"Those who are high up don't know what's going on down here ... and I don't think they care," said DeAnna Swenson, a 19-year-old at Life House in Duluth.
Life House is a nonprofit drop-in center that assists young people who are living on the streets or in unstable homes. At Life House, youths can seek shelter, have a bite to eat and stabilize their lives.
Swenson has been coming to Life House for most of her teenage years. She tearfully said that any support and stability in her life is a result of the care she's been given at Life House.
But the Life House and other community support organizations, in Duluth and around the nation, are in danger of closing their doors.
The threat comes from President George W. Bush's proposed 30 to 50 percent reduction in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for 2006.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bush's proposal for the 2006 budget consolidates 18 public service agencies under one umbrella and reduces their budget by nearly $1 billion.
Keith Hamre, manager of Duluth's Community Development Division, said in the past, Duluth has received about $3.2 million in CDBG funds for housing, economic development, public facilities and public services like soup kitchens, food shelters and youth programs.
A 50 percent reduction would mean only $1.6 million for the city.
"Cuts to these funds will devastate public service in Duluth," Hamre said.
The CDBG funds are available through the federal government's Housing and Urban Development Department. CDBGs were set up in 1974 to ensure decent and affordable housing, to essential services like food and shelter, to create jobs and to tackle other challenges facing the communities most vulnerable.
In a press conference at City Hall Monday, city officials and many CDBG-funded groups spoke out against the proposed cuts and asked the community to call and write to Washington, D.C.
Rachel Kincaid, a representative from Life House, said being at the press conference made her feel like she was at a funeral.
Steve Sydow of Duluth's Community Development Committee said the cuts could be devastating, but there is a severe lack of money on a greater scale.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It's not like he's (Bush) got horns and a pitch fork," Sydow said.
Peter Bast, public affairs spokesman for the Minneapolis branch of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said the cuts are only part of a proposal, and they are probably generating more concern than necessary.
