Local aid organizations in San Diego have declared a state of emergency for low-income communities following significant funding cuts from the Trump administration, totaling over $80 million.
The cuts threaten essential resources for vulnerable populations, including housing, food, healthcare, and transportation.
Nonprofits across the city have been stretched thin, facing mass layoffs and service reductions as they grapple with the loss of vital federal funding.
In a unified response to the crisis, aid workers from the San Diego Solidarity Network—a coalition of more than 50 local nonprofits—gathered at Chicano Park alongside San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera.
They are calling on city leaders, state officials, and community donors to replace the millions in federal funds that have been lost.
Although these organizations cater to a variety of needs, from environmental health to immigration, they all share a common concern: an increase in struggles faced by local families who are going hungry, losing healthcare, and unable to send their children to school.
With dwindling resources, aid workers express growing frustration.
Alondra Alvarado, president of the San Diego Hunger Coalition, emphasized the widespread impact of these cuts.
“These cuts don’t just affect individuals; they affect all of us, including schools, hospitals, and businesses,” she said.
She further stated, “We’re being asked to serve more people with fewer resources inside a system that’s being systematically dismantled.”
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump’s administration has frozen or cut hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for aid organizations across the nation.
As a result, the pool of aid available for the hundreds of thousands of San Diegans who depend on nonprofit support for daily essentials continues to shrink, particularly amidst a rising cost of living.
“This emergency is the result of an attack: an attack on working families, an attack on seniors losing access to the medication they need to survive, an attack on children losing access to the food they need to grow,” Elo-Rivera remarked.
He insisted that those doing the hardest work—feeding families, healing trauma, and protecting the planet—should not have to “beg for scraps.”
The adverse effects of funding cuts are especially severe in Barrio Logan, where the Environmental Protection Agency awarded $20 million last year for critical projects aimed at improving air quality and environmental health.
Amy Castañeda, of the Environmental Health Coalition, described how the federal government recently retracted that funding, stating that it was no longer aligned with the agency’s new “funding priorities.”
As a result, Barrio Logan lost a landmark investment intended to address decades of inequitable pollution that has impacted the community’s health.
This is only one example of the many services that disadvantaged San Diegans are losing as federal support diminishes.
Nonprofits focused on environmental health, housing assistance, and the arts are particularly hard-hit.
According to reports, one in three of the county’s nonprofits has had to reduce or completely cease operations due to financial constraints.
Alvarado shared the stark reality faced by the San Diego Hunger Coalition, which can no longer afford to feed 1.5 million residents or support more than 60 local farms.
“We are not here to ask for charity,” Alvarado stated emphatically.
“If you believe that everyone deserves the right to eat, the right to health, and the right to dignity, then this is your fight too.”
In response to the ongoing crisis, some local philanthropists are stepping in to help fulfill gaps left by the loss of federal funding.
Megan Thomas, president of the nonprofit funding organization Catalyst of San Diego and Imperial Counties, revealed that her organization recently opened a new fund to provide grants of up to $30,000 to support local nonprofits.
Despite efforts from the community to lend support, aid workers are feeling the pressure as they continue to advocate for assistance from local and state governments.
Noun Abdelaziz, of the refugee organization United Women of East Africa, expressed her ongoing struggle to secure basic necessities for those she serves.
“I find myself going to the capitol and consulting different senators to prioritize our needs and center our communities of immigrants and refugees,” Abdelaziz stated.
She posed a reflective question: “Why am I asking someone for basic necessities for a human being?”
image source from：timesofsandiego
