Howard immigrant organization, Ellicott City nonprofit ask County Council to keep proposed funding levels

Howard organization presidents and residents on Wednesday went before the County Council, urging it to not decrease funding proposed by County Executive Calvin Ball.

In April, Ball proposed a $1.7 billion operating budget for fiscal 2020 to the County Council, a 3% increase from last year. By law, the County Council can only decrease or delete proposed funding.

In the budget presented, Ball did not award the requested 10% increase to Foreign-Born Information and Referral Network, the only nonprofit in the county that works closely with undocumented immigrants to provide a variety of services including legal support and interpretation service.

Last year, the county contributed $639,738 of FIRN’s overall $1.1 million budget.

FIRN Director Hector Garcia in November requested the county give $710,000 for fiscal 2020 to keep up with the strain it has felt on its services in the past two years because of “bureaucratic, systemic changes in the federal immigration system.”

“We are booked through July and have a waiting list of 100 individuals who need immigration services,” Garcia said during the hearing.

The county proposed level funding for FIRN for fiscal 2020.

After the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, then-Councilman Ball alongside Jen Terrasa, now a delegate in the General Assembly, filed legislation to declare Howard a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants — a move that attracted national attention.

The bill was vetoed by then-County Executive Allan Kittleman and Ball said he would “continue to fight for our values.”

When asked why Ball did not propose increasing the nonprofit’s funding, Jacqueline R. Scott, director of the Department of Community Resources and Services, said in a statement, “Recognizing that we are in a time where there is limited growth in our budgets and spending … we are balancing the need to be fiscally responsible with the need to support critical human service needs.”

She continued, “We were able to do this by continuing to fund FIRN at a level rate so that they can continue offering critically needed immigration services. We are aware that there are growing needs in our community so DCRS and other county agencies are also utilizing additional county staff and resources to ensure that gaps are filled and services are provided.”

The county, alongside the state and other nonprofits, provide services including shelter for the homeless, food subsides, workforce training and case management for residents, Scott said.

“While it may appear that the investment in this population is limited to FIRN’s allocation, it is in fact larger when you factor in the county’s overall commitment to serve our undocumented population.”

In the proposed budget, Ball recommended a 5.6% increase to government community resources and services departments whose scope ranges from dealing with homelessness to aging and disabilities.

FIRN is currently servicing more than 10,000 individuals — twice as many as its budget allows, Garcia said in his testimony Wednesday.

The Ball administration also proposed giving the Ellicott City Partnership $100,000 in funding — a 50% increase from last year’s proposed budget.

During his testimony, president of the partnership’s board of directors Matt Fleming talked about the nonprofit’s struggles to raise funds amid the 2016 and 2018 floods. Fleming said the last flood created a larger need for longer-term programming.

The proposed budget “will allow the ECP to continue to lessen the burden on county government as a force multiplier by providing constituents with critical services and maintaining the Maryland Main Street designation,” Fleming said.

Ayesha B. Holmes, executive director of Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center, said the group was grateful for the level funding Ball proposed but urged the County Council to keep the funding.

Ball proposed giving the nonprofit, which provides support to those battling with substance abuse, level funding at $1.737 million.

Holmes said, “Without additional funding, we fear we won’t be able to keep up with the demand,” citing the increase on their services and a chance they might have to reduce staffing to run their shelter.

Baltimore Sun reporter Pamela Wood contributed to this article.