the community that everybody’s going from different approaches, we wanted to remove that and create a learning environment where everybody can thrive.”

The program began around seven years ago with a $100,000 investment from the city made up of small, disconnected grants, Acosta said.

Now, it has expanded, allowing groups like Coastside Hope to provide safety net services — including food, shelter, rental and utility assistance and infant needs — for over 2,000 Half Moon Bay residents in the first half of the fiscal year alone. The nonprofit received $50,000 in funding for the fiscal year.

Kaitlyn Freeberg, Coastside Hope programs director, said that grant funding has both helped fund their work and connected them to additional nonprofits, allowing them to create a shared identity as coastside collaborators.

“CSFA funding goes beyond financial assistance,” she said. “It’s helped us strengthen relationships with other incredible organizations involved in this important program and allowed us to secure additional funding from philanthropic sources.”

This teamwork-based approach allows nonprofits to apply for grants in tandem and resulted in one group, CoastPride, receiving $1.7 million for mental health services, Acosta said. The conjoined advocacy was also “instrumental” for getting urgent care on the coast, she said.

The CSFA program also offers the nine nonprofits technical assistance and help with branding, Acosta said.

Councilmember Paul Nagengast expressed concern around nonprofits receiving more funding than was necessary from the city if they were receiving additional philanthropic resources, especially given a suggestion that the CSFA be funded on a two-year, rather than one-year, basis.

“We’ll talk about it in the coming months, the city’s budget,” he said. “I want to make sure we’re very clear and up front.”

While she’s very supportive of the cohort model, Councilmember Debbie Ruddock said, additional accountability and expenditure trackers could be beneficial to the grant-funding process.

“I think if everybody could agree on certain metrics to provide in midyear reports and expenditures to track, it would be good,” she said. “I think the cohort is a fabulous idea. I just want to make sure we’re doing the accountability piece. It’s not a gift. It’s a grant and when I say grant, it’s a partnership.”

Additional grant money distributed through the program included $26,250 for mental health counseling through ALAS, $25,000 to Sonrisas for dental care for 50 clients, $30,000 for Boys and Girls Club after-school support, and $50,000 for Senior Coastsiders, among others.