DeKalb County service agencies scramble to plan for federal funding freeze

A freeze in federal funding ordered by President Donald Trump late Monday was temporarily blocked by a federal judge Tuesday after staff from DeKalb County service agencies and governments spent the day scrambling to determine how that freeze would impact resident services.

Prior to the court’s decision, Nate Kloster said the local Meals on Wheels program, which helps feed income-qualifying residents in DeKalb, La Salle, Putnam and Bureau counties, would continue uninterrupted for the time being, regardless of the freeze.

“If in fact, this affects the commitments we were awarded for this year, we’ll see,” said Kloster, CEO of the DeKalb County Voluntary Action Center. “If we have to make changes, we will. There’s only so much money to go around and fund the programs, but at this point, we’re in a holding pattern. We’re not going to decrease service.”

The Center receives about $800,000, or about 10% of its annual budget through federal funding, Kloster said. So the services likely would be able to continue, Kloster said.

The same can’t be said for other local organizations.

Safe Passage Executive Director Mary Ellen Schaid said she worries about how long a federal funding freeze may last and the impact it would have on DeKalb’s most vulnerable.

Based in DeKalb, Safe Passage is the county’s only domestic violence survivor shelter. The nonprofit also provides 24/7 crisis help to local families, legal guidance for those seeking orders of protection or other recourse, and counseling, among other services.

“It is of huge concern,” Schaid said Tuesday. ”We don’t have savings. I mean, again, we probably have some money in the bank right now. We don’t have a savings account. So, I can’t say how much because I’m not sure. We’re trying to put all that together now and make sure we understand what our financial picture is and then we’ll see."

County officials receive memo

A memorandum ordering the federal freeze sent Monday by Matthew Vaeth of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget was sent to DeKalb County government officials Tuesday, according to an email shared with Shaw Local News Network.

Interim DeKalb County Administrator Derek Hiland said the county’s financial department received the memo Tuesday morning.

“In all likelihood, DeKalb County will be affected by the President’s executed orders highlighted in the attached memorandum, however, the total impacts have not been measured fully given these recent orders have just been announced,” Hiland wrote in an email Tuesday.

The federal grant and loan funding pause is being implemented because federal officials in the Trump administration believe “financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing administration priorities,” according to the memorandum.

DeKalb County Engineer Nathan Schwartz said the funding pause is “unlikely to affect roadway infrastructure funding for the most part.”

“As I understand, the President’s ability would be to affect discretionary funding, and most of our funding for our infrastructure is formula-based funding,” Schwartz said.

The executive order wasn’t meant to impact Medicare or Social Security benefits or impact federal assistance provided directly to individuals, according to the memo.

[ Illinois temporarily unable to access Medicaid hours before Trump’s grant freeze goes into effect ]

Hours before the freeze on federal grants and loans was set to go into effect, agencies in Illinois were unable to access federal funding sites, including Medicaid, however.

Shaw Local confirmed with Gov. JB Pritzker’s office on Tuesday afternoon that the state had been shut out.

Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted that the White House was aware of the Medicaid website not working.

Other local agencies are bracing for a more substantial impact they said could halt services within months if federal money is pulled.

Family Service Agency Executive Director Tynisha Clegg said her DeKalb-based team spent time recently meeting with funders and other contacts to figure out how they’ll continue to operate if they lose federal money.

The social service agency is a hub for area resources meant to help local people in need. The agency operates the Children’s Advocacy Center for youth going through legal or familial troubles, counseling, and various programming for youth and the elderly.

The agency does not plan to cease operations at this time, Clegg said.

“We intend to continue to operate as usual for as long as we can with the funding that we currently have and hope that this will be resolved quickly and does not affect the services that we provide to the community,” Clegg said. “But it is very detrimental that this gets resolved.”

Family Service Agency played a pivotal role in supporting an estimated 60 DeKalb residents who were left without housing after a structure fire on Dec. 22.

When asked how long the agency could operate without federal funding, Clegg said she’s not certain.

“It really depends on how many grants it affects and if it affects all of the ones that it potentially could affect with no payments from those grants,” Clegg said. “I would say we could operate for a little over two months without any payment and that’s, of course, with cutting all additional spending. That would just be staffing and essential costs.”

Barb Food Mart Director Denise Salihoglu said she sees a federal funding freeze as having a trickle-down effect on community organizations like hers.

The food pantry, 900 E. Garden St., mainly serves families of DeKalb School District 428.

“We might not get federal grant funding but because other federal programs are getting cut, that will affect families,” Salihoglu said. “Then, they’ll have to come use us which we are here for them, but we’re just concerned because when the demand increases and food costs go up, then our ability to supply food might be in jeopardy at that point.”

Similar to the food pantry, the DeKalb County Community Foundation also does not receive direct federal funding. But Executive Director Daniel Templin said Tuesday he’s worried about the residual impact.

“We at the DeKalb County Community Foundation are far more concerned about the negative impact of the pause on federal loans and grants to our local nonprofit partners and system, as well as public sector direct service providers than any direct impact to our services,” Templin wrote in an email.

Schools, including universities and other institutions, often receive significant federal funding.

Sycamore School District 427 Superintendent Steve Wilder said he’s still working to assess how this funding pause could impact schools.

“We receive federal funds for other programs, such as Title, but the impact of the President’s decision isn’t clear,” Wilder wrote in an email Tuesday.

Federal funds received by school districts are funneled through the Illinois State Board of Education before they’re disbursed.

“Most of those funds are received as a reimbursement after our local funds have been spent,” Wilder said. “We will be watching the length of the freeze on federal funds to determine the impact locally.”

Sycamore school board president Michael DeVito told Shaw Local, “It’s definitely too early to gauge the full impact of the federal funding freeze.”

“The school district is prepared to manage short-term funding delays as funding insecurity is a pretty regular occurrence,” DeVito wrote.

Northern Illinois University leaders said Tuesday they’re still trying to figure out what the freeze would mean for their students and staff.

“The university was pleased to see this afternoon that the latest guidance from the Office of Management and Budget does make clear that funds for Pell Grants and federal student loans will not be paused,” officials wrote in a statement provided to Shaw Local. “This is critical as more than half of NIU students rely on Pell Grants and/or loans to pursue their degree.”

State Democratic leaders pushed back on Trump’s funding freeze plans with pointed words Tuesday.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined other Democratic-led states and sued the Trump administration.

In a news conference late Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker called efforts to freeze federal funding “illegal.”

“What Donald Trump tried to do in the last 24 hours is illegal,” Pritzker said. “Let’s be clear, this is a demonstration of cruelty against people who depend on us.”

Templin said he believes cutting federal funding so abruptly would be detrimental to residents across DeKalb County.

“Such abrupt actions on behalf of the federal government are unfair to our local providers, who work hard every day as stewards of the financing they need to serve our neighbors,” Templin wrote in an email. “We will be listening, learning, and ready to assist our local nonprofit sector partners in the days and possibly weeks ahead.”