The Turlock City Council approved the use of $300,000 on Tuesday to bolster Legacy Health Endowment’s Person-Centered Care Program.

The money will come from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act fund, leaving about $300,000 in that pot.

Turlock’s participation in the program started in 2022, upon a recommendation from the city’s ad hoc committee on homelessness. That report suggested that future homelessness could be limited by supporting LHE’s program for respite care and homemaker services.

The city has now committed $1.3 million to the program since its inception.

The measure passed by a 4-1 margin, with Mayor Amy Bublak (joining the meeting remotely from Washington, D.C.) and councilmembers Kevin Bixel (District 1), Rebecka Monez (District 2), and Erika Phillips (District 4) supporting it. Councilmember Cassandra Abram (District 3) cast the lone dissenting vote.

“Speaking personally, this is a great program,” Abram told LHE president and CEO Jeffrey Lewis. “You’re helping so many people. I am very pleased you brought this to the city and we’ve been able to support it for as long as we have… I want this for everyone, and I want all levels of government to be involved in this process. But removing the personal aspect… we as a city have limited resources and lots of needs. And looking at this funding source in comparison to (LHE), I feel the time is right to pass this on to you to fulfill the mission.”

Monez, who ran the meeting in Bublak’s absence, asked Lewis why the program was so important to him.

“When I was very young I watched both my grandmothers die in nursing homes,” said Lewis. “I’ve carried forward that work with me everywhere I’ve been... The Turlock program is another way of saying ‘We’re going to help elderly people who are in their homes stay in their homes… provide food assistance, and keep them out of a long-term care facility and a hospital emergency room for as long as possible. That’s at the heart of this; it’s at the heart of what I do.”

The council was slated to consider a measure that would end the Modesto Fire Administration Services Agreement in June without executing a two-year extension of the pact, but that action item was pulled from the agenda.

Since 2022, the Turlock Fire Department has operated under the administration of Modesto Fire.

Modesto’s leadership team has experienced multiple changes in the last seven months, including three transitions in the fire chief role, with a fourth expected in June, according to a city staff report, and declining to continue that arrangement will require Turlock to recruit and hire a full-time fire chief.

The report also pointed out that “Turlock staff was not actively involved in discussion regarding these leadership changes or informed of their implications…” It went on to say that Turlock’s leadership concluded “a full operational transfer of the Turlock Fire Department to Modesto is not a desired or feasible direction for the city.”