Costa Mesa channels $3.2M in federal grants into housing initiatives, assistance projects

Los Angeles Times

23-05-2025

As Costa Mesa works out next year's budget, city leaders Tuesday considered how best to allocate nearly $1.1 million in anticipated federal community development block grants and $2.1 million for housing rehabilitation and assistance.
Administered through the U.S. Department of Urban Housing and Development (HUD), the funding programs collectively aim to bolster the efforts of city programs and nonprofit organizations that help provide housing stability for low-income residents and those at risk of homelessness.
Grant administrator Mikelle Daily explained Costa Mesa annually receives CDBG funding to benefit moderate- to low-income residents, one of three defined national objectives outlined by HUD, while HOME Investment Partnership Grants help create more affordable housing for low- and very-low income households.
In Orange County, a two-person household earning $108,300 — or 80% of the area median income — qualifies as low-income, while one earning $67,700 would be very low-income, according to HUD figures.
In addition to this year's CDBG allocation of $907,261, the city will apply an $172,000 of previously unspent grants, dedicating $1.1 million toward housing rehabilitation, public facility improvements, code enforcement and public service grants.
City staff recommended $251,720 be allocated for improvements to Wilson Street on the city's west side, and another $385,000 be used to fund code enforcement officers working in CDBG-eligible neighborhoods.
A sum of $136,089 was set aside for public service grants to qualifying nonprofits, who applied for consideration and were selected in March by the Housing and Public Service Grant Committee.
The committee recommended $26,522 for Families Forward, which targets homelessness prevention efforts on households with children; $26,522 to Human Options, a domestic violence prevention group; $21,219 for Project Hope Alliance, a youth homelessness prevention organization; $15,913 for the Assistance League of Newport-Mesa's Operation School Bell program and $15,913 to Trellis International, which organizes the neighbor assistance program Labors of Love.
'We did have to make some difficult decisions and recommendations, just to make sure we're stretching the limited funds as far as possible for the biggest impact,' committee member Andrea Schmidt said Tuesday.
On the HOME funding front, the city received an annual allocation for 2025-26 of $378,720 for rehabilitation and housing assistance and will apply a previously banked $1,735,283 — for a total of more than $2.11 million — toward multiple projects and initiatives.
In addition to allocating $200,000 toward the city's tenant-based rental assistance program, $319,323 of the HOME funds will be used to offer loans up to $50,000 and grants up to $20,000 for the rehabilitation of single-family residences.
Another $1.5 million will be banked for affordable housing projects in Costa Mesa, such as the conversion of a Motel 6 to residential units on Newport Boulevard in 2023, while $56,808 will be kept for the nonprofits who may act as their operators.
Some council members asked about the possibility that federal funds might be frozen under the Trump administration, but Daily said the programs have so far withstood previous threats by commanders in chief.
'It has strong bipartisan support in Congress and has prevailed anytime that it has been requested to be eliminated,' she said, citing previous efforts by Trump, George W. Bush and Barrack Obama to cut or reduce spending, before qualifying her answer a bit.
'It's just something that has strong support, so I don't really see that the funding is going to be discontinued — but it's possible.'
Mayor Pro Tem Manuel Chavez said he was pleased with the city's allocations.
'These are dollars that we pay to the federal government, so it's good to have them come back to us,' he said.