CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation received confirmation this morning that federal funding has been restored after nearly 2,000 substance abuse and mental health grants were abruptly canceled earlier this week.
Bill Hoelscher, CEO of the Coastal Bend Foundation, had been waiting all morning for news about the organization's $1.5 million in federal funding when KRIS 6 News spoke with him.
"So we just got a notice that they unterminate, the termination has ended. That's pretty crazy you are here you was right here," Hoelscher said.
An email from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration confirmed that federal funding is back for the nonprofit, but the notice still has him feeling uneasy.
"Well thank god right, but again we go back to the trust. If they did it today what's keeping them from tomorrow, two months or three months," Hoelscher said.
Hoelscher was notified on January 13 at 10 p.m. that he was going to lose the funding with no advance warning.
"There was no time even to contact staff. There was no time to talk to clients and try to refer them out ethically and safely to other services," Hoelscher said.
The sudden cuts would have resulted in 12 staff members losing their jobs this week and forced him to shut down three federally funded programs that provide care for people experiencing substance use disorders, mental health challenges, and homelessness.
"How do we keep going? How do we keep building programs because they could disappear any day," Hoelscher emphasized.
While Hoelscher has a sense of relief, uncertainty remains because there's still no official confirmation that the funds are back.
"We only received one to terminate, so I really need something in writing, a new notice of award saying that we need to continue and the funds are there," Hoelscher said.
He hopes this scare brings awareness to the need for more funding avenues aside from federal sources, sending a message to state and local government with hopes they will provide more options to lean on in case this happens again.
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