Sonoma County seeks community input on allocating $96 million in ARPA funding

What are the challenges you and your family and friends have faced - or are still experiencing - during the COVID-19 pandemic? What kind of financial support, if any, did you receive during this health crisis and what was missing?

These are some of the questions that Sonoma County is asking residents as part of an outreach effort to help the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors decide how best to allocate federal ARPA funds that are intended to support residents during the pandemic.

President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) on March 11, 2021 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, including addressing public health and economic impacts. The federal government allocated a total of $96 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to Sonoma County.

To help determine how best to allocate these funds, the Board of Supervisors has been hosting a series of town halls to learn from the community what their priorities are for distribution. All residents of the county have been invited to attend the meetings and participate in the survey regardless of which district they call home. The final town hall meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 20 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Register to attend the town hall by going to:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIlf-ytqDwiHtHztWaFHzXqqb3svrxpgljb

Recordings of the previous town hall meetings will soon be posted on the county’s ARPA webpage.

Participants who attend ARPA Town Halls will be asked to provide feedback in breakout groups on various questions including the following:

• How to better support communities of color in the county’s response to COVID-19.
• Challenges you and your family/friends faced or still experiencing as a result of the pandemic.
• What support did you receive during pandemic and what was missing? How can the support be improved?
• What other solutions/support should be considered to help the county recover?

Residents are encouraged to provide their input by accessing the link here and responding by Oct. 22. Additionally, the public is invited to provide feedback to the ARPA Priority Funding Survey through Oct. 27. Visit the ARPA webpage to access the surveys and video recordings of Town Hall meetings.

In addition to this solicitation of input, the county has organized an ARPA Community Work Group that has been receiving community feedback and will use it in formulating recommendations to the Board of Supervisors.

For more about the ARPA in Sonoma County, visit www.sonomacounty.ca.gov/CAO/ARPA.  Please send all questions and inquiries to ARPA@sonoma-county.org.

Media Contact:

Sylvia Lemus, Communications Specialist

publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org  

707-565-3040

575 Administration Drive, Suite 104A

Santa Rosa, CA 95403