SANTA ANA : Service Groups Get $94,000 in Grants

The City Council handed out $94,000 in federal grants this week to a number of local community service organizations.

The Emergency Shelter Grant Funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development included $50,000 to the South Orange County YWCA shelter at 1411 N. Broadway.

“We needed it, we needed it badly,” said Kathy Sebring, director of development for the South Orange County YWCA. She said the money will help pay for food and general maintenance at the shelter, which now houses 38 women.

Shelter director Diane Russell said the money will cover a large portion of the shelter’s $300,000 annual expenses and will enable it to maintain its current employment program and number of free beds for homeless women there.

“I’m relieved, extremely relieved. It will help us to keep providing services to women living in poverty so we can help them get back on their feet,” she said.

The grants also included $7,500 each to the Salvation Army Hospitality House, the Shelter for the Homeless, Coast Interfaith Center, Orange County Youth/Family Services and the Dale McIntosh Center, and $6,500 to the Santa Ana Recreation Department.