Mr. Trump, who wants to build a wall on the border with Mexico and increase defense spending, has said<br />that the grant program is “not well targeted to the poorest populations and has not demonstrated results.” <br />Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who specializes in welfare<br />and poverty, called the program a “model of inefficiency.”<br />“The program is largely a slush fund for large urban cities,” Mr. Rector said.<br />Now, Ms. Rodriguez and a local group advocating water improvements are pushing to connect the community to fresh surface<br />water about four miles away, tapping a federal funding source called the Community Development Block Grant program.<br />But with $3 million from the Community Development Block Grant program, the county is planning to convert an old machine shop into a 50-bed permanent shelter<br />that will also feature a service center to help residents and others escape homelessness, said James Rydingsword, the director of the county’s Health and Human Services Agency.
