A pause on funding for federal loans and grants could negatively impact local communities

SIKESTON, Mo., (KBSI) – A pause on funding for federal loans and grants could negatively impact local communities

The Trump administration pushed for a pause on funding for federal loans and grants Tuesday, which will now go into effect on Monday, February 3 after a federal judge temporarily blocked it. Once in effect, the pause could negatively impact local programs and communities.

The Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corporation (DAEOC) serves six counties in Missouri’s boot heel with almost 150,000 people in it’s service area, according to the agency’s president and CEO Joel Evans.

A major employer in the area, DAEOC has 400 staff members serving in about 50 different programs that address varying needs across their service area — from adult education and energy assistance to one of the largest rural Head Start programs in the U.S.

Evans said funding for their programs comes from a mixture of grants and funds from different federal agencies. Losing those funds could have a big impact.

“We serve some of the poorest counties in southeast Missouri and in the state of Missouri,” he said. “So there are a lot of people who count on our services, not only for direct services but we also are a big contributor to the economy in southeast Missouri. We consume a lot of products here. So it would impact the entire community — everyone that we do business with, as well as those that we directly serve.

Evans said they were told the pause in federal funding would not affect the Head Start and early Head Start programs. Those programs will continue as usual. They are still waiting on answers regarding their other programs.