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San Francisco Chronicle​

I fight poverty in California. Trump cut our funding over a blog post

A few weeks ago, I woke up to the surprising news that the Trump administration was threatening to eliminate a federal program that supports members of the California Community Action Partnership Association, the anti-poverty association I lead, because our organization promoted diversity, equity and inclusion. In its 2026 budget proposal, the White House asserted that the association was guilty of the offense of 'offering focus groups, extensive training opportunities, and engaging in fruitful partnerships' to help 'transform systems and structures' that heighten societal inequality. Those quotes were taken from a blog post, one that previously had only a few views. I'm not sure how the administration found it — perhaps an artificial intelligence query or Control F search for DEI? What I do know is that those quotes were cherry-picked, one completely unrelated to the other, to paint a distorted vision of our larger mission while obscuring what we do to address poverty in our state. In short, the Trump administration claimed we were more focused on DEI than reducing poverty — which was news to me — and its budget proposed to 'eliminate dollars that flow to Community Action Agencies who carry out their own agendas' and end the popular anti-poverty program called the Community Services Block Grant. We're hardly the only target identified in President Donald Trump's war on DEI. On the first day of his second term, Trump issued an executive order to dismantle DEI programs across the federal government, and he has since expanded that assault, taking aim at nonprofit groups and universities. Given the effectiveness and reach of the work that my association does in the state, however, the administration's criticism and defunding of the Community Services Block Grant seems particularly short-sighted — a quick conclusion after a search, rather than an analysis of our actual efforts. Most people have never heard of Community Action Agencies, but chances are they've or someone they know has benefited from one of their programs. The Community Services Block Grant delivers federal funds to states that are then distributed to locally run Community Action Agencies. These organizations, led by boards that include faith leaders, business owners, local elected officials and community members, design solutions based on the most urgent local priorities. For example, Community Action Agencies in California often manage energy assistance programs and are some of the first boots on the ground to administer disaster relief. I've worked with Community Action Agencies in 33 states, from a workforce development program in Pikeville, Ky., to improving family outcomes in Idaho. Each agency is unique, responding to the needs of its community. Until now, I've never had to defend this localized work from a direct political attack. Admittedly, the Trump administration's claim that Community Action Agencies 'carry out their own agendas' is partly true, but in a way that many conservatives champion. These programs, after all, don't impose federal solutions; they empower local groups to decide what's best. So why were we really targeted? The philosophy behind community action has always been to address the local causes and conditions of poverty, which, for some California leaders and their partners, means attempting to address inequities to try to give hard-working Americans a fair shot at getting ahead. In its budget proposal, the Trump administration seems to contend that in California, we're focused on DEI at the expense of our mission. But I can prove that each year, we have an incredibly high return on federal investment. In 2023, the California Community Action Partnership Association network leveraged $66.5 million in Community Services Block Grant funding to administer about $1.33 billion — yes, with a B — in opportunities to individuals and families in need. In 2023, with the help of a Community Action Agency: 8,607 unemployed Californians obtained a living wage job 16,235 people secured safe and affordable housing 125,087 individuals remained in their homes by avoiding a utility shut-off Nearly 1.5 million people in total received assistance, including 270,554 children, 118,30 seniors and more than 6,842 active duty members and veterans In a state where poverty and homelessness are constant topics of discussion, community action focuses on root causes — job training, remedial education, health counseling — not just temporary relief. But I suspect this attack is also about more than our local beliefs or a few lines in a blog post. When I began this work in 2008, the Community Services Block Grant had bipartisan support — it still does — but over the past decade, it feels like the word 'community' itself has become politicized. Community organizing and community action, which aren't synonymous, are sometimes viewed with the same broad brush and suspicion, seen as liberal by default. That's a myth worth dispelling. Local control doesn't guarantee progressive or conservative solutions; it ensures efficient neighborhood outcomes. President Trump is suggesting a more restrictive view of how we can help hard-working Americans get ahead. This narrow, Washington-centric agenda contradicts the very reason many people voted for him. We can't, on the one hand, ask for a smaller federal government while at the same time claim we don't like local solutions driven by our neighbors themselves. Local communities should have every right to take part in shaping how a local Community Action Agency addresses poverty, and the Trump administration's suggestion that the Community Service Block Grant doesn't belong to you is wrong. I remain hopeful that common sense will prevail in Washington, the Community Services Block Grant will be preserved, and Trump won't let his own political correctness on countering DEI measures get in the way of proven local solutions that help people in need.